Curious - average number of electrical plugs per tank?

sueandherzoo

sueandherzoo

Active Member
I'm starting to get used to it, but the one thing that kept bothering me when I first started this hobby was how many electrical things there are involved with this - being able to find enough power strips and manage all the cords, keep them organized, etc.
I only have one powerhead going in my 55 at this point but I think I have 8 or 9 receptacles filled just for that one tank! (counting out loud: heater, Fluval filter, skimmer, powerhead, lights, fan, moonlights, fuge light) Not sure, I might be forgetting one or two.
Does everyone just have a mass of cords tangled up and running into power strips behind the tank or is there a safe and organized way to do this?
Sue
 
jrod4u

jrod4u

Member
well I have a 55g on a stand I just used some fabric and covered the stand below the tank my cords run down back with wall behind it, and under tank
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Yep, lots of plugs. Be sure to keep your power strip up high, not on the floor. Wipe down the cords regularly. You don't want fine salt creep to go into your strip. It does not end well.
 
sueandherzoo

sueandherzoo

Active Member
Right now I have the powerstrip standing on it's narrow against the wall in the corner with the plugs facing the wall, NOT the tank. Eventually I want to organize things back there, I'd like to label them all,and then I'll hang the power strip (or two).
Do I even want to know how much our monthly electric bill goes up with this hobby? I'm sure some of you have figured it out -- I haven't had the courage yet.
Sue
 
U

usirchchris

Guest
I had to do some re-wiring when I got my 125 running. When we used the microwave it would always blow the circuit. I currently have a 125, 120, and 75 going. The 125 and 120 both have two power strips and the 75 has one. My electric bill has gone up 60-70 dollars...some of the reefers on here OMG
...there was a post a few months back about electric bills and I could not believe some of them. Those corals sure look neat, but if I had the corals, and those bills, I would just grow to resent them
.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by SueAndHerZoo
http:///forum/post/2847056
Right now I have the powerstrip standing on it's narrow against the wall in the corner with the plugs facing the wall, NOT the tank. Eventually I want to organize things back there, I'd like to label them all,and then I'll hang the power strip (or two).
Do I even want to know how much our monthly electric bill goes up with this hobby? I'm sure some of you have figured it out -- I haven't had the courage yet.
Sue
Sue, the moist salt creeps right down the wires, you don't even notice it unless you touch it. Get that strip up off of the floor. You have to have drip loops, even then the moisture makes it to the plugs themselves if you don't wipe them down. This is no joke. Very bad things can and do happen because of moisture getting into the strip.
 
big

big

Active Member
Lets count mine, 6 behind the tank, 6 additional GFI ones, that makes 12 one of them a spare. Then on the sump and fuge in the basement there are 4 more GFI's and a extension cord on one of them holding 2 more....... That makes I think 17 in use. Two 20 amp circuits...All for a 72 bow........ The electric company loves me too!!!

I am using just less than 1kw an hour on this one tank when the lights are on, a little less than half that when off.... My big eater other than lights is a big Sequence pump down stairs needing to push the water back up 24-7..........
I do not want to think of my new bigger set up when it is done. It will use over a KW an hour...
And like the Sir said be sure you have drip loops on everything too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
mr_x

mr_x

Active Member
4 tanks, 32 things plugged in. very confusing to the average person, and even moderately confusing to me. i used to have every plug labeled with a label maker, but so many things have been replaced/changed since then, that about half are labeled.
if i were to get out of this hobby, i'd save 100 dollars a month in electric alone.
 
oceansidefish

oceansidefish

Active Member
I have about 10...Built a little shelf in my stand to put them on which also helps keep down the salt creep. Yep I would save 60-70 a month and have an extra circut breaker
 
sueandherzoo

sueandherzoo

Active Member
OK, now I don't feel quite so bad about having 9 plugs on one tank (times three tanks and one QT tank puts me close to 36 outlets being used!). That's really mind-boggling when you think of it - what an electricity-dependent hobby! I will make sure I make it a priority to make sure all my tanks have safe plugging this weekend. Thanks for letting me know that it's not enough to have the outlets faced away from the water. Even though standing my powerstrip on it's narrow end gets the outlets off the floor with a slight drip loop, I will make sure I get it HIGHER off the floor than that by mounting the strip to either the wall or the stand.
The putzing never ends.

Sue
 
fish4rudy

fish4rudy

Member
One tank, eight plugs all of which are G.F.C.I. protected and the same is suggested for all. Death of you, in you'r fish tank is not needed
 
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