Electrical .

[Back in the fold]

My electrical outlets and everything I have plugged in in my fishroom makes me nervous . I only run one 15 watt light strip on one ten gallon and eight diaphragm air pumps are about 35 watts total , give or take 5 watts but eight heaters totaling 495 watts seems high . The heaters are not on all the time or all at once so it’s okay ( I tell myself ) . Now I’m adding two more air pumps and one more heater of 50 watts to total 545 watts . I have gang plugs and extension cords everywhere and they are good heavy duty ones but I still get a funny feeling looking at it . What do all the rest of you do ? Do you have nightmare electrical outlets too or do you have a method to control things ?

 

[Connershawzz]

I’m a maintenance tech at a big apartment complex which I also live at. I was worried moving in here as it being an apartment with a 55gal , a 20gal , and a 5gal , like 6 heaters , 5 pumps , 3 hobs all on the same breaker. Since I work here I was able to swap out the 15 amp breaker for 20 amp arc fault. I’ve had all 3 tanks running for about 2 months , haven’t had it trip even once yet , which is impressive since it’s all tied together with my kitchen which we cook every night and still nothing. I don’t know if that’s something you have access to do, but that could ease your mind.

 

[MaloK]

A 15 amps circuit should be able to run 1500 watts and peaks up to 1750 watts. without problems.

 

[fishorama]

I'm not sure, but it seems if the circuit can handle the wattage & you don't have everything plugged into just 1 outlet via power strips &/or extension cords (no daisy chaining!), it should be ok. I don't have that problem at my current house (more circuits, more outlets, higher amp service) but have at my last 2 (even w/fuses rather than circuit breakers until we upgraded & "split circuits"). Older houses can be iffier electrically & might not be up to current "code".

If you're really worried, have an electrician come out & check. Might cost $100 or even $200 to have peace of mind. Worth it to be safe to me.

 

[Innesfan]

. What do all the rest of you do ? Do you have nightmare electrical outlets too or do you have a method to control things ?

Mine are nightmarish as well, at least to me. But they've been that way a very long time without incident--knock wood.

 

[GaryE]

Sometimes, I appear to have thrown spaghetti at a wall with the wires....

I had an electrician wire the fishroom, with its own box and multiple circuits. I have a breaker for just the dehumidifier, two breakers for the barely used heaters (that dehumidifier throws heat), and have low energy linear piston air pumps. But I still check for warm wires and such.

I had a short electrician and was away for the day when he put the plugs in. I had asked the outlets to be at six feet from the floor, and he put them at five, which puts them behind tanks. I came home to a completely finished job, and decided to just roll with it. And so, there are power bars involved for easy access.

Ground Fault Interrupter plugs matter. The GFI have tripped twice, and there was a reason worth knowing about - a powerhead that would have zapped me and a filter splash hitting a plug. My whole fishroom is on GFI.

 

[Back in the fold]

Mine are nightmarish as well, at least to me. But they've been that way a very long time without incident--knock wood.

That’s me too . It’s been this way for a long time and there’s never been a problem . I’m careful to use good extension cords where I need them and space things out on multiple outlets .

A 15 amps circuit should be able to run 1500 watts and peaks up to 1750 watts. without problems.

That’s what I have and I’m well under that 1500 watts so maybe I’m okay .

 

[Magnum Man]

my main group of tanks was hard wired by me 30 years ago on two circuits, allowing one outlet per aquarium in the group... seems like I had enough spaces 30 years ago... but today I have an 8 outlet power strip plugged into each outlet... LED lighting, specifically plant lighting strips, had been the biggest difference...

the lights I use now.... the main tank lights I find too complicated, so those are manually on, during my awake hours, but there are on average 3-4 plant light LED strips per tank, that are on timers to soft start , and soft stop overlapping my waking up, and going to sleep ( they back light my backgrounds, as well as add additional plant, and work area light... being USB LED they don't use many amps, but lots of spaghetti to plug in...

 

[GaryE]

A huge advantage to LED lighting is its lower electricity use. I actually had good plant growth with incandescent, far back in the almost dark ages. Fluorescents took way more wattage for way less light. But Leds are wonderful devices.

If people want to bring back turntables and vinyl - cool. But don't get nostalgic for expensive to run old lighting systems!

I was in the room when one incandescent fixture started sparking and burning, year ago. I unplugged it and was able to fling it out a side door into a snowdrift. I've also been zapped by heater failures, once very solidly. I still have a deep distrust of heaters, and use them or other submerged equipment as rarely as I can get away with. Powerheads and internal filters are also things I'm wary of. If they are badly made, as things often are, watch out.

At least we no longer have non waterproof clip on heaters. They were often accurate, but if they fell in, you got a nice hairdo from them. One of the well known US brands sold a batch that poured out sparks like a flare. Yeah, I'd bought one. Fireworks. Luckily, I saw that start as soon as I plugged it in, and still had my hand where I could cut its power fast.

 

[Back in the fold]

I spent the latter part of this morning and early afternoon hanging a new six outlet strip and inspecting all my connections . Everything looks well balanced out with no outlets being more overloaded and others less . No wires felt warm and no receptacles were scorched . I think I might be worrying unduly but electricity is nothing to underestimate . My air pumps are really only 1.5 to 3 watts each and the heaters don’t run continuously . Also , I run only one light strip on ten aquariums . That’s the aquarium with my plants . An advantage to Killifish - most prefer dim light . But you know what ? I’m spending a good $50 bucks a month powering this room . That’s nothing to sneeze at .

 

[GaryE]

When I look at this thread on the main page, and see it as hot, with the flame thing right beside "electrical", it does make me think.

We have ample hydro-electric sources here, and my area is served by a windfarm the local First Nations Neqotkuk band has invested in, so my energy costs are reasonable. Lighting is not crazily expensive with LEDs, but if I heated each tank individually and didn't focus on fish that can thrive at lower temperatures (for tropicals), I couldn't do it. I like my weird tetras and I heat their tanks, but I love having killies and having Cichlid species that like cooler conditions.

I go through regularly and see what I can unplug. These past 2 weeks have been chilly, but it's up to -12 now. With the cold snap bringing indoor temps down, my Aphyosemion escherichi killies have stopped being cheap with giving out eggs, and have produced 25 in the last 48 hours. That seems counterintuitive to most fishkeepers, that a drop from 22c to 20c would be a good thing, but it is.

Another good thing - I was out driving at 5:45 yesterday evening, and there was sunlight. The days are stretching and even though it's been below -20, winter is losing its grip. Slowly. And that is always good for electricity use.