So much power use

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Brookechooka89

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Sep 14, 2012
Messages
51
Location
Brisbane, Australia
Hi all,

I'm wondering what everyone else does to safely run their fully equipped tanks. With all the filters, lights, power heads, chillers, skimmers, heaters, and all the rest like add-ons that need a power source, how does everyone manage power boards so they aren't over doing it. I could do so much more to my tank but don't want to over pack my power boards. What is everyone's secret?

Cheers,

Brooke
 
I keep my main tank on a surge protector. Depending on how much you have, you shouldn't be taxing a typical home outlets.

Correction .... I have my lights on one dedicated power strip on one outlet. The filter and heater on another Powerstrip into another outlet. The air-pump is not on a power-strip, it's on it's own outlet.
 
We have a surge protector everything is plugged into, and that's plugged into the wall for both of our tanks, nothing special.
 
Surge protectors don't address the question at hand. The only solution to having too much consumption for the circuit is to use separate circuits for the power hungry stuff (like the chiller, return pump, things like that) and make sure you aren't overloading it. Surge protectors give people a false sense of security, thinking they can use all 6 (or however many outlets there are) and it keeps things ok.
 
mfdrookie516 said:
Surge protectors don't address the question at hand. The only solution to having too much consumption for the circuit is to use separate circuits for the power hungry stuff (like the chiller, return pump, things like that) and make sure you aren't overloading it. Surge protectors give people a false sense of security, thinking they can use all 6 (or however many outlets there are) and it keeps things ok.

Thanks for the reply all.

Near my tank, i have the one switch/outlet with two 'plug holes' (not sure what they're called) so I have two power boards coming off the one switch/outlet (1 power board per 'plug hole') that runs everything. Not exactly impressed with that. I've been running my tank like this for at least two years, but it only recently occurred to me that my tank uses a bit of power and is not exactly ideal/safe.
What do you mean by circuit? A different switch/outlet or a different circuit in the house (because I'm not real keen on stepping over electrical leads around my home) lol.

Cheers

Brooke
 
Circuit as in another line to a different breaker. It may not be practical, and extension cords reduce the amount of load you can have quite a bit, so if you don't have another one near by, and you've had no issues in 2 years, I'd go out on a limb and suspect that you're fine. You might want to avoid plugging anything else in to a plug on the same circuit if you're really concerned. If you're not sure which other plugs are on the same circuit, you can turn it off at the breaker box and try outlets with a lamp or something of that nature.
 
I run my reef tank, FW high tech planted tank, and home theater system off of the same circuit in my house (different receptacles, but same circuit).

I run portable GFCI's at the outlets for the tanks.

If the circuit breaker isn't popping, you aren't drawing more amps than the circuit is rated for. The thing to watch out for is sometimes power strips aren't rated very high, and if you have a 20 amp breaker, but have a powerstrip only rated for 10 amps, it could potentially melt the power strip without blowing the breaker, though even this is unlikely as most power strips also have a built in interrupter should too much power be drawn.
 
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