Reef Discussion

Adam_w

Member
Jul 6, 2016
203
52
Moving Tank - Power Points
Hey everyone

Just been thinking recently about the move.. moving to a house where I'm renting so can't do any modifications really unless they're 100% necessary.

At the moment, I've got 2 power points in the room where my fish tank will be going and it uses about 10 power points at the moment at home. At home we wired up some extra power points on a circuit that we don't use much so that was easy enough.

At the new place is there any power board that's recommended over others? I'm assuming the cheap white ones from target are a bit worse than some of the bigger ones I've seen but I don't know much about it at all. Any recommendations on power boards that might work???
 

Wazza22

Member
Oct 3, 2015
116
50
Perth
There is no clear answer to this question.
What is the total maximum watts on your current tank?
The circuit the power points are on can have a big impact.
The only advise i can give and this is purely my own opinion and not always 100%, you get what you pay for.
So no cheap stuff in this equation
I am lucky enough to have a Bro for a sparky and he put the GPO for my tank onto it's own circuit and RCD,
Very handy so the wife's hair curler shorting out doesn't affect the tank (am i right fellas) :D
 

Adam_w

Member
Jul 6, 2016
203
52
New house is a rental so I've got no idea what circuit does what... but hopefully it's okay.

Yea that PDU thing is what I'm after - when I go home on the weekend I'll find out what my wattage is on the tank

off the top of my head though
Chiller - Resun mini 200w
king2 pump (runs chiller and rturns to main tank) 17w
2x rw 15 pumps 46w?? (i think)
coralbox moon led 52w
ai prime 55w
aqua one 1300 (main return) 14.6w
150w heater 150w
reef octopus skimmer 9w

totalling 543w given heater and chiller arent on all the time and never run at the same time brings it down to less than 400w

Lights are also not running at max output and rw15 pumps not at max output either so not sure on the effect of this i used the maximums above.

Think that should be everything thats running. I am assuming the ATO doesnt use much as its on a very tiny pump
 

Adam_w

Member
Jul 6, 2016
203
52
after some quick googling it says the max on a circuit is around 2400w so I'm well under i just need to figure out what else is on that circuit.. any tips there or do i need to call up a sparky mate?

I'm thinking i might not need to worry about it at all but just checking
 

Wazza22

Member
Oct 3, 2015
116
50
Perth
after some quick googling it says the max on a circuit is around 2400w so I'm well under i just need to figure out what else is on that circuit.. any tips there or do i need to call up a sparky mate?

I'm thinking i might not need to worry about it at all but just checking
It really depends on how your house is wired.
For example i have half my GPO's on a single RCD circuit breaker thingy and the rest are on another one,
This was why i got my brother to isolate the GPO for my fish tank as i have had in the past the dryer trip one and take out my fresh water tanks power.
Turned out to be a wise choice as i needed 1200w of heating last winter to keep my reef tank at 24 degrees
Considering your load that you listed i don't think you need to worry about overloading but would be handy (although not a necessity) to know what circuit it will be on and what other appliances are using it.
But i wouldn't pay anyone to find out
A power board with individual switches is definitely the way to go
 

Adam_w

Member
Jul 6, 2016
203
52
Yea so starting plan at the moment is to figure out which circuit it's on then pray that it's not the same one as the kitchen and it should be okay.

2500 seems like a pretty big number considering im at around 500 can't imagine what some of the bigger tanks have

Is that powerboard linked above recommended or is there something cheaper? Happy to support a reefer style product over going to bunnings though anyway