My first aquariums - 404 display/150 frag

[FishyFishy!]

Originally Posted by Myka

What do you have in the works for electrical? I would suggest you dedicate at least two different breakers so that if one pops the tank will still remain half-running. I run all my lights on one breaker (so if they have trouble they only kick out half the system) and my pumps are split between two different breakers. I have (2) 20-amp breakers...one is GFCI protected, the other has GFCI receptacles.

The first post of the thread goes through his electrical setup

Originally Posted by b09u5

Seeing all of the glass in the house, I was motivated to get moving on the electrical and ventilation for the room. I wanted each section: display tank; sump; and frag tank, to be on separate circuits and for everything to be run on GFI outlets. This way, if I have a catastrophic failure of any device, none of the others should be affected. To do this, I needed to either get a new electrical panel, as mine is did not have the room to accommodate additional breakers, or set up a sub-panel near the aquarium room and run the separate services from there.

As I am planning for a hot tub and air conditioning unit in upcoming years (may need the AC sooner due to the heat from the aquariums), I chose to run a 3 conductor/2 gauge wire from the existing panel to the fish room for a sub-panel. This was more of a pain in the ass than anticipated, but 3 hours later, it was done.

IMG_2685 by gschaus, on Flickr



IMG_2699 by gschaus, on Flickr



IMG_2700 by gschaus, on Flickr



IMG_2703 by gschaus, on Flickr


From there, I had an electrician run the wiring for the three separate 15Amp services and had him run some extra wire for the ventilation of the room.

IMG_2720 by gschaus, on Flickr


IMG_2718 by gschaus, on Flickr


IMG_2722 by gschaus, on Flickr