Electrical Help

Z

zlwags85

Premium Member
Hello -

I'm in the process of starting to work on 1. finishing my basement and 2. starting the fish tank once the basement is done. I have it all framed up and I'm ready to start running electricity soon. I have a 300 gallon tank. As of now, I plan on setting up all T-5's, skimmer, calcium reactor, possibly 2 part/kalk reactor, return pump, powerheads, heaters, and so on. I will not need a chiller.

Question - how many dedicated lines should I send to the fish room? I was thinking 3... breakers are not a problem. Is that plenty for everything I will need? I haven't decided how I'm going to wrie everything yet... I have been looking at Melev's electrical cabinet and I'm considering something very similar. I'm not sure what components he has on a GFI and what is not. I will run seperate GFI's so that if one blows it doesn't shut the tank down. I also have heard that GFI's automatically blow after the power goes out... can someone confirm or deny? I don't want to spend 50.00 per GFI to ensure power outtages don't blow the switch. Any thoughts or suggestions would be great.... I don't need to finnalize the actual electrical cabinet for the tank yet.... just how many lines to run to the room. Thanks!
 
What I would do Wags...is I would add a "sub" panel 50amp or so should be plenty to your fish room. And you could feed that off of a "GFI Beaker" that would reside in the main panel. That way all of you breakers in the sub panel would be GFI protected. You would need some #10 wire to feed the sub panel. Then just run circuits as needed for your tank and devices. Just so you know I also hold my Master Electricians license here in KY.
Hope this helps!
 
Hey, thanks for the info! I was planning on looking into that idea as well. My only concern is having something trip and have the whole tank shut down while i'm at work... would I still be safe or would I need to get different types of breakers that would trip at different levels/times?

As far as inspections go, I live in a county that doesn't require and building permits or inspections.... kind of scary really. I'm going to hire a structural engineer to come identify a beam to replace a load bearing wall... but I think I only need to do that for insurance.
 
Well if you would like tell me what each device's current draw is (FLA's on your pumps) and watts on your heaters. And then I will offer a suggestion for circuit layout to minimize circuit overloading and nuisance tripping. I would be happy to help!

Be blessed!
 
I am an electrician and #10 wire is not enough for a 50 amp circut you will need at least #6's for a 50 amp line where did you get your license Preacherman607????
 
Stick to preachig the gospel and not electrical advise. You are incorrect about the #10awg feeding 50A's and having a GFI breaker feeding the sub-panel. That is a recipe for disaster having a GFI feeding a sub-panel unless it for a spa. #6 is appropriate and should be installed by a qualified person. Your 'master electrician license" should be revoked in my opinion. There is only one way to do electrical work, and thats the correct way. Read up on the current NEC...........
 
DO NOT use a GFI feeding the sub

If you do you have a Problem It will kill the whole panel

Your best bet is to run seperate GFI Receptacles off of the the sub that way you can isolate problems without loosing power to your whole tank
 
Right - I kind of like Melev's new design on his website.

Can you guys tell me what I would NOT plug into a GFI? On Melev's design, he has about 50% GFI and the other non-GFI but he never really explains what he uses on the GFI and what he doesn't. Is there any benefit to run a subpanel to the room other than it leaves me more breakers in the main panel?
 
My apologies about the wire sizing.........that was a mistake! But I don't believe I my attempting to help merits all the other detrimental criticism? That's why I suggested that zlwags consult his local county/city electrical code (which often here supersedes the NEC). And if I have offended you kdc527 or you Reefer Brian or anyone else with my attempting to offer help then please forgive me!
 
I was just giving a correction on bad advice just looking out for my fellow reefers thats all. If anyone has questions about electrical advice pmme I am more than happy to help and if I don't know an answer I have 40 years of experience behind my 10 thanks everyone for such a great site!!!!
 
To answer your question, 3 circuits on dedicated lines is plenty of power for any tank room you could build in a home especially if you will have no chiller.
Run the circuits there and put all of them on GFI's. If you have multiple pumps, just plug each pump into a different circuit
(Construction electrician foreman in NYC 40 years)
 
I agree Paul with your suggestion that is the most simple and most economic way to do it. I admit that what I have done is a bit overkill for the demands of my 180. But I plan to someday have a larger tank or perhaps two tanks that was my logic behind my installing a 50 amp sub panel (using #6) I wanted to isolate each pump in my system w/ a breaker. And yes it is all fed and protected by a GFI Breaker. I also admit that this is a much more expensive route than that of other methods. But it works great for me! Thanks again Paul for your input.
 
And for the record....it is actually called a GFCI breaker. Just wanted to clarify my comment.
Click to expand...

Yes it is but in the trade we call them GFIs.
You can of course run a fifty amp sub panel but then all of your curcuits are at the mercy of that one fifty amp breaker which although unlikely could trip killing all of you circuits.
It will work either way.
My 100 gallon reef is not even on a seperate but is on one circuit with all the bedrooms. It has never tripped but if I were to re wire the house (not going to happen, I hate doing electrical work I would put it on a dedicated circuit.
My power has been out for days and it never affected the tank. Now I have a generator so I don't worry anyway but my power was out this week and I had to start the thing.
 
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