Electrical

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lokian

New member
I need some assitance here to see if i can even setup my first tank...

i have a single 15a circuit running into my living room that is currently hosting my tv and xbox. i think

i want to get a 180gal tank with 3 x 250w MH and 4 t5's, also need to run pumps, and all other electrical on this circuit...

am i going to have issues with just the one circuit in there?

i really have no way to pull another circuit in there... any suggestions?
 
Yes you will have problems. You need more than one curcuit, you will pop breakers. You will probably be fine until you plug those lights in, that how it went in my house.
 
lokian said:
I need some assitance here to see if i can even setup my first tank...

i have a single 15a circuit running into my living room that is currently hosting my tv and xbox. i think

i want to get a 180gal tank with 3 x 250w MH and 4 t5's, also need to run pumps, and all other electrical on this circuit...

am i going to have issues with just the one circuit in there?

i really have no way to pull another circuit in there... any suggestions?
Click to expand...

If you want that kind of set up, pay to have an electrician come out and add another circuit. There is really no way around it.
 
brycerb said:
Yes you will have problems. You need more than one curcuit, you will pop breakers. You will probably be fine until you plug those lights in, that how it went in my house.
Click to expand...

what you do to get around it?

i wonder how much the cost would be to run another 2 lines in there.
 
It really all depends on how far you are from the distribution box (breaker panel) to the tank and how easy it is to access. If you have a crawl space its pretty easy (for an electrician)
I'd guess aroudn $200 to run a single 15A GFCI circuit.

Give an electrician a call they will come out and give you a quote for free. Then call another and get a second quote.
 
Depending on how your house is set up, you can do this yourself fairly easy. I would get someone to double check your work though.
 
i know how to run electrical... the problem is there is no crawl space or basement, or attic. i would have to knock holes into about 3 walls and 2 ceilings to be able to pull the wire.

anyway to test if there is more then one circuit in the room?
 
lokian said:
anyway to test if there is more then one circuit in the room?
Click to expand...

Plug a radio into each socket and flip breakers until it goes out. Note which sockets are on which breakers. If there are two breakers then there are two circuits. After that it's just extension cords.

Jeff
 
does your house have conduit? or just romex/exposed wiring in the walls.
IF conduit you should be able to just pull another run to the room.

Any other rooms close?
I pulled my circuit from the outlet on the opposite side of the wall in another room.
It's not a new dedicated circuit but the other room is just a guest bedroom.

Or just go with LED's instead of those hot/power hungry MH.. No need for another circuit then as the power consumption is MUCH less with LED's.
 
lol... power monsters... thanks jeff for laying out the simplest things... kinda over looked the easy answer when looking at a common problem...

no conduit... just simple wire stapled to the studs

i will be trying the radio and extension cord tonight to see if i can pull another circuit from close by.

Thanks
Q
 
I am an electrician and if you dont have conduit in your house or no crawl, attic, or basement its not going to be worth your time or money to pay someone 75 an hr to give you a cir for your tank. This cost does not even include the repair of the walls etc.

You can buy a DIY LED fixture and have 1 pump for your sump and be under the cost of the separate circuit. You will also not have to buy a chiller to cool your tank with the MH fixture. (not to mention the cost to run MH and replace the bulbs etc.) Might be an expense at first but and very good investment in the long run.

Check my build and let me know what you think. I have an 185 gal myself. This is week 6 of the cycle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iwiypw44ic

BTW the whole LED Build is shown on my you tube channel.
 
FWIW, I run my 180 system on two breakers. one does all the MH and a dart for the closed loop along with moon lights and seaswirls. the other runs my Barracuda return pump, UV, chiller, CA reactor and the freezer in the garage. Fortunately, the cuda is not a big amp draw so all run fine on that. also, make sure they are all on GFCI protected outlets as well. those are pretty easy to install. I installed the one for the tank upstream from the tank plug so it is easier to reset without having to crawl under the stand.
 
if it helps u any i have a 15A aluminum wiring house with nly one dual out resepticle in my living area where my 125 gal tank is. i had all the equipment including chiller 700w lights and 2 skimmers and multiple pumps along with a refigerator plugged into the same outlet. i have a device u can purchase at ur local hardware store that shows what ur pulling. with everything i mentioned on it pulls 11A and 1100-1200watts. this setup ran for 2 years without any problem then one day the second out on the same recepticle where the fridge was plugged started to melt. i moved the fridge to a different location and fixed the melted wire. since then i have never had any issues. now it pulls about 900-1050watts and 9-10amps at full load.
you can read all the stuff i have running in my signature under this post.
 
I am a firm believer in splitting thing between circuits. My thinking is if a gfci trips, it does not take out your return pump and your circulation pumps.
 
ok so after check all the respecticles in the bottom part of the house... i found that only 1 circuit controls the entire living room and front room. So no go on pulling the line from another room. I also found that on this circuit i have my 50" plasma, xbox, wii, receiver, cable box, and blue ray player plugged into.

I'm going to stick with t5's probably around 500-600w of them...

i would probably end up running the lights, sump pump, RK elite, 3-4 power heads and 2 200w heaters... and a ref light.

the tv and that stuff only has 2 on at the same time.

thanks guys... im starting to think i might not be able to get this tank.

thoughts?
 
lokian said:
ok so after check all the respecticles in the bottom part of the house... i found that only 1 circuit controls the entire living room and front room. So no go on pulling the line from another room. I also found that on this circuit i have my 50" plasma, xbox, wii, receiver, cable box, and blue ray player plugged into.

I'm going to stick with t5's probably around 500-600w of them...

i would probably end up running the lights, sump pump, RK elite, 3-4 power heads and 2 200w heaters... and a ref light.

the tv and that stuff only has 2 on at the same time.

thanks guys... im starting to think i might not be able to get this tank.

thoughts?
Click to expand...

With the cost of your tank reaching well above the $2000 mark with all your planned equipment and not even livestock why not suck up the 500 bucks the electrical and drywall will cost and have a circuit pulled.
I have a couple tools/trick that have allowed me to pull circuits with surprisingly little damage to drywall.
 
Jeff000 said:
With the cost of your tank reaching well above the $2000 mark with all your planned equipment and not even livestock why not suck up the 500 bucks the electrical and drywall will cost and have a circuit pulled.
I have a couple tools/trick that have allowed me to pull circuits with surprisingly little damage to drywall.
Click to expand...

Because its a newly built house that the wifey will kill me if i destroy :)... wanna come to indiana and pull the wire for me ? i will pay hehehhe

Im going to make this happen muh hah ha... just no idea how yet...

I saw that there is no more slots on the breaker panel cover... does this mean that there is no more room for breakers or additional circuits? Or is it something i have to open the box up for to see...

Another option i thought about last night is to lift the carpet and then cutting a slit into the concrete floor... this will allow me to run AC, drain, and some type of water pipe for the ro/di system...

Or i can run a wire on the outside of the house under the vinyl. from the upstairs circuit to down stairs and punching a hole thru the wall and mounting the box.
 
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