Question for our electricians

[Brad Villeggiante]

Alright gents,

I'm renting a house in Petaluma which was built in 1920. I'm going to start purchasing equipment for my tank in roughly 3 months and am a little concerned about my electrical situation. What can I check on my electrical box to see if it will handle the wattage, and what can I do about it if it won't?

 

[jkreefer]

Check and see what other outlets are on the same circuit by turning off the circuit breaker or unscrew the fuse that controls the plug you are going to use for the tank. Then we figure out what is also being shared with that circuit (tv's radios ect.). then list or add up wattage for all fish tank related stuff and report back.

 

[Brad Villeggiante]

Will do. Cheers!

 

[Brad Villeggiante]

All right, I've taken a picture of my fuse box and fuses as shown below. I turned off the breaker that would control my fish tank electricity, and to my dismay, it also controls a lot more. The breaker controls the refrigerator, toaster, microwave, stove, two tv's, and all other electrical sockets in the house with the exception of the bathroom. The tank would be putting something around 650-700 watts of electricity out when the lights are on. I have a strong feeling that my breaker won't be able to handle this. Opinions and suggestions would be great. I really don't want to buy everything, only to find out that my house can't handle it.

Note: I'm renting this house, so I don't think the landlord would be ok with large electrical changes.

 

[jdolores]

I"m going to throw it out there and say your fuses won't be able to handle the tank. The last time I saw time delay fuses was a house we bought 4-5 years ago, we immediatly changed the fux box and up graded. I want to see what our electricians are going to say?

 

[Brad Villeggiante]

bump

 

[jkreefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13434789#post13434789 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jdolores
I"m going to throw it out there and say your fuses won't be able to handle the tank. The last time I saw time delay fuses was a house we bought 4-5 years ago, we immediatly changed the fux box and up graded. I want to see what our electricians are going to say



I would have to agree.

 

[jdolores]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13439464#post13439464 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jkreefer

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13434789#post13434789 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jdolores
I"m going to throw it out there and say your fuses won't be able to handle the tank. The last time I saw time delay fuses was a house we bought 4-5 years ago, we immediatly changed the fux box and up graded. I want to see what our electricians are going to say



I would have to agree.

Oh yeah, the house was built in 1940 near the JC area. It was a pain getting the city to okay the installation. They sent two individuals two diffrent times telling us two diffrent checklists that we had to complete before they okayed everything. We gave our renters a box of fuses because they blew them atleast 1 a month.

 

[sulcata1619]

I'm sure somebody could run a dedicated circuit over to the tank for a small fee. How far from the panel in the tank going to be. Talk to your landlord and tell them you have a sparky that will change out the whole panel for a couple G's. It will add value to their home.

 

[Brad Villeggiante]

Hmmm. Let me talk to my landlord and see what he says. Are you going to be at the next meeting?

 

[coralfarmer]

How about a fish only tank?????

 

[Brad Villeggiante]

Actually, after doing some research last night and thinking about it a bit I might try a nano. I think my house could do 150 watts no problem. Would do a fish only tank, but god I really love coral.

 

[Brad Villeggiante]

Was just looking at the Finnex M 30 gallon nano's. Looks like a pretty sweet setup.