Trying to figure out if I can have a 180g

[dzhuo]

Guys,
I am consider getting a tank in the 180g range. It will go into a house which is about 10 years old. The first concern I have is whether I need to do something with the wiring / electrical plug, etc to have enough juice to support the tank that size. I haven't figure all the equipments for the tank yet so I don't have the total wattage but I figure the biggest is light, skimmer and pumps.

How do I test if the electrical plug will work to support all the equipments without any modifications? What's the best way to test this for?

Thx!

 

[mpoletti]

I don't know about everyone here, but most of the people I know that have larger tanks have at least one or two dedicated breakers for their tank.

10 years old is nothing. My house is 70 years old

 

[dzhuo]

Is a dedicated breaker generally easy to install? Assuming the tank does not have a dedicated breaker, what's the total wattage tank will be able to draw?

Sorry, I really need to read up on all that stuff...

 

[dzhuo]

Anyone else has any input on this? Thx!

 

[Phillybean]

Every tank varies depending on what your running. The more power you'll use, the more you'll need a dedicated breaker (or two)

A FOWLR - Hardly anything no need

Full Blown Reef with MH and lots of pumps, heaters, chiller etc. - Different story

Breakers aren't too hard to do, but the wiring for the plugs to the tank is the problem, unless it's all in an unfinished basement. The wiring needs to go behind the drywall, which of course means removing the drywall to put the wires.

1 amp = 110 Watts. Most household breakers are rated for 15 amps, so you can run 1650 Watts off it.

I'm in an older house that has very poor wiring, my office, computer, tank, bedroom and living room are all on the same breaker. Nothing trips unless my wife tries to dry her hair in the bedroom. I only have a 75 though, in theory aa 180 would draw twice that, which wouldn't work with one breaker.

 

[savethereef]

im gona be selling my 180g Acrylic Penninsula tank in the next 2-4 weeks. I am in California dont know if you are near.

 

[dzhuo]

So I guess how do you know if multiple plug share the same breaker or not? And how do you figure out how many dedicated breakers there already are in the house?

Rob,
Yes I am in Ca (SF) but Long Beach is a long drive.

 

[m0nk]

My house is 100 yrs old and I have a 180g running with 4x 175w MH, 2x 160w VHO, 3 Koralia 4 PHs, a Seio 620 PH, Gen X return pump, Octopus skimmer, 3 small heaters, 6 fans, all on the original breaker box. I didn't have any issues with tripping breakers until I started using a 1000w Electric heater to supplement my oil heating and save me some money over the winter, but my living room is on 2 separate circuits so I moved the lighting and fans over to the other circuit. Works for me, might not work for everyone else.

 

[Phillybean]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14091823#post14091823 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dzhuo
So I guess how do you know if multiple plug share the same breaker or not? And how do you figure out how many dedicated breakers there already are in the house?

Rob,
Yes I am in Ca (SF) but Long Beach is a long drive.

If you go to your breaker box, they usually label the plugs. For example, in mine it has "Living Room, Bedrooms" listed on one breaker. Since I only have one living room and two bedrooms, I know these are all on one.

Another way to add some extra wattage is to tap into your lighting. My living room and bedroom lights are also on one breaker, however if I use 50 watt bulbs or so, I have lots left over to tap into.

 

[savethereef]

you can do what i did. i had to drill a small 1 inch hole in the wall to pass a cable thru to the kitchen to put the MH on that to share the load. so in my living room i have all the pumps and T-5 and 2 MH there. In the kitchen i have the my chiller plugged in and one MH so it shares the load and it wont make the surge trip. been doing that for one year.

 

[ruiny]

To check what is on one breaker, just turn it off and try pluging stuff into the outlets. All the dead outlets were on that breaker.
Don't forget that the load for that circuit is all the stuff pluged into any of the outlets on that circuit. I ran a full reef 180 gal with a single 15 amp breaker. If you use a gfi and only one circuit than you run the risk of poping the gfi when big pumps start up, as they will cause a amp spike shutting down everything pluged into it.
I would suggest doing what savethereef did and runing some stuff off a different circuit.

 

[dzhuo]

thx for everyone's input on this. seems like i might actually be ok with the existing breakers. i am planning to go design the system to use as little electricity as possible. for example, i will only run 2 250w mh (no supplement of any kind). the skimmer will be feed directly from the overflow to avoid running big bump. circulation will only be 2 tunze and i won't run any reactor of any kind, etc...

one question i still want to know tho is in case i need a dedicated breaker, is it easy to install? or do i need to have someone professional to come in and install for me?

 

[tomndeb]

good luck

 

[Mr. Brooks]

I would hire an electrician. Don't mess with that stuff unless you know what you're doing. Have him install GFI outlets

 

[maeistero]

you only need 1 gfi outlet in a given circuit. or use a gfi breaker (more expensive, but easier)

i would say your main concern will be the wire from your breaker box to the tank. is it 15 or 20 gauge? white or yellow? (or black) I've ran a 180, 135 and 120 on a 15a breaker, although they were plumbed together and nothing else was on the circuit (including the lighting)

it's sometimes easy to use a fish wire to run new lines, but if there are multiple switches and outlets it can be time consuming. when i ran my fish setup i made sure everything was pretty close to the breaker box, although after my first overflow upstairs i learned never to put a tank above the box. main breakers are very expensive!

 

[dzhuo]

yes i am definitely not comfortable doing that stuff myself. is installing a dedicated breaker expensive?

 

[dzhuo]

one more thing, does PG&E provide that sort of service?

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Can't help you on PG&E, I have no idea.

I got some really high quotes. In the $500 - 1,000 range. I ended up running the wire myself, had an electrician make all the connections and install the outlets for $150.

 

[UnderwaterExotic]

Being a Certified Electrician i would suggest running a seperate line to the tank say with maybe 3 or 4 outlets. I also would put this on a 20 Amp Breaker ran with 12 gauge wire with like previously said, a GFI as your first receptacle or as a breaker! There is not a chance that your going to run 20 gauge wire! WAAAAYYYYY to small!!! You could get away with 14 gauge, but as long as your doing it why not run a 20 AMP? and 12 Gauge wire? Hope that helps!

 

[ruiny]

If you are going to replace your outlets with a gfi. make sure you hook it up right or only the gfi outlet will be gfi protected. and the others on the same circuit will not. I would try it first and see it you are poping the breaker. Just don't swap out the breaker for a bigger one with out changing the wire. This could burn the house down. (some people may suggest this)