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OK Koi you seem to see the problem...I'm not so concerned about the wattage, but about the number of plugs I have.

Before I list what is all plugged in, is there any type of filter, that I can make into a filtration system for more than one tank? I'm thinking go with a heavy duty airpump with 1 plug and then doing splitters, I just still want to have the good filtration that I currently have

In order to list what I have plugged in I'm doing it by tank, so I don't forget anything (I'm not listing wattage, then I'd have to go check it out):

20 gallon--guppies, khulis, corries
1 pump with double gang valve for ugf
1 heater
1 light

10 gallon--2 male bettas with dividers
1 pump with double gang valve for ugf
1 heater
1 light

2.5 gallon--1 psycho female betta
1 HOV
1 light (15 watts?)

2.0 gallon--1 psycho male betta
1 Biowheel
1 light (7 watts I believe)

1.0 gallon x 3--1 female betta, 2 male bettas
3 small airpumps for ugf
3 small lights (7 watts I think)

Ok that gives me a grand total of 16 plugs for the power strips, I'm almost sure that the strips will flip before I have a problem, I'm just sick of the snakes nest that the wiring has become...camera charger to the living room is no problem, I use it rarely, can't even use it right nowcan't find the camera phone charger as far as i'm concerned could go to the bathroom or kitchen, has just always been handier to have in bedroom...

so 16 plugs in the space of 2...I've thought about those little boxes that you can but that plug into the 2 slots and screw in that would give me I think 9 spaces, but really I need to get rid of the snakes nest...help?

thanks, heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

if everything is running ok on the powerboards and not tripping your circuit breaker already then your biggest worry is fire from power boards plugged into powerboards. the easiest solution is get a sparky to install 2 more double outlets near the existing one. this will give each powerboard its own outlet with one spare.

OH TOLEEDY!

I'm not exactly sure how to make a sump... do some digging around and I'm sure you'll come up with something

You would need much larger than 2g for the sump, since you'll need filtration, space for the pump, and return flow from all the piping/reverse siphon in case power goes out. It makes more sense to me to follow your plan of larger pumps with gang valves. Add drip loops on the end of wire management sheathing to take care of the snake mess.

By the way, if fire is your major concern, and you have drip loops on all your cords, you should sum your total amperage and wattage as has been suggested. I'm not an electrician, but these are the most obvious points of failure in what you describe.

Last edited by czcz at 02-Jun-2005 19:59

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http://justanothertank.com

ok so tell me how to make this sump you were telling me about...

I know when i was first setting up the 125 i was looking at building one, but i have slept since then and can't remember what all it intels....

So let's get rid of the snakes nest, but working with something that will cut back on amps/watts/whatever and lower the chances of me catching the apts on firethe landlady wasn't happy when i flooded mine and the neighbors apts 2 wks agoso i know burning the apts down won't make her anymore pleased

So a sump on say the 29 would be easier than the mess that it currently has...

if i go with a better airpump and do splitters off of it for the bettas that will definately help in all the above needed ways, and I think I can scootch them all on the headboard with a little moving

So now while the cell phone charges up again, I shall brainstorm on what to do...(I'm using the cell to access the net for today)

If I scootch the betta tanks (this is really where most of my problem lies I believe) together then I can get one good airpump and gangline it so that it will work on 3-1gallon tanks...the lighting on these 3 tanks is only 7 watts each so I think I'm safe there...[font color="#C00000"]down 2 plugs[/font]

Now if I go and move Gangus Khan and Fruit Loop to the living room/dining room that will take 4 plugs off and place them elsewhere (the book case is looking better all the time)

Then if I can replace one of the airpumps I have for the 10 gallon and 20 gallon I will have a little less wiring...

Now let's see, I could easily rewire the mess with the 29 gallon and get it better straightened out, it's been my plan for a long time now, just haven't had the time or energy to do so

The 125 right now is paired down as well as I can, and it really isn't as bad as this mess i have beside the bed on the bedside tank stand and headboard

My 55 right now is still out of commission until I get up the energy and guts to move it and reseal the flipping thing]:|...I would really like to be able to have a sump on that tank if someone can reexplain how to do it to me, in idiot language so that I understandthat should help on the mess on that end, that isn't even up and running for the time being...


Old Timer, I am trying to ween things down so that I'm not such a fire hazard, that is one thing that really bothers me, I would hate to see me trying to drag the cat, dog, tanks, and scrapbooks, as well as the few sentimental objects I have from my Nanny and her Grandmother out the door...the rest could easily be replaced...

thanks ya'll i'll let ya'll know how this comes along...eventually i'll have it figured out, or i'll be in a house of my own and have a fish room to deal with not this tank here, tank there, mess....

heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

And again, I didn't state that tanks had to be taken down, I simply stated that all outlets, power strips, extension cords, etc., all have an amperage rating for what they can handle safely. If you exceed those ratings in any of the above you can cause a major problem in other words a possible fire. Just because you remove a low voltage DC adapter doesn't mean your solving the problem of drawing too much amperage. If your running 20 amps of fixtures on a 15 amp line your looking for a tripped breaker and/or other problems.

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Why start taking down tanks? Take out other electrical stuffs

Most little power adapters for little gadgets (like the ones they have on phones and other stuff that need lower DC voltages instead of higher AC voltages) tend to drain a lot of electricity by just being plugged in (they get hot, don't they? That heat's comin' from the power). You could possibly set stuff like that on timers to turn off when yer asleep (whenever that is ).

If nessecary, cut back on other electrical stuff (combining tanks like I posted above might help)...you don't nessecarily need to cut back on the number of tanks ya got

Even though you seem to be mainly concerned with the number of cords or extension cords you have, you need to understand that each individual cord or power strip that you are using are individually rated for a maximum amperage that they can handle "SAFELY."

Additionally, your primary circuit is again rated for a maximum amperage. If you exceed this amperage then in the perfect world the circuit breaker should trip. However, if you have a malfunction in the circuit breaker, which does happen on occassion, you could overload the rating of the wiring, which could cause overheating, which could cause a fire. I'm pretty sure you don't want this to happen.

For the safety of both you, your fish and any other occupants of the apartment complex you need to figure out what is a "SAFE" load to be placing on these lines. If you don't you are courting a possible major disaster. Please be safe first, and I know this is hard to do, but you may have to limit the number of tanks you have.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Alright, it won't let me post a bunch of spaces in between everything...so I just hit back a couple times and copied and pasted it all into word so I can take a screenshot...

EDIT- You'll only need one powerhead for the sump...just use splitters...or you might need splitters on splitters for that

PoisonWaffle attached this image:


Last edited by PoisonWaffle at 01-Jun-2005 21:38[/font]

If yer 3x1g's are rectangular and all the same dimensions, you could probably figure out a way to put them all side-by-side (female in the middle probably) and have one big light that goes over all of them, and have 1 air pump with a 3-way gang valve It might look something like this...
_________________
/_________________\
| | | |
| M | F | M |
|_____|_____|_____|

That would cut down on 4 cords (-2 pumps, -2 lights).

Another thing you could do with these tanks could be a little 2.5g central sump so you could have one little heater in 'em.
_________________
/_________________\
| | | |
| M | F | M |
|_____|_____|_____|
\ \ | | / /
_\_\__|_|__/_/_
| |
|_______________|

Or you could get another 1g for the other male betta and use the 2g as a sump.

_______________________
/_______________________\
| | | | |
| M | F | M | F |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|
\ \ | | | | / /
_\_\__|_|___| |__/_/_
| |
|_____________________|

Or get another 2x 1g's and another male and female betta and do a little thing like this...
_____________________________
/_____________________________\
| | | | | |
| M | F | M | F | M |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|
\ \ | | | | | | / /
_\_\__|_|___| |___| |__/_/_
| |
|___________________________|

I know I have too much time on my hands

This is a somewhat easy way to figure out you power consumption. Just do a little math, If you know your voltage from your outlet is 120v (which it probley is) and you know how many watts a certain device (say a heater) uses (its usually printed on a sticker somwhere on the device), you do a simple power formula. Power/voltage=amps. (exp. 300watts / 120volts = 2.5 amps, say that was a heater) so you do this for all the devices running in each tank, on that certain circuit and add all your amps up, if you under 15 or 20 amps (which is probley what your breaker is) your ok.

www.responsiblethrashers.com

OK yes, I have an electrical question and jeez if I don't know what to do about the problem other than what I am already doing:%)

Well, you see a good bit of my tanks are in my bedroom. yes i realize at the rate i've been going i'll drown before 2006 but you see I have the typical 4 walls in my bedroom, but only have electrical sockets on 3 of them...

well, 1 wall is my 29 gallon and all it's electrical mess...enough said, right?

my second wall is alarm clock, phone charger, camera charger, bedside lamp...

my third wall is well the bedside tank stand and other tanks So it is this wall that I am having electrical problems with To start with there are only 2 plugs on this wall ok this is normal, i know, i know Well, both plugs are being occupied by power strips [font color="#008000"](1 and 2)[/font] Everyone following?

these power strip plugs are all being used so now I have gone into plugging power strips into power strips [font color="#008000"](1a and 2a)[/font], and in one case another power strip into said power strip causing me to have [font color="#008000"]1a1[/font]

I realize I am probably getting close to having a fire hazard and other than rewiring the apartment (and I'm not doing that) and moving a majority of the tanks to the dining room and using that one bookshelf I've been thinking of as a betta shelf:%) Is there any other way? Should I just create one power strip plugged into the wall, and then plug all the other power strips into it?

I really need some help here cause I'm out of ideas...T'anks, heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

what i usually do is take the single gang box out of the wall than cut the hole the size for a double gang screw the box to the stud and put in to receptacles as far putting in a bigger breaker the wire would be to small. but than you would at least have more plugs. and your right about extension cords starting fires.

Not a matter of wattage pulling like I said move the charger out of the room and I would like to know exactly what all is plugged in extension cords plugged into extension cords.

The reason I want her to use less extension cords and plugs is because that is typically where the fire starts. The next most common spot would be right at the wall. She has to get that pared down to one extension cord.

Koi

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

Heidi,

I don’t think you should consider buying units that combine functionality
like koi keeper suggests. You would still need the same wattage to power
them and all you save is one plug. A 30W filter and a 200W heater will still
need 230W, together or not (no offense, koi keeper).

Your circuit breaker will shut off when you reach the maximum. And you might
not even be at home when it all happens. Running an extension seems to be
a good idea if you do not wish to get a new line into your bedroom. On the
other hand, if your house wiring is not too old, you could try to find out if
you could “upgrade” your circuit to 20 amps or more.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

sorry for not having red all the info but i'd give priority to the aplliances with high wattages like heater and lighing and distrubuit these apliances evenly between the sockets so even if it means having an extension cord going acoss the floor from the wall with the phone charger e.t.c. (wich shoul'd need a whole socket to them selves any way!)to the wall with three tanks

Reduce the number of items you need to plug in. For example buy one of those two in one filters that heats and filters the tank etc. There is a lot you can do to pare down the amount of electricity to run your tank.

The camera charger can most definately be moved to another room, as could the phone charger if you could bear to do without it.

The wall with outlets plugged into outlets, what all is plugged in there?

Koi

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

are you actually overloading either the powerstrips or the breakers? or are you just worried that you might. i'm not an electrician but i don't think tripping the breaker would harm anything unless you arn't home and have the potential of syphonig all the water on the floor. but if they are tripping you will have to move them or rewire.

i ran a seperate breaker for my reef tank that i am setting up, luckily i know people who can put it in for free.

so basically it may not be the fact that I have the room for the tanks, but I don't have the electrical abilities for them?

This really stinks, ok i'm definately gonna have to move things around...maybe the "bookshelf" in question would be a better place for the bettas...I'll have to see about that, it seems to be my only other option other than do a bigger tank with less plugs, and do more dividers, dang if i don't hate that thought

heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

houston

Just because you run a lead (which can be dangerous anyway)does not mean it will be on another circut, it will still have the same main power circut at the meter box and here is one of the major problem.

Being a father of two qualified electricians, I can assure I would not be permitted to such a thing.

You are running extremly close to a major disaster, and if there is (for you sake I hope not). You will loose more than a few tanks.

I personally dont think you have much choice as you do not want to rewire or carry out any electrical work. Sorry to say it is either reduce the load on the electrical circut/s or you will/could have one big burnout.

Get a qualified electrician to do a complete check as their could be damage in areas where you cannot see.

Keith

Last edited by keithgh at 30-May-2005 22:25

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