How much amperage is your tank drawing?

[Simons]

I have my saltwater tank on a dedicated 12 Amp circuit. Not sure 'two' separate ones are needed, if your power is out for example, it's out. I don't think your total load 'should' be more than 12 amps!

[whatcaneyedo]

Originally Posted by Simons

I have my saltwater tank on a dedicated 12 Amp circuit. Not sure 'two' separate ones are needed, if your power is out for example, it's out. I don't think your total load 'should' be more than 12 amps!

My logic is that its a good idea (building code) to have electrical devices that are exposed to water/moisture plugged into a GFCI receptacle. Unlike a regular breaker or fuse its pretty easy to trip a GFCI. So by splitting my water circulation pumps between two circuits I reduce the risk of my tank completely shutting down by 50% if there is some minor issue.

[mike31154]

Haven't done any measurements recently, but the spreadsheet I use to track items on my tank does include one on electrical. Here's a link should anyone be interested in doing the same. This has not been updated in a long time & some of the equipment is no longer in use, replaced by different gear. Fortunately hydro rates & service in my part of the country are still a bargain & reliable. Still looking at getting more self sufficient with utilities though, that includes solar, wind & collecting rain water, possibly setting up a grey water system in my home. Water rates are what kill me here. Vernon/NORD officials can't seem to figure out how to keep those rates reasonable. Ours are among the highest in the Okanagan.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

If the goal here is to calculate cost, watts would be a better starting point than amps, since rates from the utilities are generally billed using kilowatt hours. If your power monitoring equipment provides the option to display watts, you save one step. Not long after they installed the smart meter on my house, I purchased a monitoring device that reports whole house usage. I used a plug in device to individually measure the power use of the items on the spreadsheet.

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by Simons

I have my saltwater tank on a dedicated 12 Amp circuit. Not sure 'two' separate ones are needed, if your power is out for example, it's out. I don't think your total load 'should' be more than 12 amps!

12 amp circuit? Don't recall seeing a circuit breaker in my Load Panel with a 12 on it. Aside from the mains (100 amp or larger) I have 15 & 30 amp breakers. 20 amp is another commonly available size. You may be confusing the generally accepted safe 12 amp limit (80%) on a 15 amp circuit with actual circuit breaker rating.

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

My logic is that its a good idea (building code) to have electrical devices that are exposed to water/moisture plugged into a GFCI receptacle. Unlike a regular breaker or fuse its pretty easy to trip a GFCI. So by splitting my water circulation pumps between two circuits I reduce the risk of my tank completely shutting down by 50% if there is some minor issue.

This, right here^^^^^. Having all your tank equipment on a single circuit, regardless of whether it can easily handle your load is a recipe for grief. Might not be sooner, but sooner or later it's bound to happen. Plenty of examples of reef tank horror stories related to tripped circuits. Backup power source in case of troubles is also highly advisable.

[Simons]

Originally Posted by mike31154

12 amp circuit? Don't recall seeing a circuit breaker in my Load Panel with a 12 on it. Aside from the mains (100 amp or larger) I have 15 & 30 amp breakers. 20 amp is another commonly available size. You may be confusing the generally accepted safe 12 amp limit (80%) on a 15 amp circuit with actual circuit breaker rating.


This, right here^^^^^. Having all your tank equipment on a single circuit, regardless of whether it can easily handle your load is a recipe for grief. Might not be sooner, but sooner or later it's bound to happen. Plenty of examples of reef tank horror stories related to tripped circuits. Backup power source in case of troubles is also highly advisable.

I think your correct, it is a 15 AMP breaker not a 12. Thanks for the correction.

[e46er]

Originally Posted by Simons

I have my saltwater tank on a dedicated 12 Amp circuit. Not sure 'two' separate ones are needed, if your power is out for example, it's out. I don't think your total load 'should' be more than 12 amps!

day to day no thats a lot of juice.
but after a power outage on a tank that big he will probably have 1200W of heaters and if the tank temp drops 5-6 degrees after a good outage, when power comes back on all the heater kick in pumps lights ect hes well over the 15A a regular circuit will handle.

split everything evenly or at least have a powerhead and heater on a second circuit.

My 250 I have both LED light fixtures a heater and a power head on one and then the apex on the other running everything else.
the LED have their own controllers and they throw nothing for heat so I couldnt see using 2 apex outlets for them and i could care less if that circuit trips for any reason that the fish are in the dark until I could get there but if the 2nd circuit running EVERYTHING else blows I still have some heat ( not enough but it will probably give me hours and hours of extra time before the tank drops toooooo much in temp.) and circulation

its not only about the power draw its also redundancy becuase anyone with any time invested in this hobby will testify bad sh*t never happens when your home its middle of the night or 10 min after you walk out the door to go to work.

not ragging on you at all just food for thought!