My first aquariums - 404 display/150 frag

[Myka]

Originally Posted by b09u5

Probably another few hundred dollars and I will have a solution. This just keeps adding up!

Oh, just wait until you start adding livestock! That's when it really starts adding up, but for some reason spending $1000 on livestock doesn't hurt as much as $1000 on setup. Maybe it's the eye candy.

I sympathize with the frustration of making it all work, but that is great that you are building everything to code. Codes are made for good reason, and it would not be pleasant if after all this your not-to-code plumbing failed you.

What do you have in the works for electrical? I would suggest you dedicate at least two different breakers so that if one pops the tank will still remain half-running. I run all my lights on one breaker (so if they have trouble they only kick out half the system) and my pumps are split between two different breakers. I have (2) 20-amp breakers...one is GFCI protected, the other has GFCI receptacles.

[FishyFishy!]

Originally Posted by Myka

What do you have in the works for electrical? I would suggest you dedicate at least two different breakers so that if one pops the tank will still remain half-running. I run all my lights on one breaker (so if they have trouble they only kick out half the system) and my pumps are split between two different breakers. I have (2) 20-amp breakers...one is GFCI protected, the other has GFCI receptacles.

The first post of the thread goes through his electrical setup

Originally Posted by b09u5

Seeing all of the glass in the house, I was motivated to get moving on the electrical and ventilation for the room. I wanted each section: display tank; sump; and frag tank, to be on separate circuits and for everything to be run on GFI outlets. This way, if I have a catastrophic failure of any device, none of the others should be affected. To do this, I needed to either get a new electrical panel, as mine is did not have the room to accommodate additional breakers, or set up a sub-panel near the aquarium room and run the separate services from there.

As I am planning for a hot tub and air conditioning unit in upcoming years (may need the AC sooner due to the heat from the aquariums), I chose to run a 3 conductor/2 gauge wire from the existing panel to the fish room for a sub-panel. This was more of a pain in the ass than anticipated, but 3 hours later, it was done.

IMG_2685 by gschaus, on Flickr



IMG_2699 by gschaus, on Flickr



IMG_2700 by gschaus, on Flickr



IMG_2703 by gschaus, on Flickr


From there, I had an electrician run the wiring for the three separate 15Amp services and had him run some extra wire for the ventilation of the room.

IMG_2720 by gschaus, on Flickr


IMG_2718 by gschaus, on Flickr


IMG_2722 by gschaus, on Flickr

[b09u5]

Originally Posted by Myka;823957}

What do you have in the works for electrical? I would suggest you dedicate at least two different breakers so that if one pops the tank will still remain half-running.

I have 4 separate 15 Amp services into that room (1 off my main panel, and 3 off a sub panel that I had installed). All have 4 GFI double outlets on each of them for a total of 16 double GFI outlets. All but one of the services are above the water line, so problems should be limited, and if there are any, they should not affect the other outlets.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by b09u5

I have 4 separate 15 Amp services into that room (1 off my main panel, and 3 off a sub panel that I had installed). All have 4 GFI double outlets on each of them for a total of 16 double GFI outlets. All but one of the services are above the water line, so problems should be limited, and if there are any, they should not affect the other outlets.

Awesome, great plan.

[Magma]

Originally Posted by b09u5

I have 4 separate 15 Amp services into that room (1 off my main panel, and 3 off a sub panel that I had installed). All have 4 GFI double outlets on each of them for a total of 16 double GFI outlets. All but one of the services are above the water line, so problems should be limited, and if there are any, they should not affect the other outlets.

Word of caution on GFI breakers/plugs if you plug lighting into them they may trip. The ballasts in T5's and MH are sometimes enough to trip the plug. I suggest you put all the lighting together and don't add vital equipment on with them in case they trip.

[b09u5]

Originally Posted by Magma

Word of caution on GFI breakers/plugs if you plug lighting into them they may trip. The ballasts in T5's and MH are sometimes enough to trip the plug. I suggest you put all the lighting together and don't add vital equipment on with them in case they trip.

Thanks for the tip! I will have to keep my eye out for that. I have gone with enough GFI outlets that each MH should have its own - not sure if that'll help or not. If they still trip, I can swap the GFI outlets for standard outlets as the lights are on their own circuit and the circuit itself is not GFI.

I never once thought of that, but it makes sense. I hope it's OK as is, but if not, at least I am now aware of it, so thanks!

[Myka]

Magma's advice to put all lights on one breaker is good advice. Since you have 4 breakers you should have no problem dedicating one to lighting only. I found the GFCI receptacles couldn't handle my halide lighting which is why one of my breakers is GFCI instead of the receptacle. The GFCI breakers are about $100 each where the receptacles are $20 each. My understanding is that you only need one GFCI receptacle per breaker to protect the whole breaker, but check with an electrician!

[Magma]

Originally Posted by Myka

Magma's advice to put all lights on one breaker is good advice. Since you have 4 breakers you should have no problem dedicating one to lighting only. I found the GFCI receptacles couldn't handle my halide lighting which is why one of my breakers is GFCI instead of the receptacle. The GFCI breakers are about $100 each where the receptacles are $20 each. My understanding is that you only need one GFCI receptacle per breaker to protect the whole breaker, but check with an electrician!

Good thing I am an Electrician!

GFCI breakers range from about $90 and up, the plug is around 15-20 depending on the style.

So yes it depends on how you wire the GFCI plugs. They have a Line side and a Load side.

Generally speaking you would come from the panel and into the Line side on the GFCI plug. If you have more plugs down the line you can just put the next circuit into the LOAD side of the plug and everything after that would be GFCI protected. (Basically anything wired directly off the GFCI plug down the line is GFCI protected, and anything before the GFCI is NOT protected. Thats if its all wired correctly)

When you buy a GFCI plug it has an instruction sheet on how to wire it and also clearly marks on the plug which side is which. Most have a yellow sticker over the Load side so you don't end up hooking it up wrong.

If you needed some help with it I am free on weekends and some evenings to help as well.

[b09u5]

So I think I have this cased then. I have three sections, each on a seperate non-GFI breaker: Display Tank; Frag Tank; Sump. I will only be powering lights and powerheads on the tank breakers, and the sump will take the rest. Smaller things like the fans, and lower outlets are technically GFI as there is one between the breaker ant the first outlet.

I can simply continue as I planned with 3 GFI outlets on each of the tank breakers. I think that this means that if the lights trip the GFI, the 2 other GFI outlets on the same line would still work. If this is true, I am OK. If this is false, I need to teach my electrician a thing or two! If the lights keep tripping, I think I can simply swap that outlet for a non-GFI and keep the other 2 as GFI. Let me know if this is the case.

Here is what the setup would look like for both tanks:

non-gfi breaker-----GFI outlet lights-----GFI outlet lights-----GFI outlet powerheads


if that doesn't work:

non-gfi breaker----- non GFI outlet lights-----non GFI outlet lights-----GFI outlet powerheads

The setup for the sump would look like this:

non-gfi breaker-----GFI outlet heaters------GFI outlet return pump------GFI outlet skimmer-------GFI outlet doser----GFI outlet light-----GFI outlet open-----GFI outlet open.

Again, I was going with so many separate GFIs so if i had issues with any, all other things would work. If this is not the case, clearly the GFI outlets are redundant. I think this makes sense, and should work, but I could be wrong. I may need to feed each GFI individually from the main power ie: in parallel rather than in series.

Let me know your thoughts, Magma.