Tank electrical power help

[Silent Bob]

Let me start off by thanking anyone that can help out. I recently purchased a 210 gallon aqueon tank and stand. How much power do I need?

Equipment list

2 fluvial fx5's
4 aqueon 300 watt heaters
DIY CFL lighting

Currently the room has a 10 amp breaker but is my entertainment room. Big screen tv ps3 home theatre. Do I need another 10 amp seperate circuit or 15 or 20.
THANKS AGAIN

 

[dfritschle]

Personally I would run a separate 15 amp circuit. The fx5s will be on all the time at 100 watts (about .8 amps), the lights will come in around 1-2 amps, and if all 4 heaters kicked on at the same time they would be 10 amps. That puts you at 12-13 amps.

 

[bbortko]

Your best bet is a new 20a circuit, your only supposed to use 80% of the circuits capacity and your already there. For a couple of extra bucks you'll have the ability to add equipment should the need arise in the future.

 

[dfritschle]

Your best bet is a new 20a circuit, your only supposed to use 80% of the circuits capacity and your already there. For a couple of extra bucks you'll have the ability to add equipment should the need arise in the future.

I agree with this statement. 12 guage wire, 20 amp breaker, and 20 amp outlet. You could use multiple 15 amp outlets, but you'd have to be sure not to run over 15 amps.

 

[frickr]

either add a gfci breaker, or one gfci outlet. the breakers are alot more expensive, where as one outlet will get you by perfectly fine. after the gfci all others behind it on the circuit are protected. the NEC (national electric code) also states that any outlet in a habitable room thats not a kitchen or bathroom also need to have AFCI arc fault circuit protection.

 

[bbortko]

Since the circuit will be dedicated to the tank all you need is 1 gfci, you can protect up to four devices off of 1 gfci. If Plainfield follows Chicago code don't worry about afci, we don't need them since we use conduit instead of romex.

 

[Silent Bob]

Thank you everyone for your advice. Now the question is can I fish some 12 gauge wire from the outlet I want to run my aquarium off of back to my box and change the breaker over to a 20 amp breaker? Also using a 20 amp gfi? I have some breakers that are not being used in the box. How can I figure out if I am going to overload my box?

 

[deeda]

Is that outlet currently in use (hooked up) or is it brand new? If you aren't familiar with replacing/installing a breaker in the main panel, I seriously recommend getting an estimate from a pro.

Fishing wires is lots of fun, I have various holes cut in my basement ceiling drywall for access points since we have recently upgraded to a new furnace, A.C. and additional outlets in the future fish room.

By the way, in your first post you said you have a 10A breaker for the entertainment room, is that correct?

 

[12 Volt Man]

you are running FOUR 300w heaters?

cut that down to two or even one.

four heaters on at once will use 900w which is almost 10 amps right there.

add up the wattages of all your equipment, and divide by 120 volts (standard voltage in north america) and that will give you the amp draw if everything was on at once.

now, you can't run more than 80% of the max. circuit draw continuously.

so, for a 15 amp circuit, dont put more than 12 amps on it.

for a 20 amp circuit, don't put more than 16 amps on it.

Big tanks are power hogs, so you will need another circuit down there for sure.

best thing to do is hire an electrician to do it right. money well spent IMO. Trying to save a buck could result in a house fire if you are not familiar/comfortable with the work.

enjoy your tank!

 

[Silent Bob]

I know how to replace a breaker in a panel. That is not what I was asking. I was asking on running a dedicated line for the tank itself. Two different things. And as far as running 4 heaters go it is all about redundancy. Not all of them have to work as hard to heat the tank. Plus I am not using one heater to run a 210 gallon tank. If I for some reason loose one circuit I have the other running half of my equipment one filter and two heaters on each circuit.