Adding Energy to the Aquarium – Installation Tip 12

Adding energy to the aquarium is usually not a problem. A fish tank is not an energy hungry system. It is true that it uses quite a few plugs to operate the various units necessary for the life and health of the fish. It is quite conservative in its power demands compared to televisions, computers, and many other entertainment gadgets. These can extract a lot of juice to keep them working properly. However, an aquarium often requires only a few additional outlets to get the power that aquarium accessories require.

The standard aquarium system generally requires at least three outlets when adding power to aquarium accessories. The various primary functions in the aquarium ecosystem require at least one each. One for a heater, one (at least) for the filter, if only one is in use. Finally, a plug for aquarium lighting. Other accessories can also be used, such as an air pump for optimal surface agitation, which require another plug.

Even with all of these required plugs, if one considers the electrical requirements of an average 10-30 gallon aquarium, adding power for its minimum requirements is not a drain. Even with a 150W heater (for the largest aquarium), the electrical requirements for a fully functioning aquarium would be approximately:

• 150 W – Heater
• 6 – 12 W – Filter – If using double filtration, add another 6 – 12 W to hourly power consumption
• 15-20 W – Fluorescent canopy
• 6 – 12 W for a system airpiump has one installed

When the heater is running, the total requirements would be a maximum of 182 watts without a secondary filter and air pump. Add a maximum of 24 more watts per hour if both are added. This situation, with an additional filter and even an air pump, is really rare these days. Now, consider that the heater rarely works very much in the space of an hour.

When the correct temperature is reached and adjusted correctly, it often turns off more than it turns on. When that’s the case, it only burns energy when heated, which is only occasionally. The thermostat requires it to operate only when the temperature is below the heater setting.

Otherwise, the power consumption of an illuminated aquarium is up to 32 watts (for a 20 watt bulb and a 12 watt filter) as the only aquarium equipment in operation. When the tank is dark and the light is off at night, you may only be using 6-12 watts per hour!

Not much energy is consumed by the beauty that an aquarium offers in the surroundings.

Although the energy consumption is minimal, one must nevertheless consider how the energy is delivered to the aquarium. Since the required energy is so small, it is not difficult to provide the required amount of energy. There should be no stress on the circuits in any way.

The real problem is delivering the power to three outlets. The typical wall socket provides only two outlets from the wall. This is easily solved if there are two power outlets with a pair of plugs near the aquarium. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case in modern homes, or even businesses.

In many common cases, the aquarist with a single wall socket with two plugs uses the most common solution when adding power. Using a multi-plug power bar of some kind is the usual solution. The problem here is that the most common installation of these units is to leave them on the floor directly under the aquarium to keep them out of the way. There is a great danger that the water escaping from the aquarium enters the energy bar. This is a very likely scenario in this installation scenario. There is a great possibility of electrical fire in case free water somehow gets into hot electrical parts and short circuit occurs.

In a previous tip, The Importance of a Trickle Loop, set up tip 11; We mentioned the real need for a drip circuit to be in place at all times. Leaving a power bar on the floor negates the possibility of an effective wire drip loop forming and remaining available for the life of the system. In most cases, unless the power bar is mounted on the wall or suspended above the floor in some way, there is a possibility of problems with this solution.

We prefer to use a six plug adapter plugged in over the actual wall socket. Since the electrical consumption is so low anyway, there is little to no danger of overloading the outlet when all three to five outlets are filled with aquarium equipment. We do not recommend using the remaining plugs for anything other than aquarium appliances. This will ensure that there is never any danger from excessive power consumption. The advantage of using a wall plug adapter in this way is that the configuration ensures that there is a good chance that the drip loops, which are so essential, are always in place. If properly formed, they will stay that way for the life of the fish tank and provide passive safety against accidental water spills that could otherwise cause a catastrophic home or office fire.