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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Power safety for new marine aquarium

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04 Oct 2011 12:44 #1 by ghart (Greg Hart)
I am planning my first Marine aquarium and I know there will be a requirement for considerable number of power points near the tank. Can anyone advise me on the best approach in preparing safe power requirements setup at home for a marine tank with sump and the various items requiring power.
Should I get an electrician in to install a new power source from my main power box or will a couple of wall sockets suffice with power blocks connected.

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04 Oct 2011 19:28 #2 by andrewo (andrew)
It really depends on your setup as the power points might not support what you put onto the extensions; depending on your set up; there might be a minimum of four or five up to a dozen even.... consulting an electrician is definitely a good idea; tell him what you will be loading on the sockets. All the best!

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04 Oct 2011 20:34 #3 by ghart (Greg Hart)
Thanks Andrewo,
I will have to work out the power requirements for each of the units requring power and check with an electricin to see if I will be overloading the sockets in my sitting room. My planned spend is already at €3000 and this will add to the costs.

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04 Oct 2011 20:42 #4 by andrewo (andrew)
What is your ideal tank size ? Seems like its gonna be a large tank if all the initial 3k is for just tank! :laugh: or have you taken into account everything all the way to when you have livestock.

If it is a larger tank then take note that the light unit itself will have multi plugs and your elctricity bills gonna hit the roof! On a serious note get professionals help; the electrician will save you much much hassle later on.

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04 Oct 2011 22:12 #5 by ghart (Greg Hart)
The Tank is 60" x 15" x 24" with sump costs €1000 The other costs comedown to a Deltec APF 600 Skimmer ; and T5 lighting Cost also 2 Koralia water movers; Live Rock 50Kg ; return pump and other bits to make up a full working system. No live stock included in this.

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04 Oct 2011 23:35 #6 by murph (Tony Murphy)
As mentioned elsewhere, it's a good idea to get the electrician to supply at least two clean-feeds with their own (sensitive) rcbo to where the tank is, and then distribute things between them, so if one trips, the other can still keep things alive till the problem is found/fixed. (e.g return pump on A, air pump/powerheads on B)
One thing that is VERY necessary is that the trips are well away from the tank. (If the electrician suggests putting them in the same room so they are easy to get at, fire him/her on the spot and get another one who knows what they are doing.)
The total current draw for the tank will rarely exceed what a 13A plug can supply, for tanks under 400l, and can even supply 1200l tanks adequately in a warm room. It's the safety factors (for you and your livestock) that necessitate careful electrics.

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05 Oct 2011 10:10 #7 by ghart (Greg Hart)
Murph,
Thanks for the detail on this.
I will talk to an electrician as recommended.

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