Cable management and cleaning

[p7willm]

There are a bunch of wires on the aquarium. The fish and coral are about the only things that do not have a wire attached. Most of them end up at a small area. How do you control them?

It can look like a bunch of spaghetti. You can mount stuff on a board and have the cables go neatley into a hole, to a bunch of spaghetti on the back. Behind my tank, where I can't reach, wires go to everywhere.

My original equipment wires run fairly nicely and use zip ties to keep them kind of nice. Equipment added over time runs a little less nicely but in general all my wires are zip tied and held to the sides with sticky pads.

Now, a couple of months in, I want to clean some of the stuff. For example soak in vinegar and take apart to clean the power heads, I know I could fix this by using vortech but there is other stuff, and to make it easier I would like to take the head into the kitchen, no significant other to complain. So, I unplug the power from the controller, unplug the controller from the other controller, and I am left with the controller attached to the head and that will not slide through the zip ties. Also, even if it would fit through the zip ties, it would be hard to get it out of the pile of other wires going everywhere. When it is cleaned I will have to run all the wires back.

I will replace the zip ties with ones that I can open and close but it will still be a hassle. This adds another check box when I buy something for the tank. How easy will it be to get it out and clean it. If I was getting a new power head the ease of just taking the wet side of the vortech would be a much more important point than the no cords in the tank I saw in the literature. I also would put a large premium on being able to unplug the cable from the controller.

OK, enough of a rant. How do you all handle this? Is there some trick the old hands know to make cleaning easier? Is the time spent getting the item unplugged and plugged back in just part of the cleaning? Do you clean stuff still wired up?

 

[bruleyii]

I like the idea of having those bendable wire wraps and just keep unwinding them to get them out. I use them for everything. Zip ties a bit too permanent for me even though they are easily removed with a quick snip of the side cuts.

 

[The Rook]

I started using removable zip ties and also velcro cable wraps. Both can be had cheap on eBay. Mine is no work of art either. Lol.

 

[RobBaglieri]

I have found that wire looms work very well. You can find them cheaply on Amazon in may sizes. You can also buy self adhesive clips to hold them in place. They are split along the entire length so you can have a wire enter or exit wherever you like. If you need to remove a wire, simply pull out out of the split side. You can also run dosing tubing through it.

 

[revhtree]

I have found that wire looms work very well. You can find them cheaply on Amazon in may sizes. You can also buy self adhesive clips to hold them in place. They are split along the entire length so you can have a wire enter or exit wherever you like. If you need to remove a wire, simply pull out out of the split side. You can also run dosing tubing through it.

Cool! I'll need these!

 

[roninmagik1]

I'm getting that! :) is 3/4 inch the size you ordered? Did that end up being a good size or do you wish you ordered smaller or bigger?

 

[Brew12]

I prefer these if possible if I have something to attach them to.

 

[adhd_nerd]

I like cable raceways. Similar to the below. They come in different sizes, but I find 2 x 2 works well. I rarely use zip ties anymore.

I lay down (by looping excess) the more permanent cables first and then the cables I need to remove towards the outer layers. Also, cut the covers in shorter sections to make it easier to lay down the cables.

If you need to mount power bricks, get appropriate sized raceway and you can hide them inside.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-NEW-2-X-2...179044?hash=item3f4564e224:g:9CAAAOxymohSNfFo

 

[Bob Escher]

I like cable raceways. Similar to the below. They come in different sizes, but I find 2 x 2 works well. I rarely use zip ties anymore.

I lay down (by looping excess) the more permanent cables first and then the cables I need to remove towards the outer layers. Also, cut the covers in shorter sections to make it easier to lay down the cables.

If you need to mount power bricks, get appropriate sized raceway and you can hide them inside.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-NEW-2-X-2...179044?hash=item3f4564e224:g:9CAAAOxymohSNfFo

What is that pump alarm for and how does it work?

 

[RobBaglieri]

I prefer these if possible if I have something to attach them to.

I have used those as well. Very inexpensive and easy to use.

 

[RobBaglieri]

I'm getting that! :) is 3/4 inch the size you ordered? Did that end up being a good size or do you wish you ordered smaller or bigger?

I used mostly 3/4 inch. They worked well. I fed my dosing tubes through 1/2 inch.

 

[adhd_nerd]

What is that pump alarm for and how does it work?

Pump alarm is really designed for sump pumps. But it is a power loss and water leakage alarm (or other sensors). It is battery backed up. So when AC power is lost; the unit will send you a text using Verizon network. There is an annual fee of $50.00: a small price to know when power is out when you have +500 gallons through out the house.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Pump alarm is really designed for sump pumps. But it is a power loss and water leakage alarm (or other sensors). It is battery backed up. So when AC power is lost; the unit will send you a text using Verizon network. There is an annual fee of $50.00: a small price to know when power is out when you have +500 gallons through out the house.

After many years in the hobby the only thing I worry about when away is Power loss resulting in oxygen and heating issues. PH and salinity in my 20 years has never been an issue and by design my ATO will never overflow - If I ran a calcium reactor than the PH probe and controller would be a must. I want a controller but at this point I can't get myself to spend $800 on an apex that at this point the only thing Id use it for is monitoring my PH and temperature. Since I will buy a seneye for its par meter I can easily use their probe to send me alerts on PH and temperature. If the temperate is to high I can just turn off my lights via reeflink.

What is this service you speak off? The $50 per year one?

 

[Ashish Patel]

I am looking for 2"x2" white raceways but they are almost 3-4 time in pricing to the gray ones.... Has anyone found these at a reasonable price? I will have raceway going to a side box where all the electrical outlets and battery's will be housed. . I am considering spray painting white but want to avoid this.

 

[adhd_nerd]

What is this service you speak off? The $50 per year one?

http://www.pumpalarm.com/

 

[Ashish Patel]

http://www.pumpalarm.com/

Thanks.. never heard of this feature... I might have a pump detection (reeflink/vectra pump) but this is great for just knowing when power is off.. good find

 

[oldpaddy]

DJ power strip and zip ties.

 

[Finatik]

Pump alarm is really designed for sump pumps. But it is a power loss and water leakage alarm (or other sensors). It is battery backed up. So when AC power is lost; the unit will send you a text using Verizon network. There is an annual fee of $50.00: a small price to know when power is out when you have +500 gallons through out the house.

Interesting. Can other aquarium sensors be hooked up to this unit ?