Clean cable chord managment or nah?

[revhtree Verified Admin]

How do you feel about cable management? Some people don't really care how it looks and some people want it as tidy as possible! Let's talk about that today!

1. Do you care what the cords and cables look like around your reef tank?

2. Do you have any useful cord managing tips for those of us who are not that great?

LET'S SEE A PHOTO OF YOUR CHORD MANAGEMENT SKILLS!

image via @Kuub

 

[Vyper]

Man I tried and had it all looking great on initial install. Then come a few upgrades and equipment failures and pulling all cords out to figure out what’s what. Definitely takes some dedication.

 

[jhuntstl]

Man I tried and had it all looking great on initial install. Then come a few upgrades and equipment failures and pulling all cords out to figure out what’s what. Definitely takes some dedication.

This is the real challenge.

While 90% of the rats nest of wires is contained within my door, I've let the inside of the cabinet go. I've added new hardware that I've yet to integrate into the cabinet. It's a lot of work!

 

[DazAquariums]

I’m terrible with cable management. Maybe it’s because of the size of my tanks.. I don’t know I wish I had a super clean setup.

 

[Vyper]

This is the real challenge.

While 90% of the rats nest of wires is contained within my door, I've let the inside of the cabinet go. I've added new hardware that I've yet to integrate into the cabinet. It's a lot of work!

That looks great. I feel the pain every time I change anything. Lots of wires to dig through. I have come to learn that nothing will ever stay the same either as I constantly make changes for whatever reason.

 

[fish farmer]

It's nice to have them labeled.

 

[randalli]

It's really a fight against windmills for me. I try to keep cables as neat as possible. What really makes it hard for me is that basically no cable has the perfect length to install it in a neat way. Also once some setup changes for whatever reason one might need some space and the current cable layout might become obsolete. For my music studio I sometimes just rewire the whole dang thing which takes like a full day or longer but for a system that should not be shutdown for too long this is impossibru. Usually entropy takes over after some time.

 

[homer1475]

I purposely made my stand larger to house all the equipment, and rats nests of wires. I just close that door, and viola, it disappears!

I tried keeping it all tidy, but then came a few upgrades, needed new pumps, etc. And the rats nest ensued.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

I want it clean and organized. Tank stands are like laundry baskets. Instead of clothes scattered all over the house, they’re in one place where no one sees them. Not happy about it but guilty.

 

[sp1187]

i don't care as it's all behind the scenes in the fish room.
i'm bamboozled though with people that go to that extent to keep the equipment looking tidy, but then have wave makers, overflows and heaters visible in their tank. :rolleyes:

 

[kittenbritches]

I have all of my cords labeled and tangle-free. I will be swapping some to another power strip shortly, and then will clip them all up as out of sight as possible. I don't have a cabinet stand and it's open underneath. I'm also constructing shelving and a back mounting wall within the stand for greater storage, functionality, and hiding the wire mess!

 

[workhz]

I keep the black wires together with all the other black wires :)

 

[NoahLikesFish]

i make sure my cables arent underwater

 

[Gtinnel]

I'm always amazed and impressed with the people whose equipment and wiring under the stand is neat. That however is not me. Under my tank is a rats nest of wires and tubes, I wish mine were neater looking but anytime I've decided to try and tidy it up, by the time I'm done I give up and it's no better looking. The key for me is to always keep the doors to my stand shut and not post pictures of it online.

 

[PeterC99]

For me it’s always a “work in progress”. Cable management never rests - cords always moving for cleaning equipment, new equipment replacing old, and for the modifications.

 

[Quietman]

Like others I have no problems getting it to look good. I have a separate cabinet attached with everything logically laid out. Once I set it up it looked great and ready for pictures. Problem I have is anytime I do anything with the equipment (remove, maintenance, add) it doesn't exactly become a rats nest, but it doesn't look clean and neat. I had thought I had planned for ease of maintenance but evidently not. My next iteration is going to focus less on one location to having a central power hub area and then the pump/skimmer/powerhead connections higher (wall mount?) so when I do maintenance, I don't have to touch the central area and the local controllers are much easier to access.

 

[ReefGeezer]

I keep the wires hidden from view when looking at the DT... BUT... the wires under the stand are all over the place.

 

[burningmime]

I bought one of those adaptive reef controller board things. But I didn't add hinges to it (really should come with them), so it's pretty much impossible to rewire without taking it apart. Hence...

Luckily, this is in my basement, so the display looks clean. And usually it's slightly better than this; right now I have a bunch of stuff unplugged since I'm establishing some bacterial cultures.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

I bought all sorts of cable management devices. Cable ties, clips, and raceways. Even got one of those Adaptive Reef boards. The mess of cables really makes me nuts! Hopefully I'll find time to get around to it soon!

 

[shakacuz]

i try my best to hide as much cable as i can as neatly as i can. i have an open stand so you can see the sump as well as where i keep my supplies/cable boxes