Good Morning all - We all love seeing the pretty boards that hold all the aquarium controllers with cords hidden behind them - but what about the cords themselves? Let's give them some love and share some of your creative ways to reduce and organize the cord clutter. And not just the cords - what about those large power supply boxes - how do we handle those neatly and most importantly, SAFELY! Speaking for myself, for a 20 gallon nano tank I have some room for improvement and hope to learn some tips and tricks all of you have! Below is my...unorganized chaos that needs some love and attention this weekend...
Cord Chaos - How do you solve it?
- Thread starter Leiph86
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fishlover1478
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i don't your looks so much better than mine.
Everything Aquatics
Well-Known Member
Same mine looks much worse
PicassoClown04
5000 Club Member
Much better than mine... I use painters tape at the end of my cord to make a little tag. First I write what the cord is (skimmer, filter, powerhead, etc) then if I need to I write UNPLUG FOR WATER CHANGE. Really helps if for some reason somebody else has to do a water change so they don’t forget the ATO and my salinity goes to hell.
Nover05
New Member
First thing I would do is grab some 3M command hooks. Those will make your cords go where you want them. Secondly is the slow process of unplugging them and running the cables the way you want. Make sure to label each cord so you know what goes where, and in the future adding timers is a lot easier also. Good luck.
I used a whole bunch of these for the cords.
as for the power bricks, still need to find a better solution than just hiding them behind a board
as for the power bricks, still need to find a better solution than just hiding them behind a board
If you don't have an Apex power bar (like myself) I suggest checking out the TP Link Kasa wifi power strip - you can use manual switches for each plug, use your phone/app to turn them on and off from anywhere, check power consumption, and if you really want to show off, use a google home or alexa to turn things on and off. The app also lets you label each outlet with what you are using. An upgrade that won't break the bank for most.
Kryptonian
Active Member
Best solution (and one that I practice).... close the cabinet door! DONE
but seriously, following thread for suggestions.. my cabinet is a nightmare.
but seriously, following thread for suggestions.. my cabinet is a nightmare.
More importantly - none of us should be ashamed of the mess because I frankly think it's one of the most difficult aspects of this hobby since we always are upgrading tech and the focus (as it should be) is typically on our pets the tank looking nice. Share your images with everyone so we can help coach each other!
I use the little Velcro straps you get at Home Depot to coil cords. All tied down and neat is wonderful until you have to remove something. I just try for controlled chaos these days.
I've used those - and to your point, great until you have to undo all of them just to get one cord removed. I've also considered something like this that the cord can 'clip' out and into, but seems like one would need quite a few to get everything laid out correctly. Still doesn't solve the power brick problem either...I use the little Velcro straps you get at Home Depot to coil cords. All tied down and neat is wonderful until you have to remove something. I just try for controlled chaos these days.
Luckyduck
Well-Known Member
Yours doesn't look that bad. You're at least trying to be organized. I use velcro cable ties on mine. My LFS complimented me on how organized my stuff is lol You can buy a 50 pack of them online for under $10. You're always going to have some cord launching somewhere but at least you can clean up 90% of it with the ties.Good Morning all - We all love seeing the pretty boards that hold all the aquarium controllers with cords hidden behind them - but what about the cords themselves? Let's give them some love and share some of your creative ways to reduce and organize the cord clutter. And not just the cords - what about those large power supply boxes - how do we handle those neatly and most importantly, SAFELY! Speaking for myself, for a 20 gallon nano tank I have some room for improvement and hope to learn some tips and tricks all of you have! Below is my...unorganized chaos that needs some love and attention this weekend...
Thanks @Luckyduck - To say this is one of the least organized things in my house (besides my computer desk) might tell why this is an important thread to me. How do you handle the power supply boxes? Are they set down somewhere or mounted?Yours doesn't look that bad. You're at least trying to be organized. I use velcro cable ties on mine. My LFS complimented me on how organized my stuff is lol You can buy a 50 pack of them online for under $10. You're always going to have some cord launching somewhere but at least you can clean up 90% of it with the ties.
To mount power bricks I use cable ties that have a hole for a screw. With a little practice you can get a power brick to stay flat against a wall with 2 of these. Screw it on the wall like the in the pic. Bend it out from the wall and go around the brick and then bring it up behind it. Cinch it up. I also make wire control points with these.
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