Equipment Wires In The Display: Do you really care?

Do you care about having equipment wires showing in your reef tank display?

  • Very much

    Votes: 350 37.4%
  • Somewhat

    Votes: 471 50.3%
  • Not at all

    Votes: 110 11.8%
  • Other

    Votes: 5 0.5%

  • Total voters
    936

burningmime

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One thing I read on this forum (forgot who said it) that got me thinking... are cords on the outside (for a vortech pump) so much better than cords on the inside? They're sometimes a little easier to hide or you can have shorter runs. But then you got a giant pump motor sticking off the side.

(EDIT: the real advantage of the vortechs, IMO, is ease of cleaning by swapping wet sides and more reliability cause you don't have the motor submerged in saltwater. So there are reasons to get Vortech besides the cord hiding)

1. Do you care about having equipment wires showing in your reef tank display?

not only wires, any and all equipment. I have never understood why people make beautiful scapes, have all this beautiful coral and fish and are ok with wires, pumps, heaters, overflows... showing. but to each their own as they say.

2. What are some creative ways you've found to minimize wires showing?

aquascape design hides everything. the thought that your scape can be too high in areas is complete non-sense.
my scape brakes the surface in one corner. (hides the return line. two of my bta's have taken up residence right at the surface.

rear upper left corner.: return line, gyre 230 vertical just below it.
rear right corner: heater and gyre 230 vertical
over flow right side glass

the scape
scape.jpg


standing in front of the tank (2020)
052120.jpg


from the fish room



1201B.jpg


from where I sit most nights
010221.jpg
Now *that* is a smart way to hide the equipment. Looks very natural. Doesn't hurt that the reef is completely awesome too.
 

Peace River

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Since many of my tanks are primarily functional I am not particularly concerned about seeing wires in the tank. With a display tank this become more of a concern and I try (when possible) to build the structure to block the view of the wires.
 

Joe31415

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And more importantly they remove an electrical component from your tank.
And a saltwater tank at that. Just this morning I noted that I have 9 electrical devices submerged in saltwater, between my tank, sump, ATO and saltwater mixing container.
And more than once I've had heaters crack open, but continue to operate. It was only after a day or two of hearing the sizzling noise did I finally investigate.
 

Joe31415

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A couple black wires running to a black background from wavemakers isn’t a big deal. Let’s be honest here, is it any more distracting than a giant wart on the outside of the tank?
We all get used to them and don't really notice it anymore, but the giant wart on the back of the tank from an eco tech vortech pump isn't visible if you have a background between the motor and the glass. If they weren't so expensive, I'd have more of them.
 

Wayne P.

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Try to keep them down to a minimum. But with a 6' long tank you have to have flow, so you're going to have wires. Just hide them with a black background and the scape as best you can.
 

SoggyNW

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Get an eco tech Vortech powerhead and you can avoid it. The 'motor' sits outside the tank and only the fan part is inside. The rotor and stator are magnetically coupled through the glass. They're powerful, move a lot of water and can be programmed to make waves, but even the smallest one is $300, so they're not cheap. And if you have a background you don't even see the motor or wire behind the tank. All you see is the small 'wetside' of the pump.
I saw a tank with Vortechs on it and I was not impressed. Way noisier than my Jebaos.
 

Joe31415

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I saw a tank with Vortechs on it and I was not impressed. Way noisier than my Jebaos.
I have an MP10 and can't hear a thing, at least not at the 60% setting that I have it at. If I ramp it up to 100% I think I can start to hear it humming but it's no louder than any other pump.
The ones you saw might have been bigger than mine or turned up higher or closer to the surface or not coupled exactly right (sometimes you need to turn it a little to get rid of some of the vibration) or not using/needing the rubber part that goes between the motor and the glass.

But at least with mine, the only time I hear it is if I'm really close to it (like, have my head within feet of the tank) or it's turned up closer to 100%.
 

Bleigh

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I hate all the wires. Particularly my wire nest to the right of my tank. I wish there was an easier and more elegant way to keep it all contained.
 

SoggyNW

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I have an MP10 and can't hear a thing, at least not at the 60% setting that I have it at. If I ramp it up to 100% I think I can start to hear it humming but it's no louder than any other pump.
The ones you saw might have been bigger than mine or turned up higher or closer to the surface or not coupled exactly right (sometimes you need to turn it a little to get rid of some of the vibration) or not using/needing the rubber part that goes between the motor and the glass.

But at least with mine, the only time I hear it is if I'm really close to it (like, have my head within feet of the tank) or it's turned up closer to 100%.
I'll have to pay closer attention next time I spot one.
 

design.maddie

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I'm in the None-at-all boat. I was SUPER obsessed with the wire thing back in the 2000's I went with the full recirculation pumps with even minimalizing the outlets visibility from the front. All you could see was rocks, coral and fish. Was it worth it? NOPE! it did nothing. why? because I still know where everything is at. Hidden or not, I know where every piece of equipment in my tank is at. There is no getting around it. NOW! my new obsession is clean lines. I want nothing near or around my tank. No wires hanging off the side. No external motors for MP40s. I enjoy it much more than worrying about 2 wires inside my tank that are covered in the same algae as my black background.
 

LenG

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My black background, black power heads mounted on the back and black return nozzles are cleaned weekly and mostly invisible.
 

sp1187

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One thing I read on this forum (forgot who said it) that got me thinking... are cords on the outside (for a vortech pump) so much better than cords on the inside? They're sometimes a little easier to hide or you can have shorter runs. But then you got a giant pump motor sticking off the side.

(EDIT: the real advantage of the vortechs, IMO, is ease of cleaning by swapping wet sides and more reliability cause you don't have the motor submerged in saltwater. So there are reasons to get Vortech besides the cord hiding)


Now *that* is a smart way to hide the equipment. Looks very natural. Doesn't hurt that the reef is completely awesome too.
thanks. :cool:
 

Bruce Burnett

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Black wires, black background so I don't care. Scape to hide as much as possible.
 

SPS2020

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I'm very concerned about wires showing in the tank.

One way I have minimized this is to use two strong gyres on the back wall of the tank so that there is minimal wiring exposed.
 

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ricksmithsdca

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I've always been one that hated the looks of equipment and wires in the tank. But lately more than ever I have come to realize with equipment limitations, coral placement, aquascape options and more things that it can become inevitable that you may have to have wires in the display. But who really cares?

1. Do you care about having equipment wires showing in your reef tank display?

2. What are some creative ways you've found to minimize wires showing?



Amazing reef by @Broadfield
29403166626_0f58264578_k.jpg
I am new to the saltwater aquarium hobby but I must admit, I am thrilled to have a sump with everything out of view except my powerheads. Inevitably the wires, albeit small, are in my tank. Luckily I have a black background so they kind of blend in on their own. In addition, I have them both on my corner overflow so the wires do not look haphazard. I am going to be placing an inkbird on my heater and I plan on putting the temperature probes in the main display tank so that I can better track the temperature there versus my sump. However, again, I can place these in a way that they are not very visible.
 

zalick

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All things equal I'd chose no wires. But considering my tank is a peninsula, in the middle of my house, and I can see my dining room and kitchen through the tank, the wires aren't what makes it look less "real". :p
 

radiata

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I've always been one that hated the looks of equipment and wires in the tank. But lately more than ever I have come to realize with equipment limitations, coral placement, aquascape options and more things that it can become inevitable that you may have to have wires in the display. But who really cares?

1. Do you care about having equipment wires showing in your reef tank display?

2. What are some creative ways you've found to minimize wires showing?



Amazing reef by @Broadfield
29403166626_0f58264578_k.jpg
 

radiata

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VERY MUCH!

I have four Reef Octopus Octo Pulse 4 Wave Pumps, two Sicce XStream Powerheads (not the SDC, but the previous model) and one battery backed up Tunze 6055 in my 180. The Octo Pulses and the Sicces are controlled by my Apex. You can't see any of these pumps from in front of my tank. They're all hidden in the rockwork.
 

ca1ore

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1. Do you care about having equipment wires showing in your reef tank display?

I dislike wires in the display.

2. What are some creative ways you've found to minimize wires showing?

Use the overflow for sensors and probes. Use vortech pumps. Anything else goes in the sump.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 64 37.0%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 59 34.1%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 24 13.9%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 26 15.0%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
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