How do you manage your wires?

[Be102]

Let’s face it... the only things these days with wires seems to be all our fish equipment. We spend money to hide reactors and hide any sort of heaters and stuff yet we end up with a big tangle of cords all within eachother.

I have tried numerous power strips and zip ties. I tried the Velcro wire ties.. I tried the little things that your wires clip into...

What does everyone do for wire management? I find those big black boxes are either too bulky or can’t accommodate the weird plugs we have on our reef equipment.

I’m just tired of my stuff all running into eachother and causing me to stop what I was attempting to do, to sort wires.

 

[CC13]

Let’s face it... the only things these days with wires seems to be all our fish equipment. We spend money to hide reactors and hide any sort of heaters and stuff yet we end up with a big tangle of cords all within eachother.

I have tried numerous power strips and zip ties. I tried the Velcro wire ties.. I tried the little things that your wires clip into...

What does everyone do for wire management? I find those big black boxes are either too bulky or can’t accommodate the weird plugs we have on our reef equipment.

I’m just tired of my stuff all running into eachother and causing me to stop what I was attempting to do, to sort wires.

I use network cabling ties or sleeves.

I use this:
https://www.cabletiesandmore.ca/eco...NAsAiyz0ao5tnWXS_V_sxeUb8Aj-Ae1gaAu49EALw_wcB

Other examples:
https://www.google.com/search?safe=...mg.......0j35i39j0i67j0i8i30j0i24.Of49CrDq9es

 

[Be102]

Network cabling ties or sleeves.

I use this:
https://www.cabletiesandmore.ca/eco...NAsAiyz0ao5tnWXS_V_sxeUb8Aj-Ae1gaAu49EALw_wcB

Other examples:
https://www.google.com/search?safe=...mg.......0j35i39j0i67j0i8i30j0i24.Of49CrDq9es

These seem interesting. Do you have any pictures of them used on your tank? This might be the way I go and just run my sensor probes through this.

 

[CC13]

These seem interesting. Do you have any pictures of them used on your tank? This might be the way I go and just run my sensor probes through this.

Not personally, I can try and take some pictures tonight. I saw this tank while setting up my system and fell in love with how clean it was so I modeled mine after this one:

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa113/drummereef/180g Reef Tank 2/WireManagementFinished-15.jpg:eek:riginal

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa113/drummereef/180g Reef Tank 2/WireManagementFinished-19.jpg:eek:riginal

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa113/drummereef/180g Reef Tank 2/WireManagementFinished-14.jpg:eek:riginal

You get a good idea as to how clean the setup is with the network sleeves. These are not my pics or system, but I modeled a LOT of my system off this one, I loved how clean it was laid out.

I can tell you to get your system this clean looking takes a LOT of time in pre-planning and preparation.

 

[ca1ore]

Badly ....

 

[Pntbll687]

Badly ....

Same here!

It looks like a rats nest of wires behind my stand. Thank goodness you can't see them

 

[Jason777]

Zip ties and a lot a patience would be my best advice. There are better looking solutions but they tend to be less manageable when you have to change an item. To route the wires you can use the plastic zip tie anchors, just be sure to attach them securely and not rely on their sticky backing. With the anchors you can cut all the zip ties and replace them easily when adding/subtracting/replacing one of the wires in the bundle. This is not the cleanest look but you'll thank yourself when you're not trying to remove or add a cord through several feet of sleeve or conduit.
I talk a good game but there's a rats nest behind my stand too. ;)

 

[tankstudy]

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com...8&qid=1546103719&sr=8-7&keywords=wire+raceway

I run these.

 

[mitch91175]

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com...8&qid=1546103719&sr=8-7&keywords=wire+raceway

I run these.

+1 on these

 

[Forsaken77]

I have a nice wooden mounting board that I screw the controllers into. Somebody ordered a custom designed cabinet from Lowes and didn't want it. It's just a flat piece of wide cabinet with decorative notches around the edges. No handle or holes. They were actually trying to sell it for $250, a single custom cabinet. I mean it's thick and very wide, but nobody will buy a single one for $250. I explained that to the manager and said I'll give you $20 just because it fits my needs. She agreed and said it's you lucky day, lol. But to get back on topic...

So I leave a little slack, because you don't want the wires tugging from the controller (especially a 90° angle) and either leave the zip-tied extra behind the mounting board (leaning against the wall) or behind the tank, depending how long the wire is.

Tunze makes a box to keep cords in and keep them dry, but you can buy a Rubbermaid container and drill a large circle out the sides to keep all of the clutter in and leave the lid on.

 

[ca1ore]

Practice safe cord management practices so that equipment cannot get wet and use drip loops where necessary. Otherwise I just don’t bother trying to organize wires. I’m always changing things around so Zip ties are mostly counterproductive.

 

[Bmasculine]

I ran my wires inside these black things that I can’t remember the name of right now. All of my control boxes are mounted on a board with a hole in the middle where all the cords run through never to be seen again. I was happy with the result because even this took a lot of pre planning and head scratching

 

[Butuz]

Cable runners from amazon, painted them in black. Plus a few red velcrow strips from amazon too. Can barely see any wires in my aump, just the way I wanted it. PS these are old pics from when I was building this.

 

[Forsaken77]

You can always buy that snazzy Marine Depot board. That thing looks awesome, and hides the wires, but I can't justify $250 for it.

Oh... And don't forget to label the cords by the surge protector. Saves lots of headaches.

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

I tried to manage all my wires and failed miserably at it. It started with two heavy duty 16 plug in power strips. Then I made one for the items in the display tank then one for the sump items.

Well those heavy duty power strips were really super crappy. One about caused an electrical fire and it was sitting on a dry shelf above the sump and on the button of the tank under another shelf. I had everything labeled, zipped tied and pretty.

When this power strip failed, I about pulled my hair out. I was the one who applied a zip tie about every six inches, and to something. It was easy when the tank was empty to move things around etc. some how with it full made life much harder. I had to cut every one of them zip ties with out cutting any other cords etc. I did actually unplug both strips for safety reasons, but yeah I can’t imagjne ripping into something that nice if it fails.

Now it is some what organized pile of spaghetti noodles on the floor with loops. I added extra check valves to make sure the sump doesn’t over flow. Of course ifnthe tank breaks or leaks it’s probably gonna be interesting. It could survive and yet again it could be the titanic hitting two ice bergs at once.

 

[naterealbig]

Panduit and zip ties are my go-to for cable organization.


My last system....

The one I'm setting up now....

 

[Be102]

Panduit and zip ties are my go-to for cable organization.


My last system....

The one I'm setting up now....

Any links on where to get stuff like this? It’s kinda what I am thinking of.

 

[ncaldwell]

I just spent 7 hours organizing all of my wires, power bricks and outlets yesterday. That sucked so hard but it's better than the rats nest I did have. After our last earthquake I figured I should stop being lazy before a rogue wave comes out of the tank and fries literally every tank electronic I have

 

[naterealbig]

Lots of cool stuff here... Take a look through the site. Desk grommets also come in handy. Zip ties from Amazon or Home Depot are usually cheaper.

https://www.cableorganizer.com

If you have an idea of the size you'll need eBay and Amazon have good prices too....

https://m.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw...R4.TRC0.A0.H0.Xwire++duct.TRS0&_nkw=wire+duct

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com...=wire+duct&dpPl=1&dpID=31zqzSFdKvL&ref=plSrch

 

[Water Dog]

While all of these wire management ideas are no doubt quite aesthetically pleasing, how difficult do you guys find unplugging stuff for routine maintenance and cleaning? I’d imagine unplugging and item for maintenance or replacement would be quite a chore.