I Guess this would be hardware... 20 Amp circuit

[jrlg]

Building a new 200g tank and I never had a tank that big and I am considering running a 20amp line to be dedicated for the tank and basically from one end of the house to the other, and I am wondering with a 200g if it is even needed, I don't plan on a chiller and the circuit that is already next to the tank will not have any heavy amp draw on it other than the tank.

 

[fishyguy7]

If you can do it I would do it. You don’t plan on things like a chiller but later find you need them ( ask me how I know )

 

[Paul B]

A 20 amp circuit would run your tank but two circuits, even 2 15 amp circuits would be much safer. I personally would go for 2 20 amp circuits which is what I have
(Master electrician fifty years, aquarist 60 years)

 

[theblackpearl]

Single circuit but using a GFCI. This gives you room to grow and takes the load of the circuit for the room the tank is in

 

[alton]

I agree with Paul if your running one, you might as well run two. With today's codes you will have to use arc fault breakers so might as well use combo arc/gfci. Place your return pump which is your life line on its own breaker.

 

[jda]

Use two circuits so that no single failure can ruin your tank. Spread your important stuff out over the two... like return pump on one, and in-tank powerhead on another so that both have to fail for your water to stop moving and the fish to suffocate.

 

[KStatefan]

Sometimes I think it is good to have something else on you circuit in addition to the tank. To make it noticeable if the power goes out.

 

[Skep18]

I plan on running a dedicated circuit for my tank but you can look into the circuit available at your tank's location and determine if its needed. I have a 225gal tank with LED lights and DC pumps. As displayed on Apex and confirmed at my breaker box using a induction DMM, during "normal" operation my tank only uses ~3amps. With the heater on that'll go to ~5amps. I put everything on 100% and it was ~10amps. If you have a 15amp circuit with minimal other loads (i.e. no refrigerator, TV, microwave, vacuum) I would propose a new circuit wouldn't be mandatory and you'd be relatively safe on it.

That said, in terms of safety measures, running a dedicated circuit would be a good idea. Running two as others suggest would be better, however maybe outside of what maybe practical. Seeing as many run Apex, you'd need two EB832's. Its hard to argue its a bad idea but like many best practices in this hobby, I would suggest the majority of reefers don't fully comply with it and most are just fine in doing so.

 

[AlexStinson]

I ran three 20 amp circuits for mine. Once for the heaters, one for the lights and another for everything else. Just a 1000 watt heater is somewhere in the range of 8.5 amps.

 

[jrlg]

Thanks for the info, I have had many ideas on this, first I am a DIYer so I would run the wire myself and was thinking of I do it better run two then one also I was planning on making it a gfci.

 

[ReeferBob]

I ran 2 new 20 amp lines for my tank and already had an existing 15 amp line. Each 20 amp circuit runs a quad outlet protected by GFI. If you can run it yourself and have space in your electrical panel, why not?

 

[jrlg]

I ran 2 new 20 amp lines for my tank and already had an existing 15 amp line. Each 20 amp circuit runs a quad outlet protected by GFI. If you can run it yourself and have space in your electrical panel, why not?

Because I'm going the lazy route I have the room on the panel for two breakers and if I ran the 2 then I would have the 2 20amp And the existing 15 amp to draw off of. I honestly wanted r2r to help me finalize this decision and everyone made it easy. Well the route to take now I have to run wire