Managing Monday: Let's talk cable/cord management!

[SMB]

Not enough companies make motors with water proof mid cord connectors so that when you need to, you can remove a pump without going all the way to the power source plug.

 

[Bruce Burnett]

If I can pull the piece of equipment easily then don't care what it looks like in the cabinet. Around the tank is a different story. If I can hide all cables from view the better.

 

[FLSharkvictim]

Far from done but this is how mine is starting to turn out!

My 50 gallon Mixing Station that will be all connected to my SCA 150 rimless:

 

[Terr-c]

Wellll I thought mine was organized until I saw some of these!!! I wish I had room to be that organized! ;Joyful

 

[damselindistress]

I am not overly concerned with the cords in my cabinet as long as I can unplug whatever piece I'm taking offline for maintenance etc. It mostly looks like this under my cabinet ;Hilarious

 

[Kuub]

I wouldn't say OCD, but I am also starting from new and learning from mistakes in past. Still trying to balance all under tank with ease of access too. We will see how time passes with additions. Still have to figure out how to put DOS and others under here.

 

[Lorenzo Angotti]

Hi, yes to certain extent your wires need to look tidy but also accessible to replace or just to disconnect as required. A lot of people use zip ties I use velcro tape that comes on a roll so you can wrap it around your cables and easily take it off when needed.

 

[Icedog]

Hi, yes to certain extent your wires need to look tidy but also accessible to replace or just to disconnect as required. A lot of people use zip ties I use velcro tape that comes on a roll so you can wrap it around your cables and easily take it off when needed.

Great idea - love that velcro tape!

 

[kylarse]

Mine is mostly a mess, but I'd love to see the backside of some of these organized cabinets, and know how you deal with pulling a piece of equipment out to do an exchange or maintenance. How are people organizing power blocks on the back of a cabinet, and how do you keep the tangle from just being between your cabinet and tank, instead of right at the controller?

 

[Kuub]

Mine is mostly a mess, but I'd love to see the backside of some of these organized cabinets, and know how you deal with pulling a piece of equipment out to do an exchange or maintenance. How are people organizing power blocks on the back of a cabinet, and how do you keep the tangle from just being between your cabinet and tank, instead of right at the controller?

I don't have a picture of the back. But I use double sided Heavy Duty Velcro tape to put the power bricks around outside of box I built above. The other loose cords attached to those I use velcro tape to bind cables. I left enough loose to be able to pull front panel of box off and access if needed.

 

[SuncrestReef]

One of my biggest headaches is when I need to swap a piece of equipment, but running the wires through small openings between my sump cabinet and the equipment cabinet is very difficult.

To get around this, I’ve started using a string tied to the end of the cable, pulling out the old device which feeds the string though the opening, then I can tie the string to the replacement device’s cable to easily route it back through the opening. Saves so much time and hassle!

 

[Sold4jc7]

I just finished up a cabinet for cable management.

 

[mcshams]

When I built my first aquarium, I managed the cables so well, and it was so neat...awesome to look at. Then I had to get the protein skimmer out for a thorough cleaning/maintenance and realized that I had not thought that far ahead. I had "grouped" far too many cords into bundles, and it took 1 hour to undo everything just to get it out. I even have every cord waterproof color-coded tagged, so finding the cord was easy, but freeing the machine was not. So, my cord management blends functional tear-down with neat management, which is to say not quite as pretty to look at, but still neat.

 

[jaxteller007]

I did manage to create a spreadsheet calculating the approximate GPH for each power setting on my wave makers. Not exactly cord management, but hey it gave me something to do lol.

 

[rpmpr]

I’m starting to install the equipment of my new 125g aquarium, and this is part of the wiring.

 

[5altkreep]

I do cable management all the time!
But really, you guys should ditch the zipties for velcro. Its much more user friendly. And if you have ever been cut by a ziptie that ( definitely someone else) clipped off, you know how nasty those can be!

 

[TheWB]

I have an AIO tank. I wanted to keep the wires somewhat organized but still able remove a piece of equipment easily. I found some wire management discs meant for desktop cable management at Home Depot and used them all over the back of my tank to create separate paths for most of the wires. The wires stay secure but they can just be pulled through the opening when needed.

Its not visually very attractive but it’s functional.

 

[sp1187]

organized chaos, organized just enough so I can see what goes to what.
out of sight out of mind (fish room)

 

[Big Boy]

Work in progress after moving...

 

[CindyKz]

I don't care how it looks, but I absolutely need it safe and everything labelled. One thing that does make me crazy is having electrical outlets UNDER the tank. My 180 gal is in the wall with the sump behind, and all outlet and equipment is mounted above the sump. It doesn't look pretty, but I can see what goes where and access it all easily.



My husband and I did this for our Biocube over the weekend. It's a big improvement over the mess we had, but being right on the living room wall it's pretty ugly. I would like to find a cabinet that I could mount on the wall to hide it in.