Plugging In For Your Fish Tank


Raise your hand if you are still using those standard power outlets for your fish tanks? The ones that even though there are 6 you probably can only use 3-4 of them because some of your equipment uses the big bulky plugs or you have a timer on there. Having a clean fish tank doesn’t mean cleaning what’s on the inside of the fish tank. It’s what outside that counts also. (don’t tell my counselor that…cause she’ll say “no..it’s what inside that counts”. but that’s a story for another day. ha!).

So I went online to see what I could use to help clean up the wires and plugs I have. I remember reading about people using DJ equipment to help organize. The ones they are talking about were the ones that had switches so you could easily turn off a certain equipment without having to unplug it (after awhile, those plugs are really hard to pull off). The other advantage would be that it would be easy to write above/below each switch what that particular switch turns off/on. Raise your hand if you ever looked at your power outlet and wondered which one was the pump or the heater plug.

So a few years (yes years) ago I purchased one of these DJ equipment outlets and I FINALLY got around to setting it up. And now presenting newly installed electrical outlet for my fish tank!

electrical.jpg
Disregard the ugly plumbing I did down in my sump (going to redoing my sump soon). But you can see that i was able to install the power outlet directly into my stand.

electrical2.jpg
Here is another shot of the power outlet. Now it’s really easy to turn off an equipment with a flip of a switch! I also tied the wires together to string them along the top part of the stand to keep it clean.

electrical3.jpg
Now the NEATEST part of it is how it glows in the dark when the lights are off. Unfortunately I installed this into my stand so I can’t see it unless I leave my stand doors opened. haha.

This unit has 8 plugs but I have more than 8 pieces of equipment on my tank so I am also using a heavy-duty powerstrip for my timers and other equipment until I can install more of these.


{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

1979camaro April 12, 2007 at 10:58 am

Hey Johnny,

It would be great to have some pricing info on those power strip thingies. How much did you pay for yours?

Johnny April 12, 2007 at 11:01 am

I believe they were $20? I don’t remember where I purchased them from as it was years ago. but they are standard DJ equipment outlet.

Cichlid-Man April 12, 2007 at 4:04 pm

Looks like you have this one Johnny, oh and GREAT idea. Might get me a few, they really are pretty cheap!

http://www.audiolines.com/product.php?productid=16591&cat=0&page=1

Johnny April 12, 2007 at 4:08 pm

oh yea..that is it! thanks for the link. I find these really really useful when i need to turn off pumps to feed or clean the tank. i don’t have to unplug. just flip a switch and then flip it back on.

Panther28 April 12, 2007 at 5:01 pm

I have seen many people use these DJ switches. They make things very easy. I also asked around but could not find any below $40. The one u have looks pretty good and cheap. I might order it online once I get my 58 Gallon. At present I have the regular power outlets with one switch. So I have connected my return pump and overflow air lifter to it. So I just switch it off and wait for the water to drain down.

Thanks for the Link Cichlid-Man

Elizabeth September 5, 2008 at 3:25 pm

Question for you. I have an aquarium but to safely put it up in my house it would have to be plugged into an outlet by extension cords that would run across the room. Are these switches just switches that have to be plugged into in outlet or are they their own outlets?

Leave a Comment