Aquarium electrics (A few points of note)
#1
Aquariums are easy to “wire up” you just add a pump, and an air pump, some lights plug it in and………..
(Example of wrongly wired plug,
do you see all that is wrong)
"
Well it works, so if it works its ok? Isn’t it?"
No it isn’t. Please allow me to explain.
Obvious to most that it is, anything electrical to go in a fish tank should be water proof, not just water resistant. If its to go near or above the tank, water resistant is often acceptable.
Once you have your equipment set up you can plug it in. Plug it into what? If you only have say just two items you should never open a plug and connect them to what is there, most electrical items now come with a fitted plug anyway, its there for a reason, please don’t cut it off. If a fuse ever blows, find out why. Has the cable become damaged or chewed? once the fault has been corrected you can change the fuse, but always use a fuse of the SAME rating never bigger, this is because during a fault the "weakest point" (The fuse) is designed to blow, if you put in a bigger fuse, the fuse may no longer be "The weakest point"
When you are happy with everything you can then plug each item in to one of these.
However its still does not finish there. Its best to secure the 4 sockets to a wall or back of the tank cabinet to stop it from moving or being pulled accidentally. There is also another reason. By mounting the socket on a vertical surface any plug plugged in should come from below the socket, this way you make a “drip loop” This is so that if any water or condensation runs down the cable from anything in or near the tank it will not run into the plug.
How a plug normaly is
A plug with a drip loop (arrowed)
Also as it’s a fish tank, the 4 way socket should be plugged in via a plug in RCD
Other brands of RCD are available In short an RCD could
save your life if there is any water where it shouldn’t be.
Please look out for other articles for your guidance.