Fish Tank Fire

I can’t not express how important it is to take care with your wiring in and around a salt water tank. Here is a perfect example of what you should NOT do. This is simply an accident waiting to happen. On top of being dangerous and haphazard, it also makes it difficult to perform maintenance on tank equipment. Its so difficult to see which wire belongs where and when it comes time to change out or clean equipment it can be a major pain. Nothing good comes from a set up like this.

If your setting up a new saltwater tank, you should really take the time to do some wire management. The more you plan in the beginning the better things will be later on. Aesthetically its very pleasing and its nice to have everything where it belongs. Its just good salt water hobby practice to keep wires organized as well as safe. I have witnessed and heard of a few fires started over the years which started from improper saltwater tank and wire set ups. We have to keep in mind we have large amounts of electricity running around often large amount of salt water and its a recipe for disaster if we dont take care.

If your current tank, stand, sump or fish room looks like this, I urge you to take the time to organize it. The benefits are priceless if it means you are avoiding a fire or accident.

Here is an example of fire that occurred in October of 2016 at a customers home due to poor wiring and cable managment combined with salt creep

A power bar caught fire under the stand in the fishroom connected the furnace, ultimately burning all the plugs and starting a small fire at 3am.

fire from salt water tank

crazy wiring