10 Aquarium Cord Management Accessories

 The nicest aquariums with vivid corals and livestock can all be offset if under the hood is not clean and organized. In my opinion, keeping the sump area and reef tanks life support system clean and organized is just as important as having a beautiful display tank to look at. Having a reef tank can include a lot of equipment and that equipment is usually powered and with power comes cables, cords, power bricks, probes, and controllers. A nice display and life support system can be quickly overshadowed if cable management isn’t considered. I try to keep my reef tanks on the minimalistic side of things, and even so, I counted 18 items plugged in on my 210 Gallon Aqueon Big Fish Mixed Reef Tank, not to mention additional cords for my Neptune Apex including Ethernet, probes, and modules. These cords can quickly tangle and turn into a giant ball of corded mess if not managed well. In addition to unorganized cords being just unsightly, other issues can manifest including safety issues, fire hazards, and it being incredibly hard to unplug and service equipment as needed. 

When planning a new tank or looking to better cord manage an existing tank, having a plan is a great place to start. Try to understand all of the equipment you will use or may use on your reef tank and plan for the best place for the equipment and how you might route the cable so it is safe and tidy. I like to try and create a system of secondary roads and main highways where the roads are the individual cords and the highway is where they meet and together travel to the power strip outlets. You want to make sure that you have appropriate drip loops in your cords. A drip loop is a simple power cord safety technique where the power cord is lower than the outlet at some point in the cord run. Without a drip loop somewhere in the run, water can travel down the cord highway directly into the power outlet. Water and electricity don’t mix and safety, fire, and damage can all occur if you don’t take the drip loop precaution. Here is another article detailing some electrical safety tips: Top 10 Aquarium Electrical Safety Tips

After you plan your cord roads and highways, the next step you can take is to make your roads and highway clean, tidy, and concealed. This involves bundling up your cords and hiding them as much as possible. Before locking up your cords you’ll want to make sure you do it in a way that will make it easy for you to unplug and remove equipment as needed. On my 210 Gallon Aqueon Big Fish Mixed Reef, my lights don’t get removed or unplugged very often so these cables can be bundled up and stowed long term. My protein skimmer, on the other hand, gets cleaned frequently and if something like a zip tie is used, it needs to be cut to remove the skimmer every time. After you have your plan and know how and where you want to route your cords, you will find that there are many options on the market to help you accomplish this. Here are 10 cord management products to help you keep your cords clean and tidy.

1. Twisty Ties

Twisty ties are small strands of wire that are wrapped in plastic or paper and cut to different lengths depending on what they are being used for. Twisty ties work by wrapping them around an object and tightening by twisting the ends together. These are often found on bags that are twisted and secured with a twisty tie like a bag of bread. I’ve always thought that twisty ties come in handy for securing random things, so whenever I get an item with a twisty tie on it I save the twisty tie and have a small collection in my junk drawer. These can be used to bundle up sections of cords on your tank. I also will use these to bundle power cords on equipment that isn’t used all the time and stored. 

Advantages of Twisty Ties: Low cost and can often be found on random products that are regularly bought. Twisty ties are easy to secure and open as needed.

Disadvantages of Twisty Ties: Not the strongest option for long term bundling. Most ties are short and may not be long enough for large bundles, though multiple twisty ties can be twisted together on one end to make the tie longer. 

2. Electrical Tape

Electrical tape is commonly made out of vinyl and can insulate and protect wires. Electrical tape can be used to bundle wires together and to secure wires to other items. Electrical tape can be found at all hardware stores and most retail stores at a reasonable price per roll. Black is the most common color, but there are many other colors available these days. Colored electrical tape can be used to color-code your wires. 

Advantages of electrical tape: low cost, easy to work with, looks clean, and comes in a roll so long lengths can be used as needed

Disadvantages of electrical tape: usually needs to be cut off or unrolled to get wires out so you’ll need to use new tape to re-bundle, can leave sticky residue on wires when removed

3. Zip Ties

Simply stated, zip ties are awesome. Zip ties are typically made of plastic and work by inserting the zip tie’s end into its head where when tightened the zip tie works like a ratchet and securely tightens. Common zip ties once tightened do not loosen unless cut. There are some zip ties available that have tab mechanisms that can be pressed to allow them to be loosened. Zip ties come in various sizes and different materials and are excellent at securely fastening and bundling items. There are also many colors available. Multiple zip ties can be used together to extend the length as needed. 

Advantages of zip ties: Very secure, many sizes available

Disadvantages of zip ties: can be difficult to access wires once bundled with a zip tie some can only be cut and a new one used 

4. Zip Tie Base Holders

Zip tie base holders are used in conjunction with zip ties. These work by looping a zip tie into the base holder which will allow you to bundle wires to the base and attach the base and bundle to another surface like a wall or your aquarium stand. Most versions of zip tie base holders have a sticky backing to attach to a surface or can be screwed into the surface for extra strength. These can be used to route your cable neatly and bundle them very securely. 

Advantages of zip tie base holders: Very secure, allows for clean routing of wires

Disadvantages of zip tie base holders: It can be hard to access bundled wires if needed, the sticky backing is often not strong enough to stay in place with a heavy bundle of wires. 

5. Cable Clips

There are many different types of cable clips out there. Most of these are made of plastic and can be secured to your stand or a wall via screws, nails, and some have sticky backs. With the many different types of cable clips, some can clip in multiple cords while others are for single cords only. These work well for routing cable neatly against the tank’s stand or wall. My favorite clips are the ones that are circular and can be adjusted to accept multiple cords or single cords. 

Advantages of cable clips: many varieties available, cost-effective, looks clean

Disadvantages of cable clips: may not be large enough for large bundles, sticky backing versions may not hold heavy amounts of cords

6. Velcro Ties

Velcro ties are great and very versatile. My favorite type comes in a roll that is double-sided Velcro. The double-sided Velcro allows you to wrap the Velcro around the cords in a nice tight bundle. The ties can be cut to size and you can use them to both bundle wires and secure bundles to other items. Another thing you can do with these Velcro ties is to cut a thin strip and place a screw in the middle of the strip where you want to bundle your wires on your stand or wall. Run your wires through the Velcro and tighten the Velcro strip. This allows you to bundle as many or as few wires as you need to and allows easy access if you need to remove a wire.

Advantages of Velcro Ties: Very versatile can be cut to length and mounted in various ways

Disadvantages of Velcro Ties: can be a bit pricey for a quality roll

Cable Channel Options to Concealment

Once you have your cables run to a central point or “highway” to the outlet you can then look to conceal the highway bundle. There are several products that you can use to conceal the main bundle of wires. 

7. Sleeves

Sleeves can come in many formats. Some common ones are flexible braided sleeves, split tubing conduit, simple sleeves, wire loom tubing, and sleeves with zippers. Sleeves are usually best used after your cables have been bundled. You simply run the bundle of cables through the sleeve. At some point you will need access to one of the cords in the bundles, so for aquarium cables it’s best to use a sleeve that can be opened up in the middle.

Advantages of sleeves: makes bundles of cords look much cleaner

Disadvantages of sleeves: It can be difficult to find the right sizes and some cannot be cut to size, can be a chore to access cables once bundled and run through a sleeve.    

8. Cable Raceways

Cable raceways are very similar to sleeves and serve as a channel that wires can run through. There are many different types of raceway systems that can be used for the reef aquarium. Some raceway kits use adhesives to stick to a surface while other kits are screwed in. If you choose to use a raceway kit you’ll want to choose one that can be fit to the size needed and is large enough to contain all of the cords you have in your system.

Advantages of raceways: clean look, many options to choose from

Disadvantages of raceways: may not fit all cables, can be hard to access a specific wire run through a raceway when needed

9. Over the Floor Wire Concealer

It’s usually not advisable to run a cable over the floor especially where there is foot traffic. Running cables this way poses a trip hazard and also carries the risk of equipment damage if the cord is stepped on repeatedly. If you have no other option an over-the-floor wire concealer can be used. Over the floor wire, concealers will offer some protection and will help to prevent a trip hazard. Like the other cord management items, there are many options to choose from. Some are simple soft covers while others offer more protection from the wires getting crushed.

Advantages of over the floor wire concealer: protects cables from foot traffic damage, reduces trip hazards

Disadvantages of over the floor wire concealer: never a best practice to run wires this way should be used as a temporary setup    

10. Wire baskets

Wire baskets are trays that can be mounted to a wall or stand to create a highway running to the power strip. These work well when there is room to mount these where needed on the back of the stand or wall. The wires can be run through the basket and bundled or even zip-tied to the basket. 

Advantages of wire baskets: lots of room for wires, many mounting options, and options for securing wires

Disadvantages of wire baskets: on the pricier side, requires more room than other options

Conclusion

There are many options available to help you bundle wires, centrally run them to power strips, and conceal the wires. I like to use a combination of some of the items outlined in the article. I particularly like using a combination of cable clips and Velcro ties. I will usually use cable clips to run wires on the top of the cabinet and try to route all the cable out of the stand at a central point. I will use Velcro ties to bundle wires where it makes sense. When the bundles are centrally located I like to attach the highway bundle using a Velcro tie screwed to the back of the tank or wall as it runs to the power strip. The Velcro ties make it very easy to access the cables when needed. Cable ties also work well for attaching power bricks to the stand or studs on the wall. Once your cables are centrally routed another consideration to add is a controller board. Your highway of cables can be routed to the main controller board where you can mount your power strips, aquarium controller, modules, and other controller-type items used on your tank. My goal when able is to have clean roads, leading to a clean highway, that connects to a well laid out and organized controller board. Having your aquarium’s wires nice and tidy can be the finishing touch to a beautiful display tank and reef sump system.