Check your tank temperature

Well Gary it looks like you and I need to get together and take a trip to Fiji for a year and study tidal pools...lol.
 
You could try the Cocos islands. This thread has some interesting information on temp fluctations and corals:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1977164&highlight=temperature+fluctuations.

FWIW,Mine runs 77-79 with occasional dips to 76 and rises to 80.

While I'm sure some corals can accommodate much warmer water,tolerance for fluctuations seems to require long term acclimation including the mix of zooxanthelae strains(clades) acquired or developed over time.

As for ich and other pathogens already in the tank, their lifecycles will accelerate as will the metabolic rate of other organisms.Fortunately , I haven't had to deal with ich in a number of years but back when I had some in a tank ,outbreaks followed swings to 82 or so.
 
Most of the corals we keep will do perfectly fine at 84. It really depends on what they are used to though. If you keep your tank at 78 and don't let it fluctuate, the corals will be used to that temperature. Even if you tank gets up to 83, it could be trouble. If your tank is used to fluctuating between 78 and 81 or 82, a jump to 84 or even 85 probably won't even phase your corals.
I don't subscribe to this theory at all.

Many Acans aren't going to be happy at 84-85 no matter what.

IME/IMO you cannot "train" corals to do well in an environment that is warmer (or cooler) than where they naturally occur. It's like saying I can grow my cactus in a wetter environment if I water them more.
I do agree with Tom that "foreign clades" may help less heat resistant species survive warmer than natural temperatures.



Stability is desirable in a reef aquarium. Temperature is one of the big environmental factors. In my personal experience over the years a certain coral (let's use 'green slimer' as an example) is no more susceptible to succumb to a spike in temperature if always kept at a certain temp or kept in an aquarium that's allowed to fluctuate widely in temperature.

IMO/IME it's more likely that sensitive corals do not thrive in an aquarium that's allowed to fluctuate widely and rapidly in temperature. This allows other more tolerant species to proliferate. The beautiful "extremely tolerant" species become staples of the aquarium trade (ORA's, Tyree's etc.) while species that are less forgiving don't get around as much.
 
I don't subscribe to this theory at all.

Many Acans aren't going to be happy at 84-85 no matter what.

What about the SPS that can't get enough light if you blast them with 400W MH? They're used to the extremely high temperatures of being so close to the water surface. They won't be happy at 78 will they?


This thread is very informative.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1977164

Ron Shimek has stated that the normal temperature for BTA is 84-86. For every 2 degree drop of temperature, the anemones metabolism drops by 10%. So if you keep your tank at 78 (which a lot of people do), the BTA metabolizes at 70% efficiency. He states that this is a "significant stress." This is for BTA, but I'm sure that corals are similar. Maybe not the exact temperature, but the same general idea. See this thread http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic88809-11-1.aspx?Highlight=increase+temperature+metabolism
 
I don't buy that sps at 78 will be unhappy. Mine do very well at 77 and have for years. My bta has been around for about 6yrs and is doing fine too.
I have read much of Dr Schimeks work and respect most of it. It's out there for everyone to read directly and sort out what works for their set up and what doesn't.
 
The linked map displaying surface ocean temps shows there is a good deal of variation in temperature with the Indo Pacific ranging from around 79 to 84 and the Austrailian , Carribean ,Japanese and African waters more in the mid 70s to 80 degree range .

http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Water/images/ocean_temp.html

Since most of us don't keep regionalized biotypes as Dr Shimek also recommends, extrapolating his specific recommendations for Entmacea quadricolor and/or other Indo Pacific species to a to reef containing corals and other animals from other regions doesn't seem wise. My preference is for more of a center position around 78 to 80 with variations of plus or minus two. This gives me some room for unplanned seasonal fluctuations. It also keeps metabolic rates and waste relatively constant and may slow pathogenic activity.
Broadening fluctuation ranges if that strategy is chosen should be done slowly over a long period of time ,imo, Even then if corals acquire more heat resistant clades of zooxanthelae, these clades may indeed may leave the coral more susceptible to disease.

For most of us checking temps and trying to maintain reasonable consistency particularly as the warmer weather hits us is a prudent thing to do,imo.
 
I'm not advocating a constant 84 for most reefs. I asked that question on MarineDepot specifically for BTA. But letting your tank hit 80 isn't going to hurt a tropical reef tank. Lots of people spend lots of money trying to avoid 80 degree water. IMO, there is no need.

Would the picture you linked look any different if the dates recorded were in the Southern Hemisphere's Summer? Say January? How different is the water temperature on the Great Barrier Reef?
 
finally got a digital thermometer, found that my tank fluctuates between 79.2 and 85.3 already!

I need to figure out a cheap way to cool the tank until I get the bigger setup.
 
finally got a digital thermometer, found that my tank fluctuates between 79.2 and 85.3 already!

I need to figure out a cheap way to cool the tank until I get the bigger setup.

Fans pointed at your water surface should help to keep temperature down. Watch you water level though, because it will cause evaporation.
 
nice thing about having a basement sump/prop/fuge set up..Helps keeping the temp around the same all year..Still need heat in the winter,but in the summer we don't go above 79..Well we keep our house at the same temp all year anyway
 
I'm not advocating a constant 84 for most reefs. I asked that question on MarineDepot specifically for BTA. But letting your tank hit 80 isn't going to hurt a tropical reef tank. Lots of people spend lots of money trying to avoid 80 degree water. IMO, there is no need.

Would the picture you linked look any different if the dates recorded were in the Southern Hemisphere's Summer? Say January? How different is the water temperature on the Great Barrier Reef?



Yes the temperatures would be higher at times perhaps 84/85 at the surface. Deeper water is cooler.

However, the following link on the gbr includes an illustration that highlits bleaching effects on the GBR associated with temps around 29 C(84.2). maybe a tad higher depending on how one's eyes see the shades of color.

It also explains some of the other effects of temperature increases.


http://www.solcomhouse.com/greatbarrierreef.htm
 
What about the SPS that can't get enough light if you blast them with 400W MH? They're used to the extremely high temperatures of being so close to the water surface. They won't be happy at 78 will they?[/url]
why not? IME they do fine.

IMO/IME 80F is a good target temp for the vast majority of reef critters kept in our aquariums.
IMO/IME try to avoid allowing your reef aquarium from hitting 85F and higher.

The next few days of "heat" (high 80's!? :lmao:) here in western NY might be putting some newer reef aquarium setups to the test!

Keep in mind that evaporative cooling (read: FANS) are probably your best bet if you don't have AC and remember to program your lights to turn off (via a controller) if the aquarium gets too hot.
 
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I've been sifting through this. My personal experience with elevated tank temps resulted in delterious results only with my acanthastrea lordhowensis. The frags I had, did not tolerate the upper extreme. Most of my experience is with SPS. "Easy" to "difficult" or more aptly tolerant to less tolerant corals all seemed to tolerate fluctuations in my reef from 78 up to 85, with the record being 86 on one fateful summer's Eve. My tank "lived" around 80 with fans on controller to come on at 81.

I think each set up "lives " at a particular temp based on lighting, climate, depth, ancillary equipment etcetera. To stress about the numbers is unnecessary unless you hit the extremes, 74 or 85 for example.

Anecdotally, my first tank "lived" from around 75-77 and did just fine IMO.
 
Here is another interesting and informative post by Green Bean on the issue of temperature spikes:

greenbean36191
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"If you experience a temp spike the best thing you can do is drop the temp back into the normal range as quickly as possible. There is no evidence whatsoever that temperature swings are stressful to anything we keep, whereas temperature spikes definitely are. You want to drop the temp quickly because temperature stress is dependent on the time and magnitude of exposure. The farther the temp gets above the tank's normal maximum and the longer it takes to return to normal, the worse the stress is for the animals. As Rob pointed out, you would be hard-pressed to emulate the speed of changes these animals experience in the wild where temps can drop several degrees in a matter of seconds.

Also, FWIW 84 isn't a bad temperature to keep reef animals. There are only 2 real concerns. The biggest concern is whether the tank usually maxes out at a colder temperature and the temp spiked at 84 today or whether the maximum temperature has been creeping up over the course of a few weeks. If it's the former, then the fact that the tank is at 84 is a real issue because the animals will not have been acclimatized to that temperature. Anything more than 2-4 degrees above the maximum they have been acclimatized to will cause them stress. Such a spike also tells you that you may have malfunctioning equipment. However, if the max has been slowly creeping up over a long period, the animals have had time to acclimatize to that change and will be absolutely fine at 84.

The second concern is that if the tank is reaching 84 at this time of year, it may get beyond 86 (which is about as warm as you can go and still allow for a safe margin of error) by the middle of summer. "

I would add for deeper cooler water corals , like austrailian acans , thresholds will likely be lower.



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Current Tank Info: tore them down to move and haven't had the time or money to set them back up
 
I agree with gary .. corals are grown in their optimal environment in nature , temp, sg. That being said On hot days I would not turn on the halides as there are days on the reefs where there is cloud cover. I looked at running my pc/vho as a cloudy day. My tank would reach temps quite often that I was uncomfortable with and they corals would inform me that they were not happy about the current events.

The flip side is that our tanks are a mosaic of global reefs and therefore what would be our optimal temps? Tonga? , Fiji ?, I think its a compromise ... I personally found that the change was more harmful than the maintainable high. That being said most stores keep tanks cool as they are not concerned with growth, but sales. So bringing home a fish/coral from a tank at 76 and putting them in your tank at 84 has extremely high mortality rates (or it did for me) one more reason for a proper quarantine.

Summer is a pain for reef keepers hang in there everyone :) and remember Ice doesnt work as well as you would hope :)
 
My tank hit 89 last night! jeez. I froze a 1g ziplock bag and I'm hoping I can drop it in the sump and drop temps.
 
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