How hot is too hot for SPS?

M

mv123

New member
Hi all,

I have a JBJ 28G LED tank, with some montis and acros that has been set up for 4 months. The montiporas are growing well, and the acros have polyps open most of the time. Parameters are good, and cal and alk are right in range with daily 2 part dosing.

Before it started getting really hot here in NJ, the tank temps got up to 80 or 81. Now that it is so humid, even with AC the tank is getting pretty hot. I run the hood fans all the time, but the tank maxes out at about 84.5-85 from the temp probe in the sump. The question I have is, how bad is this?

For the next few days I am planning on shortening photo period, or maybe running only 3 of the 5 led strips. But, I don't want to make too much of a habit of this, since I want the light for the SPS to continue to grow well. Also, since this is an all in one, I dont have a sump and no external plumbing, so I really dont want to have to plumb in a chiller.

Is this temp going to be a really bad thing for the tank? Or, is it ok to run this temp in the summer, and assume that things will stay cooler in the rest of the seasons? Does anyone else run tanks this temp in the summers?

thanks,
Marc
 
84-85 is no big deal unless you are one to keep your temp at exactly the same temp.......like 79 all of the time and then overnight it hits 84-85 you could have some issues.
 
That is a little on the warm side. I would try to keep temps under 86. Can you install some fans blowing on the surface of the water?? Our tank ranges in temp from 77-84 during the summer.
 
It goes down a bit at night, maybe to 82 is, but for sure not into the 70s.

As for a fan, since it is an all in one, with a covered hood, it is pretty tight and there is not really room for one. the hood has fans in it, that are meant to keep the LEDs cool. they work to some extent, it is defintely hotter if I dont run them.

I guess one option is that the hood does not cover the back where the skimmer and overflows are. I could put a small fan, maybe some sort of clip on one, over the small area here. Might help a little, but would be pretty ugly.

So, maybe I will just leave it for now and see how it goes. If i do get bleaching, I will take further action.

Marc
 
i start to run a fan when the tank hits 86.5, my tank is sps dominated and in the summer it gets to this temp with no ill effects, good luck

sana
 
You really don't want your temp to go any higher. You will get faster growth rates at higher temperatures, at least that's what it says in Aquarium Corals - Borneman, however oxygen levels decrease. I use to keep my tank between 82-84 when I started, however now I shoot for 79-81. Once my tank hits 81 fans start blowing across the surface of the display. With fans blowing you will have more evaporation and will have to top off more often. Shortening your lighting period will also help. You mention LEDs. Do they add much heat to your tank? MH lighting can have a strong effect, but I always thought LED would run cooler. In nature tropical oceans experience storms and corals adapt. Reduced lighting for the short term should be ok for your corals.
 
my tank in the last couple of summers swings from 81-85 every day with no ill consequences. the truth is in the pudding, watch your corals, see how they react to the different temperatures in your tank. Every tank is different, every coral is different, each coral has a different story. If you purchase a frag from a friend who runs a chiller and keeps his temperature constant than that coral has become adapted to that consistency of stable temperature, then you could have a problem with a frag from his tank. This whole hobby is trial and error what works for some does not always work for all. Just watch your tank and view how it reacts to different diversity and try to mimic stable proven reactions and you will do just fine.
sorry for the speech, I just truly love this hobby!
 
Over here, we get reefcrests which are exposed for hours a day and in water approaching the 90-ish mark without any real problems. Anything below 90 is doable, though the higher end of that does leave you open to things going wrong quickly. In my experience you'll see more problems moving 4 or 5 degrees over the course of a day than you will being stable at a "high" temperature :)
 
When living in my small condo I had no way to get the temps in my tank down. In the summer I would just set my controller to maintain 84-85. No biggie.
 
I noticed my SPS's no doing well when the temp. goes above 82. What I do is changing the lighting period from daytime to night time when it's cooler. I don't think the corals care about what part of the day the lights are on.
 
i had a really healthy sps tank before and my temp shot up to 89-90 with no problem at all. i think its best to set up a wider range of temps so that your corals dont freak out at the slightest temp shift.
 
yea...as long as its not a drastic change I havent experienced any problems, my tank has been as low as 70 and as high as 85 I havent lost anything due to the temperature. The only time I lost stuff to temperature was when I had stuff shipped to me and the water was too hot.
 
I bought a reefkeeper for my 12 nano. It gets into the high 90s in california this time of year but i manage to keep my tank 79.7 to 80.3 all day and night. The desktop fan blowing over the surface is what helps the most.
 
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