How hot is too hot?

[T-Boner]

I have a 180 plumbed out to my garage to a 100 gal sump hooked up to a 65 gal frag tank and this last week my tank has been at 81.3 in the mornin an gets 82.7 by the afternoon that's with 4 fans blowing on it out in the garage! I am ordering a chiller 1/3 hp my question is how hot can it get befor I start loosing SPS? The reason behind the is that yesterday my purple stag had green stripes running down the side to the base and this morning it was all green! I've seen SPS turn green right befor they die so I'm thinking the heat got to it. Looks like a few more days floating bags of ice till the chiller gets here!

 

[epicurus84]

Personaly i think > 27 degrees that would be 80.5 farenheid is dangerous and should be avoided at any cost. Esp if you got acropora's.

Monties might survive but last summer i lost all acros because i was on holiday and my mother/father who where taking care of my aquarium could not keep it below 81.

I must say this lasted a few weeks, but i do not recommend it.

 

[twiggyb]

Mine ranges from 78 to 80 and all my acros are doing fine. If I don't keep up with my wc every week however, will make them very unhappy because I feed the tank heavily and it needs the change every week.

 

[64Ivy]

While I maintain the temps in my tank between 77-79 F year round, I have known other hobbyists who've successfully kept SPS corals at temps above 80. The key, of course, is stability. Acros used to swings of, say, 81.0 -82.5, will most certainly survive, all other parameters being in line. But if I suddenly expose my corals to those temps, I'd expect to have some problems.

 

[sanababit]

my tank

winter 75-76
summer 80-86

at 86.5 the fan turns on, nothing has happened 3 years i've had the tank, sps dominated, you know what, the hotter the water the more growth i have, i dont bother with chillers just a fan on top of the sump, that is it

Sana

 

[ms123]

During the summer months my tank regularly hits the 84 degree mark with no ill effects. All the sps seem fine.

 

[KeMo]

I keep mine steady at 78-80 . One of the LFS (bigAl's) keeps most all of their corals around 84 . As long as its stable and does not jump around.

 

[JB NY]

MY chiller turns on when the temp is over 82, I have not lost an acro to heat in years.

 

[scottwhitson]

Have never lost any Acro to heat and our tank ranges from 77-84 almost everyday.

 

[mike_cmu04]

You should be fine at those temps as long as you dont have large swings or above 84 you should be fine.

 

[RichConley]

What is too hot completely depends on what the coral is normally exposed to. There are acropora in the wild living in areas that get in the mid 90s. On the other hand, if you keep your tank at 78 all year, 82 might kill them.

 

[T-Boner]

Wow that's sone good info!!!! Had no idea it could that hot an still be ok. All my other corals are fine just not sure what would of kill off the purple stag. What is ideal temp?

 

[kevinpratt823]

WOW, glad I'm not the only one. I get 80-84 daily right now, and acros are fine. My Borbonius Anthias did get pop-eye though, and I suspect it is from the heat/stress, as he is a deepwater fish and use to cooler temps. He is eating and behaving just fine though and it's getting better.

 

[29reef]

My tank stays between 80-81 I have a chiller and controller to maintain a stable temp. No problems here. The key is keeping temps the same IMO.

 

[sanababit]

What is too hot completely depends on what the coral is normally exposed to. There are acropora in the wild living in areas that get in the mid 90s. On the other hand, if you keep your tank at 78 all year, 82 might kill them.

I feel the same way, why cant people just get it, lol

Sana

 

[iap]

Does everyone keep their ac set in the 80s or are these tanks in areas where there is no ac, such as a garage? My house is kept at 79 and I have a couple fans on my tank and sump and my tanks stays at 79-81

 

[sanababit]

Does everyone keep their ac set in the 80s or are these tanks in areas where there is no ac, such as a garage? My house is kept at 79 and I have a couple fans on my tank and sump and my tanks stays at 79-81

My tank is an inwall with no ventalation right smack in the middle of the room, i use t5's, and a fan, and a skimmer for aereation, the tank goes up to 86, no ill effects, the house is ventilated but i dont have a thermometer inside to know what the temp is, i guess around 80

Sana

 

[Thairun]

What is too hot completely depends on what the coral is normally exposed to. There are acropora in the wild living in areas that get in the mid 90s. On the other hand, if you keep your tank at 78 all year, 82 might kill them.

+1..........IMHE

me set my temp at 26.5-27.5 consistently all year round. Sorry to use degree centigrade, not sure the conversion.

In 2 occassion, firstly my chiller pump malfunction and brought temp to 31.5 deg and suffered 3 colonies STNed. Second, forgot to on back chiller after maintenance and temp rose to 30+ deg. without any sps casualty.

 

[iamwrasseman]

corals in the wild see higher temps and even are out of the water for hours with direct sunlight and still survive . as far as how great their color stays in the wild,well usually great . IMO as long as the corals see the same conditions daily once they are accustomed to this there can be some pretty big swings and also high temperatures with minimal color loss or die off . ocean temps often hit mid 80s and sometimes higher with no ill effects Aruba has a mean temp of 82 FWIW.

 

[poidog81]

My tank unfortunately reached 91 degrees and I lost everything including about 12 acro colonies. My chiller froze up (no pun intended) and didn't kick on. I'm now on the rebuild