how much heat can a reef take before damage occurs?

[NALCOMIS]

At what temperture does a reef begin to suffer or die?

I have mostly sps and softies

 

[818]

You dont want to go over 82F. Then again some corals melt under 82F. Xenia for example. If you have a sump the best advice I can give you is freeze 2 liter bottles of water and drop them in the sump.

Best of luck to you and your fish man.

Sam

 

[coralcat]

85.5 is my limit i let the tank get to, or you will have cooked crabs!!!!

 

[Charles99]

hhmmm... crab

 

[golfish]

I've ran my sps tanks as high as 83 with very little problems. It always worried me when I ran it that high. Temp swings over 3 degrees can do more damage. If your over 84 I'd start to add some floaters to the tank.

Floaters are frozen zip loc bags fillers with RO\DI water.

 

[Bebo77]

yeah at 84 you are starting to do damage to coral... at 86 you will be losing coral for sure...

 

[NALCOMIS]

maybe my thermometer is off? its reading 86 and everything is fine. its one of those glass floating types.

 

[dragonladylea]

Had the heat here week before last and last week, tank got to 86 and only lost the xenia elongota, red sea xenia still looks good and so does everything else softies, lps and sps.

 

[coralcat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7794861#post7794861 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sammoorefield
maybe my thermometer is off? its reading 86 and everything is fine. its one of those glass floating types.

get a better one.86 will give ya problems, got butter Tank swings have never been a problem, summer, 79 to 85, winter, 76 to 82,3 I don't use heaters or chillers,,, alls good

 

[PHATBEN]

i hit 86 today with 3 fans 2 blowing on top of the aquarium and one on the sump... inside my house it hit 96... damn i have to buy a chiller anyone have one for sale?

 

[coralcat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7795144#post7795144 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PHATBEN
i hit 86 today with 3 fans 2 blowing on top of the aquarium and one on the sump... inside my house it hit 96... damn i have to buy a chiller anyone have one for sale?

Been hot here, even with AC, back off the lights a couple days when so hot, especially MH, it won't hurt a thing

 

[ezcompany]

my tank hit 88 today, but my corals seem fine still. they are used to 86 f almost daily, and 82 during the night.

 

[NicoleC]

Max temp depends on the species you have. Some species are borderline; some are full fledged tropical. Also, the healthier they are, the more likely they are to weather a hot day without damage -- more than a day or two at extreme temps can bring down even the hardiest and healthiest corals.

Get those fans going, and throw some 2 liter bottles in the freezer for insurance. It doesn't get much hotter than it was today, and if you can get your temps back down to normal you have probably survived the worst the weather will throw at you this summer... we hope!

 

[coralcat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7795708#post7795708 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ezcompany
my tank hit 88 today, but my corals seem fine still. they are used to 86 f almost daily, and 82 during the night.

A point that I have tried tomake in the past, tanks can and do adjust to temp raneges, like the ocean it's self. I have always let my tanks swing, key word above is use to, 88 "I"
would be nervous, but not 86.....79 to 85.5 86 is about daily for my tanks in summer, no chiller or heater. I try the simple approachto reef keeping, It works for me and the animals.,, JUST DON'T FREAK AND TRY AND MAKE A SEVERAL DEGREE CHANGE QUICKLY

 

[ezcompany]

yeah, i am used to 86, but 88 had me scared a little bit. i drove home and started putting in those ice packs

 

[NALCOMIS]

I have red and pink xenia, all is well.... Im going to go get a digital thermometer today, just to be safe.

 

[NicoleC]

Digital thermometers are notoriously inaccurate, but usually consistantly so. You need to cross-check them with a high quality thermometer to have any idea of your readings are accurate.

 

[Orochimaru]

i do what sharkdude always does in the summer, run my lights early in the morning when it's still cool from the night breeze. I wont get to enjoy my corals when I get home from work but at least they will be happier and this a small sacrifice for a short time only.

 

[coralGoodie]

I'm so glad I bought my new chiller last May before it got hotter. All softies are happy. My frogspawn is multiplying and splitting. Xenias are thriving and my bubble coral has expanded 300% more then when I bought it last Dec.

Last summer of 2005, I lost a beautiful tree coral. Just wilted and die.

I set my chiller to 82. It gets really hot inside the house since I don't have any A/C.

 

[karl~23]

at 86 I lost some Xenias and some Monti Caps