Ideal temp for e. quadricolor?

[BigJay]

It's starting to get cooler here, my house was in the low-70's for the first time since April. I didn't have my heaters on, and the tank temp dropped to 75-76. The rose nem didn't much care for this, and shrunk down to the size of a half dollar with his mouth gaping open.

Yikes, I had no idea they were this sensitive to temperature fluctuations.

I raised the temp over a 5 hour period back up to 80 degrees and he filled back up, closed his mouth, and ate some mysis. I set my heaters to raise the temp and shutoff at 78.5. When the halides kick on, they raise the tank temp to 81. Canopy fans work to cool the tank down to 79 and then shut off.

Other parameters look fine, the temp was the only parameter that was off.
Salinity 1.026
Ph 8.09
Nitrates 0
Nitrites 0
Ammonia 0
Calcium: 500
DKH: 9
Temp 75.3 <--- First time the tank went this low.

My question: Is this a good setup? What is the optimal temperature for a bubble tip anenome? I suspect the answer depends on the individual, since the green BTA was just fine throughout all this, and rose BTA looked sick and upset when the tank fell under 77.

 

[garygb]

I would say 78 to 82 is the preferred range for a BTA. Your ph looks a little low, if that is before the lights come on, then it's understandable. Other parameters look ok--although calcium doesn't need to be that high for anemones, but it might not be detrimental either.

 

[BigJay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13371646#post13371646 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by garygb
I would say 78 to 82 is the preferred range for a BTA. Your ph looks a little low, if that is before the lights come on, then it's understandable. Other parameters look ok--although calcium doesn't need to be that high for anemones, but it might not be detrimental either.

You're right, the PH measurement was while the lights were still out. With lights on it's closer to 8.10-8.2. I use a little of randy's two part recipe every day and that keeps it consistent.

I run a larger medium-sized tank (180 gallon mixed reef), so the higher calcium is mostly for the corals. I also have a test kit with a really large granularity, so CAL is actually anywhere between 480-500.

I just ordered a DC4 for my aquacontroller, it should be here in a couple of days. That will let me keep the temperature much more stable than it is now. I should be able to stay within the range that you recommended.