Reef temp?

[rbryn]

What is the best temp for a reef tank? I see on liveaquaria between 72-78 and I've been hanging around 76 with occasional bumps to 80 (had a hard time getting my two heaters calibrated right).

I introduced my first fish(s) along with a hammer coral about 2 weeks ago and the hammer appears to like it better at the 80 mark (he's fully extended)... when the tank is closer to the 76 mark it's pulled in tight.

At first I thought it might be the temp fluctuations but I've had it stabilized at 76 (+/- .5F per 24hr cycle) for the past 4 days and he's pulled in.

All water parameters are golden
salinity: 1.024
temp:75.7
ph: 8.2
ammonia: between 0-.25
nitrite: 0
nitrate:10


So the real questions
1. What temp do you keep your reef tank at?
2. How much does it fluctuate within a 24hr cycle?

 

[phenom5]

My tanks range between 77-83 over the course of the year. And I don't mind if there is a 3ish degree swing daily. 72-76 is too cold IMO, and I personally don't put too much stock in the idea that your temp needs to be rock solid stable.

 

[DamonG]

Between 78.7 and 79.2. It doesn't fluctuate much on this system, even without a controller. I'm using an ebo jager heater. I sooner or later will be buying another controller though.But I find my coral and fish grow and are much happier, in the past, at this temp..

 

[hogfanreefer]

79.5 to 80.5 here.

 

[Teenreefer15]

78-80 is ideal

 

[cloak]

My tank usually varies between 76-85 throughout the year. No problem.

A temperature swing of about 4 degrees is usually the norm each day.

 

[biomek]

78-80 for me

 

[shesacharmer]

78-80

 

[maddmaxx]

78-81 for me...

 

[formsix]

Mine used to be about 78, and now it's 80. I agree the heaters are PITA, and when we moved the tank and recalibrated the heaters they ended up at 80. Everything seems perfectly happy, seemed happy at 78 too.

I also don't think swings are a big deal -- personally, I think it's most important to figure out a good system using one or two small heaters that keep the tank basically where you want it, without much risk that a heater will stick and cook the tank. Anything above that is gravy!!

 

[firemountain]

Ironic for this post. I noticed my Scoly was looking a bit flat and seemed "off" for the past few days.

I checked my temp and it was 75.4. I had then realized that after my water change, I forgot to plug my heater back in several days ago. I normally run around 79-81.

Hence to the OP...75 is a bit low IMHO.

 

[BryanS4]

79 to 81 for me.

 

[bundybear1981]

I run between 77 and 79 normally (with a chiller). In winter it did drop to 75 (I don't have any heaters thou)

 

[Wryknow]

It really depends on what kind of critters you're keeping I think. My SPS tanks seemed to do better when I had a heater and a chiller and there was no temp variance at all. Softies didn't seem to care too much if there was a 2-3 degree temp swing each day. I usually try to maintain around 78 in the winter and may go up to 80 in the summer.

 

[A sea K]

Curious about this as well. My new system stays right at 75-76 and I was pleased with this but now have concerns it may be too cool. My LFS owner has suggested I bump the temp up but I have been hesitant mainly because my heaters will need to run 24/7. My heaters are already on more than I wish to keep the temp up to 76.
I've done my part to keep my system as efficient as possible and not fond of the idea of continually running the heaters, may just have to bite the bullet on this one.

 

[phenom5]

Here's some interesting reading on the subject:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

Ron Shimek has shown in a previous article that the greatest variety of corals are found in water whose average temperature is about 83-86° F.

Reef aquaria do, however, have limitations that may make their optimal temperature somewhat lower. During normal functioning of a reef aquarium, the oxygen level and the metabolic rate of the aquarium inhabitants are not often important issues. During a crisis such as a power failure, however, the dissolved oxygen can be rapidly used up.

Great point from Sirreal63...

Most people keep their tanks cooler than they should. This is because the reef keeping books we all read told us to, but the books were doing the hobby an injustice. Normal reef temps are frequently in the upper 80's and can change rapidly. This is but one of the informative threads on the subject...
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...ht=temperature

Do an advanced search on user greenbean36191 and use temp as the search term. His experience was as a grad student, hobbyist and now a scientist and he studied reef temps for years. If his findings are not compelling enough, Google the great temperature debate and you will find more. There have been a few people on this forum who have studied this and do not have anecdotal experience, but actually measured reef temps.

The sad thing is this information has been available here for many years and still people do what books written in the 90's by people trying to sell books tell them to do.

And a little more from...

And what a perfect lead into what I was just about to say; also, thanks for the plug

I'd humbly suggest that reading this series which I recently wrote for Reefs Magazine could be useful. It's a four part series entitled "The Great Temperature Debate":

http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/r...hris-jury.html

http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/r...e-part-ii.html

http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/r...-part-iii.html

http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/r...e-part-iv.html

The very short version is that most (i.e., not all, only most) coral reefs have historically experienced temperatures in the neighborhood of ~78-84 F and have spent relatively little time outside this range. Some reefs are hotter than typical and regularly spend time in the 84-87 F range (and even higher in the Persian gulf) and some reefs are cooler and regularly drop down to the upper 60's, or even lower. However, the extremes are poorly tolerated by most corals. Corals from all reefs can thrive at temperatures in the neighborhood of 77-82 F, and most are flexible enough that they can tolerate a few degrees higher or lower for a bit. You can see much more detailed discussion in the series.

Back to the original question: if it were my tank, I'd use a fan on it as suggested. I think a temp of 83 F is fine and pretty much all our critters will thrive at that temperature, but I wouldn't want to intentially let it get much higher. Some corals will tolerate many degrees warmer without problems, whereas those form cooler reefs won't. Putting a fan on should allow better temperature control.

As a side note, greenbean is hecka smart and has given oodles of great advice; I'm a Ph.D. candidate in oceanography here at UH, working on coral eco-physiology; I live about 3/4 of a mile from the nearest reef and work adjacent to one; the temperature there averaged about 82 F today, which is a degree or two F lower than normal for this time of year (and 6-8 F warmer than is normal for 6 months from now, but then our reefs are on the cool side here in HI).

cj

I can't take credit for this, most of it came from folks much smarter than me. I pulled this from the ideal temperature for a reef tank? 82-84 F over on the Reef Discussion board. Lots of great reading on the subject of temp in that thread.

 

[phenom5]

Curious about this as well. My new system stays right at 75-76 and I was pleased with this but now have concerns it may be too cool. My LFS owner has suggested I bump the temp up but I have been hesitant mainly because my heaters will need to run 24/7. My heaters are already on more than I wish to keep the temp up to 76.
I've done my part to keep my system as efficient as possible and not fond of the idea of continually running the heaters, may just have to bite the bullet on this one.

Can you bump up the size of your heater? Maybe add a second heater? That way your heater(s) don't need to work so hard to keep the temp up.

 

[A sea K]

Can you bump up the size of your heater? Maybe add a second heater? That way your heater(s) don't need to work so hard to keep the temp up.

I have two 75watt heaters on about a 36gal total system volume. I just don't care for the idea of the heaters constantly going to maintain an elevated temp.
I was carefull in my equipment selection to be sure I would'nt have to battle high temps but it would seem I now have the opposite problem.
I have lost all but one fish(of 6) since wed and the remaining fish was stuck against the overflow weir this morning so I assume he will soon be gone as well, the LFS thinks it may be due to low temps. I am searching for answers and headed to the fish disease forum for advice.

 

[DamonG]

I have two 75watt heaters on about a 36gal total system volume. I just don't care for the idea of the heaters constantly going to maintain an elevated temp.
I was carefull in my equipment selection to be sure I would'nt have to battle high temps but it would seem I now have the opposite problem.
I have lost all but one fish(of 6) since wed and the remaining fish was stuck against the overflow weir this morning so I assume he will soon be gone as well, the LFS thinks it may be due to low temps. I am searching for answers and headed to the fish disease forum for advice.

Actually, strange that this topic came up because I thought I was a weirdo. I, up until about two years ago had the hardest time keeping fish(just like you). I did tons of research, and then finally it hit me(like most here) after I read something about the red sea. It was coincidentally when I started getting into coral.

Then it just seemed like common sense to raise the temps compared to what is advised generally. I then, and since then, have really not had much of a problem. I don't have the courage yet to take it into the 80 degree range, but after reading more,I may just do that. I know though, that for fish and my systems, major problems below 78 with animal longevity..

 

[A sea K]

No feedback from the fish disease forum. Anyway, turned my heaters up a tad so now running 76-77 deg.
My old 210 would run in the 82-83 deg range, never had any issues but always wanted to keep a lower temp which was not possible in the 210 without the use of a chiller. I was pretty carefull setting up the new 30 but I guess I might have been too low, oh well, maybe I'll just ditch my fancy LED and run a 250 MH,that should do the trick.