SPS temperature

[dahenley]

I was talking with a friend, and he informed me that LPS (acans in particular) require a lower temperature.

My tank runs hot (around 80-82 deg) at all times. I was wondering if that was too hot for SPS?
its been running that temperature for 2 years, and im having good luck with SPS, but i think some of my colors arnt what they could be, and i wondering if the temperature has anything do do with it?

and if so, what would be a recommended temperature to look for?
im running 3-400W radiums with 4-VHO's (2-454's, and 2-Super Actinics)
i dont run a chiller, and i have my canopy fans turned off due to "im too lazy to replace them....)

(i have a chiller, but its not hooked up)

any insite would be helpful.
(also, if pictures are required to make a better decision, i dont mind sharing )

 

[seafd]

78 F would be a better temp according to Delbeek and Sprung, but stability is the real key with temperature. If you have the chiller then maybe its worth running to help stabilize things and bring the temps back down. Replacing the fans might also help bring temps down and increase gas exchange at the surface, which might help out too. Decreasing the temperature will allow more O2 to be present in the water column (like 3%), decrease biological metabolism, come closer to ideal temperatures for calcification and allow you to keep animals from cooler climates with a lower maximum temperature range. The other really big advantage is that you give yourself a safe zone in case the temperature rises a little bit. Right now if the temp rises even 1 or 2 F in the tank you could have a serious bleaching, if the temp was at 78 F and the same thing happened you might avoid the bleaching. Something to think about....

 

[markie mark]

I have had my tank go to 87 before with no deaths..not saying its good but everything di fine.

 

[dahenley]

like seafd said, mine stays constant, but i was wondering if a lower constant temperature would be better?
i was under the impression that because it doesnt fluctuate, that it would be fine, but i wasnt sure if the SPS would benefit from an actual temp drop?

 

[prop-frags]

not scientific, but we've found that lower temps make our sps happier, and while we haven't controlled only for temp, there's been some better coloration over the period where we have deliberately reduced the nominal temp.

 

[dahenley]

Prop, what is your desired temp. (and that was the kind of information i was looking for) thanks

 

[pnavarro170]

im new to sps and hadnt heard that about color. i did 76 for a month and didnt feel i was getting the growth. i had awesome color untill i switched to 10k's. so im looking for growth right now and went back to 79. but im interested in hearing this out .

 

[ati70cutlass]

if you look at statistic you will see the high side is actually around 100 and low side around 40. this comes from sprungs books on reef , every reef has thier own dynamics. when i was in bermuda, belize, honduras, and grand caymen i took water samples and temps, i got anywhere from 74-82 degrees. id would say for a tank 82-84 is maxxing it out. remember that as the temp goes up so does the biological function and the life spans starts to shorten. i keep mine at 76 when possible but have fluxs up to 78

 

[allsps40]

I keep my tank at an average of 79 with swings from 78-80 over the day. No problems at all.

 

[karsseboom]

I dont think temp swings are that bad for sps, look how many really nice sps tank dont even use a heater and temp swing from 4 to 5 deg during the day. Some people think it makes the corals stronger.

 

[Alex T.]

Even though temperature stability gives hobbyists a sense of security, I've read plenty of documents that show very large temperature swings on natural reefs within a 24 hour period. It's not uncommon to see 10 degree swings routinely.

Having said that, I have 400 watt metal halides in my tank and routinely go from 78 - 84 degrees in the Summer months with no ill effects. I don't run a chiller and sometimes I've even hit close to 86, which is an 8 degree swing from lights on to lights off. Being an avid surfer my entire life I've had the privilege of surfing some of the reef zones in the South Pacific. Early morning water temperatures are rather chilly, probably in the mid to upper 70's with late afternoon water temperatures in the mid to high 80's. Reefs in Belize sometimes see 90 plus water temperatures. I think within reason corals can adapt to these swings with little to no sign of stress. IMHO giving them a stable temperature may be OK in our captive systems, but if the chiller goes down it is the first time they may experience a temperature shift they have not been acclimated to and this may be their demise for not building up a defense to temperature fluctuation.

 

[redhanded77]

my temps range from 78-82 on an average day. On colder nights it might drop down to around 76. I set my chiller to go on at 82. Everything seems to be doing fine and growth is great.

 

[Dog boy Dave]

What Alex and Red said x 3. My system starts every summer day at 76.4 and by lights out its at 81.9 or so with chiller and fans. 2800 watts of light for 12 hours or so will do that. Color varies with water quality and which lights the pieces are under but temp doesnt seem to affect them at all.