dailydriven911
Member
Mine is dialed in at 80 but fluctuates from 79.9-80.2 lol. Unless it's 80 in the house then it creeps up to 81.5 or so. So maybe a week total out of the entire year it's 81-82. Summers in WA ftw!
Tank Temps...
- Thread starter dustinc
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schroder_reef
New member
My tank currently runs 78-82, 78-80 colder months and 80-82 warmer months, depending on time of year. The reefs around the world average temperature is closer to 80 degrees if I remember correctly. I have had tanks get to 84 for a day or more and not had any issues. That of course is a hot summer day or week (100 + outside). The bigger issue seems to be major temp swings (78-84 in a day every day). Some corals couldn't handle that, others could.
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/showthread.php?t=1977164&highlight=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, r
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.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1977164&highlight=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, r
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.
MCsaxmaster
New member
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/...eat-temperature-debate-part-1-chris-jury.html
http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/reefs-magazine/82353-great-temperature-debate-part-ii.html
http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/reefs-magazine/93637-great-temperature-debate-part-iii.html
http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/reefs-magazine/100587-great-temperature-debate-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
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No it isn't and over the years I have let the tank get to 86 daily with no issues, the best SPS tank I ever did got to that 86 and had the best growth and health of any of the tanks I have done over the years. The problem I have is my current tank manages the heat too well. I have the heater set for 77, no fans, no chiller and we keep the house at 75. I do run dual 150 watt 10K's and LED supplements.
ShaunMonahan
Clam nut
I run my sps tank at 80F. Since switching to LED's, I actually have to use a heater to maintain this 80f mark...
chessmanmark
New member
I wonder, what happens to the tank that never goes over 80 degrees. Sooner or later if a problem occurs and the tank gets up to 85 or 86, well when that happens it's harder on the livestock. I feel that if your tank occasionally hits a high temp of 84 then it is better able to handle the "stress" if you have a problem one day and the tank temp gets up there. Just to be clear I'm not advocating going from 78 to 84 in the same day.
I think around 87 you will start to see damage to the acros, but I don't think 84 is the danger level. I think I remember reading in Aquarium Corals that corals actually grow faster at higher temps. The problem I believe becomes lower oxygen levels for your fish.
I feel letting your tank hit 84 in the summer is in an acceptable range.
It isn't just a set temp that causes issues, it is a change from what they are acclimated to. As little as two degrees above or below the normal range can cause stress. Corals have evolved with temperature changes, and on a reef the temp frequently changes by several degrees in a short time as upwellings from deeper water move across them. Trying to keep a constant temp is a recipe for disaster because the corals adapt to just that temp. This is ok as long as nothing ever changes that, like a heater malfunction, a loss of electricity, a broken chiller, etc. Corals stress at about 2 degrees different from their normal range. So if you keep a constant 78 and something happens and the water gets to 83, which isn't high, but because they are not adapted to a change, they stress and frequently die.
If you have a daily swing of temps the corals adapt to that and it becomes the norm. Letting your temps swing from 77 to 84 is an insurance policy. When the times happen that your tank gets cooler or warmer than normal the corals are not as easily stressed. Numerous people have followed this practice and it is the easiest solution. If you feel you need a chiller, set it to keep the tank from getting higher than 85 or 86. 83 is the avg temp of all reefs, but that does not mean they 83 is the temp of all reefs, some are cooler and some are much warmer.
I usually let the temp swing higher in summer and lower in winter, the reasoning is simple, in summer if power goes out the temps will rise higher than normal, in winter it will cool more than normal. The biggest risk factor is what you let the corals adapt to, a constant temp can be a loaded gun, without doubt something will happen and your ability to keep that constant temp will fail, and often the tank does as well. You cannot just take a tank that is run at a certain temp and introduce high swings, if you decide to let the tank temps vary you have to do it slowly so the corals can adapt to it. It can take months to properly acclimate corals to a 5-7 degree swing.
If you have a daily swing of temps the corals adapt to that and it becomes the norm. Letting your temps swing from 77 to 84 is an insurance policy. When the times happen that your tank gets cooler or warmer than normal the corals are not as easily stressed. Numerous people have followed this practice and it is the easiest solution. If you feel you need a chiller, set it to keep the tank from getting higher than 85 or 86. 83 is the avg temp of all reefs, but that does not mean they 83 is the temp of all reefs, some are cooler and some are much warmer.
I usually let the temp swing higher in summer and lower in winter, the reasoning is simple, in summer if power goes out the temps will rise higher than normal, in winter it will cool more than normal. The biggest risk factor is what you let the corals adapt to, a constant temp can be a loaded gun, without doubt something will happen and your ability to keep that constant temp will fail, and often the tank does as well. You cannot just take a tank that is run at a certain temp and introduce high swings, if you decide to let the tank temps vary you have to do it slowly so the corals can adapt to it. It can take months to properly acclimate corals to a 5-7 degree swing.
I have a very simple setup that seems to work fine. 2 small fans that blow across the surface of my display come on at the same time my 2 400w MHs come on and off at the same time also. Easy to set up and cheap. Water temp only varies by less than 2 degrees from about 78 to 80.
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