Tank was 87 degrees when I got home today.

89Foxbody

New member
Is this warm enough to cause any permanent damage to my livestock? My KTC is a little shriveled and my sinluaria is extended but no polyp extension. My nem was very shriveled but is expanding a bit now. Zoos, GSP, shrooms, and fish all look fine.

Should I be worried?

I put a fan over the tank and opened a window and put a fan in it blowing on the tank.
 
Anything above 82 makes me nervous.. Fans can be a big help. Before having a controller, I'd run a clip-on fan directed at the water's surface on the same timer as the lighting. Some folks also run cooling fans in their sumps. GL!
 
The highest I have ever gone is 93 degrees and I lost nearly everything. I had mostly sps though. For a short time your softies and zoos will probably be fine. Hard corals are much less forgiving. The nem is hit or miss.
 
87 shouldn't kill anything if your tank gets some fluctuating temps daily. What are the high and lows of your tank usually?

You should be alright now. O2 deprivation is the concern at that temp, but you should be fine.

82 is not a problem in my opinion. That is the normal temp of my tank actually.
 
I admit the tank fluctuates quite a bit on a regular basis. My house is pretty warm even in the winter. Night time temp is 77-78 and daytime temp is usually 82-84.
 
87 isn't that high then. I'll bet everything is just a little ticked, but will pull through.
 
86 is average in summer time at great barrier reef. i wouldnt worry but try to keep it below 82 for sure.
 
86? Didn't reallize the average water temp gets that high there in the summer, interesting for sure.
 
But... 86' in the ocean is much different than 86' in a closed system where oxygen exchange and equilibrium is far less quick.
 
If you have a skimmer and decent water movement (especially at the top of the tank), the mid 80's aren't a problem due to oxygen deprivation.
 
So your saying it is not the heat that hurts the livestock but the lack of oxygen that is caused by the heat?
 
i agree 86 in ocean is different thank a tank. with heat u get low oxygen levels. IMO 87 one day is not going to kill ur tank. but i would avoid getting that high.
 
i agree 86 in ocean is different thank a tank. with heat u get low oxygen levels.

No, any detrimental effect of temperature on our livestock is very unlikely to have anything to do with O2. At sea level, with natural salinty (35ppt), at 87 degrees F the O2 saturation level is about 6.18 mg/l. For reference, at 78F, it would be about 6.71 mg/l. So, this is about an 8% drop, however, from what I can find, generally anything over 5 mg/l is considered acceptable. So, this is well into the typically accepted safe zone. I.e. O2 has nothing to do directly, with any negative effects of temperature in our systems. Perhaps if there is high ammonia or some other stressor, the drop in O2 could be an added stressor, which could exacerbate the situation, but should not be a problem for a healthy tank.

What I think your saying however is that a tank is different from the ocean because the lack of O2 exchange in a closed system reduces the O2 level further. However, this does not seem to make sense. The temperature effects the saturation point of O2. The ability of gases to exchange between the air and water is going to be determined by barometric pressure and surface area. Temperature is not changing either of these parameters to any significant extent.

So, temperature is only effecting the waters O2 level if there is sufficient gas exchange to saturate the water. So, if your saying that the O2 level is reduced due to gas exchange limitations, then the O2 level isn't effected by the temperature. At least as long as the O2 saturation point of the water is higher than the O2 level which the gas exchange and barometric pressure is allowing. So, if O2 levels are an issue, it's due to gas exchange and has nothing to do with temperature, unless there is sufficient gas exchange to saturate. In this case however, the O2 will only be an issue if there is very, very high temperature (i.e. to get down to 5mg/l you need to be well above 100 degrees F), or there are other stressors which may exacerbate the situation.


So, in short, temperature does not have a significant effect on O2 in our systems. If it does, you have other, bigger issues. Temperature effects our livestock mainly because is interferes with protein function and causes biological mechanisms to function poorly or incorrectly. It is unlikely to have anything to do with O2.

Whether or not 87degerees effects your livestock will depend on the tolerated temperature range for a given organism and the acclimated range. From what you are describing, with the natural temp range of your tank, it sounds like 87, for a short time anyways, shouldn't be an issue.
 
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If your temperature continuously fluctuates than I think it is time for you to invest in a chiller.

Temperature fluctuation possibly saved his aquarium. His inhabitants were used to the changing temperature, so a few degrees in excess of his usual temp didn't kill everything off. If his tank was used to only being at 80, he probably have had more problems.
 
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