Temp. swings for SPS Corals

[oscar.millan]

Hey guys,

My SPS corals are doing great, nice growth and color, but as I look of ways to improve my setup I'm thinking about my temp. swing.

Typically it goes from 78 to 82 on a daily basis. I have fans keeping everything cool, but I feel they are maxed out.

Question is:

1. Is it time for a chiller?
2. Is the swing about average? Acceptable?
3. What is your temp. swing like?

Thanks for your input, very much appreciated.

 

[sedor]

My temp swing is about the same and IMO its actually somewhat good for the corals to have a bit of a swing because it helps them become more resilient to the aquarium lifestyle. Can you use a chiller? Of course, but its not necessary as your staying perfectly within acceptable temps.

 

[oscar.millan]

Sedor,

Thanks for the input. Very much appreciate it. That's kinda been my feeling, but I thought I'd ask the experts and get a second opinion.

 

[Foxface210]

I'm not an SPS expert but I have nice steady growth with good color on all my SPS and I use a 1/3 chiller. Temp stays between 78 and 80. It's been my experience that gradual changes are acceptable but SPS tends to do better when everything remains consistent and you reduce the daily fluctuations as much as possible.

Edited to add- It's also been my experience that if something is working for you and your content/satisfied with the outcome, don't mess with it. If you're not getting what you want out of it or things are not looking as healthy as you'd like them to... then it may be time to consider a chiller.

 

[divewsharks]

Hey guys,

My SPS corals are doing great, nice growth and color, but as I look of ways to improve my setup I'm thinking about my temp. swing.

Typically it goes from 78 to 82 on a daily basis. I have fans keeping everything cool, but I feel they are maxed out.

Question is:

1. Is it time for a chiller?
2. Is the swing about average? Acceptable?
3. What is your temp. swing like?

Thanks for your input, very much appreciated.

If you wanted to minimize the swing, you could bump your heater up to something higher than 78; but if you concern is the high of 82, i wouldn't worry about that. If you throughout the year 82 is your high, in my opinion a chiller wouldn't really be a worthwhile investment. My daily swing is 80-82.

 

[oscar.millan]

Foxface210,

Good advice all around. 78-80 is what I would be shooting for thanks for pitching in. Corals are happy right now. Perhaps I should just leave it alone.

 

[oscar.millan]

divewsharks,

Not a bad idea, that does minimize the swing from 4 degrees to just 2 degrees. Never thought of looking at it from the other direction.

Consensus then is that 82 is not as "hot" as I might have thought. 82 appears to be quite acceptable for SPS.

Good deal, thanks for sharing.

 

[ksc]

I wouldn't worry too much about that small 4* temp. swing. I've seen many great sps tanks with similiar swings. Mine runs 80-84 in the summer and 78-79 in the winter and I've never noticed any problems or differences, there are far more important thing to worry about. I think a natural temp swing like you have is actually better for sps corals, makes them a bit "tougher'. Here's a good read on the subject-http://www.ronshimek.com/salinity_temperature.html

 

[oscar.millan]

KSC,

I jumped straight into the temperature read, pretty good. Thanks for sharing.

Sounds like my range of 78-82 is not as bad as I thought.

 

[bfam4t6]

KSC,

I jumped straight into the temperature read, pretty good. Thanks for sharing.

Sounds like my range of 78-82 is not as bad as I thought.

I agree with the others. My friend who got me addicted to this hobby is a walking reef tank encyclopedia. He's been at it for over a decade and even used to run his own fish store (and no it did not close because of anything he personally did). Anyways, his tank has the exact same swing 78-82....actually 82.5 His SPS look great.

 

[jc-reef]

I wouldn't worry too much about that small 4* temp. swing. I've seen many great sps tanks with similiar swings. Mine runs 80-84 in the summer and 78-79 in the winter and I've never noticed any problems or differences, there are far more important thing to worry about. I think a natural temp swing like you have is actually better for sps corals, makes them a bit "tougher'. Here's a good read on the subject-http://www.ronshimek.com/salinity_temperature.html

+1...to add to that, natural currents at times will bring warmer or cooler waters in the tropics. Additionaly, weather events; i.e. storms/hurricanes often 'upwell' colder waters from below to the surface in nature.

 

[oscar.millan]

bfam4t6,

Thanks for the blessing, sounds like no chiller for me! I'm kinda glad to be honest, I was dreading dropping $500.00 plus the cost of the electricity.

Looks like I'm buying an ATO instead.

 

[oscar.millan]

jc-reef,

Good points, I appreciate the feedback. I wonder if in the ocean a 4 degree drop can happen that quickly (24 hours) with billions of gallons of water.

In any case it looks like we have a consensus among all of us.

Thanks again!

 

[t4zalews]

bfam4t6,

Thanks for the blessing, sounds like no chiller for me! I'm kinda glad to be honest, I was dreading dropping $500.00 plus the cost of the electricity.

Looks like I'm buying an ATO instead.

MUCH better investment

 

[oscar.millan]

t4zalews,

Thanks, I'm going to have to agree. Although before this thread I wasn't so sure. It's a done deal at this point.

 

[oscar.millan]

Final thoughts

Final thoughts

I want to post one final time to summarize the conclusions from this thread. Here they are:

1. Temperature swing from 78-82 is quite acceptable.
2. In nature such swings exists naturally.
3. Average temperature of world reefs is about 82 degrees.
4. ATO > Chiller in my case.

Thanks everyone for contributing, I very much appreciate your responses.

Cheers!

 

[divewsharks]

I want to post one final time to summarize the conclusions from this thread. Here they are:

1. Temperature swing from 78-82 is quite acceptable.
2. In nature such swings exists naturally.
3. Average temperature of world reefs is about 82 degrees.
4. ATO > Chiller in my case.

Thanks everyone for contributing, I very much appreciate your responses.

Cheers!

1. yes, quite.
2. yes, i am a diver and have been on reefs where the water temp was changing due to changes in the currents. I would be in 78deg water one min cruise over a hump and be in 86deg water. Reefs were quite healthy.
4. ATO is very good investment and costs only a fraction of a chiller, mine was less than $50