Temp too high?

[Treef]

I have a 20gallon with mostly ricordea and zoa's atm with a few hermits and a couple of snails. The temp of the water in my tank right now is close to 85, is this too high? I was told that i should keep it at below 80 but I don't have a chiller Everything seems to be doing fine, in fact the hermits and snails seem a little bit more active.

 

[papagimp]

Go to walmart, spend $10 on a clip on desk fan, aim that to blow across the waters surface. Took the temp in my 55g from 84 down to 78 within a couple hours. 85 isn't going to kill everything, but it's getting close to that temp.

 

[smac]

85 may be a little on the high side, but you don't necessarily need to keep it below 80. 82 might be the max I'd be comfortable with. Again, like many things, it's consistency that matters. Running a fan across the top of the water is a time tested method that many people use to get through some especially hot streaks, but if it's a chronic problem, you may want to consider other methods.

Try turning the thermostat one your heater down too. Those things are notoriously inaccurate.

Where do you live that it gets so hot anyways?

 

[drummereef]

Consistancy is best. A fan blowing across the water surface will bring the temp down a couple of degrees. Watch your top off as you will evaporate a bit more.

 

[jokeloma]

My wifes tank was running 82-83ish and I took the fan out of a power supply from an old computer and matched it with a old plug in power supply. Now her tank will stay at 75 if I don't watch it. I just set it to the side of the center brace facing down.

 

[alexb518]

i think 85 is actually about the max you can go before you see your fish sitting on the sand bed. if you're like me and live in a place where it only gets hot a few times a year, then you can just freeze water bottles and throw those in the sump. i agree that a chiller is the way to go, but some just really don't need it.

 

[reefnetworth]

warmer temp also encourages fish and algae growth. coralline as well as unwanted algae.
i have kept mine at 80.0f for over 1.7 years and everything grows faster than it did @ 77f where i kept it for about 15 yrs.
yeah, i was old school. then came RC, and i saw the light! :rollface:
JDM

 

[papagimp]

I've kept one of my tanks about 86 for a few months with absolutely no negative effects, livestock included a green bubble coral, 3 toadstools, tonga's, urchin, PJ's, Bangaii's, Jawfish, Clowns. Water quality stayed good, just the high temp due to nowhere to mount a fan, 250w MH lighting, no chiller, no central a/c. Tanks still up and running and looking good. Have managed to drop the temp down to about 83 during the day though. Doesn't look any better or any worse for it.

 

[stanlalee]

my tank reached 85 regularly for several months before I put fans in the canopy. none of my seven fish or any of the corals (all kinds) seemed to care. Not even the xenia which is known to drop dead at elevated temps.

 

[slowradio]

my tank likes it around 82

 

[alkataz]

the fan thing works, but if you have a problem with too much evap when you use them try the coolworks ice probe they will drop you temp up to about 7 degrees if so desired.

 

[lesages]

Optimum water temp is a highly debated subject. The warmer water gets the less O2 is has (every other variable being equal) but with sufficient oxygenation and a reasonable bio-load temperatures as high as 85 shouldn't be much of a problem. Many times it's normal, check this page out: http://www.naia.com.fj/research/water.html.

Also, animals that have been conditioned to a constant temperature are more likely to be stressed when the temperature starts to fluctuate. My tank goes between 27c and 29c every day and everything is doing great.