Who Keeps Their SPS at Temps Under 70?

[skibum9884]

Who is doing this, and what was the effect? I have some deepwater fish and am thinking about dropping the temp down around 68 (slowly) if possible. Otherwise, I'll be keeping it around 70-72, but would prefer to go lower.

I believe a few people are doing this with success, right?

 

[returnofsid]

I don't think any SPS corals will survive at that low of temperatures. There's a reason that SPS corals only grow in Tropical climates.

 

[JMalone81]

I don't think any SPS corals will survive at that low of temperatures.

+1 I don't think sps will do well in cold temp.

 

[CleveYank]

I think that since you are only 3 degrees from the kill zone temp for most SPS that could be hazardous in that one little malfunction can have you in 65 and under land in a hurry. But, if there are folks doing this? Then I would start some heavy research before I did try this. An ORA is a terrible thing to waste.

Good Luck

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Who is doing this, and what was the effect? I have some deepwater fish and am thinking about dropping the temp down around 68 (slowly) if possible. Otherwise, I'll be keeping it around 70-72, but would prefer to go lower.

I believe a few people are doing this with success, right?

Probably very few.
"SPS" is a hobbyist term and a poor choice of words to use when researching this topic. There are stony corals that occur in cooler waters but you'll need to use specific names in order to research compatibilties.

 

[skibum9884]

So, if it's mainly ORA pieces (many), deepwater acro (most likely a. echinata), and some millepora, what would you say a "safe" low temperature would be?

Please realize that I will be keeping deeperwater fish, and don't want to go above 74 for sure.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

sounds like you might need to revamp your thinking

FWIW I've kept echinata at 75F with no problems. Several other Acros, too.
Much below 75F and you'll need to do some serious homework to see what will survive.

Research coral reef growths in cooler waters (Lord Howe Island, etc.)

 

[roktsintst]

I have a full SPS Reef with great color in my opinion and I keep my tank at 75. I will be lowering it to 73 and i dont anticipate a problem.

Unless you are thinking of keeping somehting that i am not, 73 should be a very good middle for your fish and sps.

I asked Chris about temps for fish. My fish list included Bandits, Wrought Iron, Conspic, Interrupta and he said 73 would be perfect!!

Are you thinking of keeping a fish that requires even cooler waters?

 

[MikeandNicole]

When I lost power about a month or so ago I lost all of my ORA corals. Granted the temp went down to like 55-60 degrees so that is expected. I saved about half of the SPS and none of them were ORA. I would just be careful as someone above said, a malfunciton and you could lose everything.

 

[skibum9884]

Ryan, I am looking at keeping fish like the Interrupta, and currently have a Marcellae Butteryfly, and some Borbonius Anthias. Maybe 73-75 would be a good range. I am currently at 75, however with my chiller/heater I do get swings between about 73.5-75.5 or so.

 

[returnofsid]

If you're keeping mainly deep water fish, from cooler waters, are you at all worried about lighting? These fish typically do better in a lower lit tank, with subdued lighting. I could see this also having a negative effect on your corals.

 

[skibum9884]

I am using an ATI Powermodule. I think many people are successfully keeping deeper water fish under higher light. It's just a matter of acclimating them to the higher lighting conditions.

 

[CleveYank]

Sounds to me like you need 2 systems in order to properly take care of all the different animals you are trying to force into one neat little package unnaturally.

Saying that. Making a dedicated true deepwater system with the correct fish, the actual correct deepwater corals from one regionally specific ocean as a display would be quite a unique system. Probably challenging tracking everything down for correctness, but that would be special. It would also allow for the longterm success of both fish and corals alike.

 

[skibum9884]

Well, I think it's possible (and possible to do well), as you have people like Chris Campbell, John Coppolino, and Jeremy Maneyapanda keeping Jocs, Bandits, Wrought Irons, Interrupta, Conspics, and more in SPS reefs.

Maybe I'm going about asking my question wrong, but I realize that these fish will not thrive at 80 degrees, and it sounds like the SPS won't do well at 70. What is the middle ground I need to be looking for? 75?

 

[roktsintst]

Im going to be keeping many of those fishyou listed and I have been advised that 73 is about as good a middle ground as you can find...

 

[soulsigma]

Sounds to me like you need 2 systems in order to properly take care of all the different animals you are trying to force into one neat little package unnaturally.

Saying that. Making a dedicated true deepwater system with the correct fish, the actual correct deepwater corals from one regionally specific ocean as a display would be quite a unique system. Probably challenging tracking everything down for correctness, but that would be special. It would also allow for the longterm success of both fish and corals alike.

+ 1 there are many cold water corals aka deep water acros that prefer cooler temps and shade like lighting, all of which are components of a cool water set-up.

 

[Amphiprion]

Well, I think it's possible (and possible to do well), as you have people like Chris Campbell, John Coppolino, and Jeremy Maneyapanda keeping Jocs, Bandits, Wrought Irons, Interrupta, Conspics, and more in SPS reefs.

Maybe I'm going about asking my question wrong, but I realize that these fish will not thrive at 80 degrees, and it sounds like the SPS won't do well at 70. What is the middle ground I need to be looking for? 75?

You may actually be underestimating deeper reefs (~50m for what follows). The charts and graphs of temps I've seen of even deep reefs shows quite a bit of variability--in some cases, even more so than some shallower temps due to upwellings, etc. These sort of conditions don't hold true for all locations by any means, but it gives you an idea. These deepwater reefs can range from below 75 to well above 80, only to dip and/or rise again. Cold upwellings have also been known to bleach corals, so much below 75 for most reef corals doesn't seem like a good idea. It is more a testament to these animals' hardiness than something we should strive to target, IMHO.

Secondly, a few those fish you mentioned are also found in much shallower water (the only one mentioned that is not and is a true deepwater fish is H. borbonius, though P. marcellae is supposed to be found near cold upwellings). Deep water just happens to be part of these fishes' natural range and I certainly don't see 80 degrees being an issue for them or the vast, overwhelming majority of corals available (even supposed "deepwater" species). The bottom line: things are more variable than we give them credit for, but is one preferable temp for one species ideal for another? Not necessarily. The extremes found in nature may not necessarily always be preferable, either. This is why I agree with the dual habitat recommendation and approach.