76 degrees or 81??? How do i

[LesPoissons]

Hey guys. It appears that I can keep my tank it’s 76° with a small fan blowing on it. Or 80 to 81° with no fan. Which is better for a mixed reef tank? Or do I need to set the fan on a timer to turn on and off hourly for an hour? Or do I let the fan run all the time and also plug in a heater to achieve like 78°?!!! Help please

 

[Blitheran]

81 should be the highest point your tank should be. I keep my tank at 78 and let it swing between 77.5 and 78.5

 

[homer1475]

My tank in the winter with the heat on runs right around 80.5 and I don't even worry about it. In the summer when the windows or AC is running then I keep it at 78.

EDIT to add:
As long as your inhabitants are used the swing, it's fine, but I would not go over 81.

 

[Backreefing]

Never go over 80 , even 80 makes me nervous. 77-78 is perfect.

 

[homer1475]

My apex alerts me at 83 and shuts off my lights. I have seen it as high as 84 with no problem. Again your inhabitants have to be used to it and have plenty of gas exchange as hot water holds less oxygen.

 

[robbyg]

My apex alerts me at 83 and shuts off my lights. I have seen it as high as 84 with no problem. Again your inhabitants have to be used to it and have plenty of gas exchange as hot water holds less oxygen.

Personally I think your setting that alarm to high at 83. My tank is normally at 78 and at 80 deg my alarms start blazing. In the past I have found that correcting the situation can sometimes take hours, depending on what caused it. I want as much advanced notification as possible.

 

[homer1475]

Personally I think your setting that alarm to high at 83. My tank is normally at 78 and at 80 deg my alarms start blazing. In the past I have found that correcting the situation can sometimes take hours, depending on what caused it. I want as much advanced notification as possible.

Your opinion and your right to have it, but....

like I said I see no issues at 84, but my tank typically sits at 80. I can cool it to 78 in an hour with a fan on the sump that kicks on when it gets to 82. If I hit 83 I know something is wrong. In my eyes and where I live, I see no problem with keeping my tank at what it wants to run at with no heater or chiller.

 

[BeejReef]

Won't quibble with anyone's preferred temp range, but 76 and 81 are both kind of the outside edges of what "everyone" seems to aim for. I think your situation cries out for a temp controller. Inkbird would be the entry-level and probably costs just a little more than you would spend trying to diy a timer for your fan.

also, running the fan constantly is going to increase your evap and wear and tear on your RODI. Also a potential issue if you run limewater out of your ato.

 

[madweazl]

You wont find a reef under 80° in the summer and it isnt an issue; 81-82° are typically where the strongest growth happens in the wild IIRC.

 

[Reesj]

My tank is from 27C to 28C. In F thats 80.6F to 82.4F
When I was searching about a reef tanks highest stable temprature, I had a a person link me an article stating highest growth for coarls occure during 27C-29C

 

[JP Reef]

My tank runs around 82 during the summer and 78 in the winter. No issues.

 

[SDK]

Are you in a tropical area or the southern hemisphere?

My biggest concern would be if my tank was running at 81 degrees in a cold house. That is something I would want to address before the weather got warmer.

So I guess my question is, what temp is your house currently at? Are you running around room temp or 10 degrees warmer?

 

[joseserrano]

I keep mine around 79-80, higher temps will increase everything's metabolism, so you can if everything is good, grow corals faster.

 

[ReefGeezer]

Either temperature is good. To my knowledge, one isn't better than the other. Personally, I'd ditch the fan.

Like everything else, there are best practices that some see as rules. Others see them as guidelines. I don't know if there is really a rule/guideline published somewhere but I don't stress over any temperature from 74 to 84 degrees as long as the temps don't change too quickly. My tank runs 78-ish in the Winter and 82-ish in the summer. I thought about putting a heater in the tank once, but I got distracted by some new shiny thing and lost interest. ;Bored

 

[LesPoissons]

Your opinion and your right to have it, but....

like I said I see no issues at 84, but my tank typically sits at 80. I can cool it to 78 in an hour with a fan on the sump that kicks on when it gets to 82. If I hit 83 I know something is wrong. In my eyes and where I live, I see no problem with keeping my tank at what it wants to run at with no heater or chiller.

you have a fan set to kick on when the tank reaches a specific temp? is that a think or a diy set up?

 

[homer1475]

Apex controlled. It's just an outlet on an eb8 with a desk clamp type fan that is always on, The apex turns the outlet off and on.

 

[LesPoissons]

the temp has increased lately with the addition of a fuge light. The tank was 78-79 usually but the fuge light has increased it a couple degrees. my house is 71-74 depending on the weather and if we are baking. winter sun streams in my livingroom window and def warms it up higher in there but i dont think to 81 room temp.

 

[LesPoissons]

Apex controlled. It's just an outlet on an eb8 with a desk clamp type fan that is always on, The apex turns the outlet off and on.

dangit. apex is on my xmas list

 

[Halal Hotdog]

You wont find a reef under 80° in the summer and it isnt an issue; 81-82° are typically where the strongest growth happens in the wild IIRC.

I absolutely agree with madweazl. My reef stays around 80F, but is has reached 82-83F for multiple days with no issues. If you can only pick between 76F and 81F, I wold pick 81F.

 

[LesPoissons]

Amazon has something like this for $30. Do you think this would work?