83 degrees

ricwilli · Jun 3, 2010

Do you think running a tank full of sps and lps at 83 degrees for a couple of hours cause any harm to the coral?

aquafrags · Jun 3, 2010

i think you are OK, I know all my milles hate when my tank hit 84 degrees

Breakin Newz · Jun 3, 2010

Should be good!

Urban Reef · Jun 3, 2010

How much of a temp swing are you having each day?

ricwilli · Jun 3, 2010

78-83. I have my controller to shut the main lights off at 82 degrees. They should turn on at 3pm but never do cause the water temp is higher than 82. I'm trying not to use a fan but It looks like I have no choice.

KLR · Jun 3, 2010

i have a fan from wal mart about 1/2 a foot in diameter..it brings the temp down 1 degree...its on and off the same time as the lights

TANKSALOT · Jun 3, 2010

Fans are cheaper than a coral loss

Ian · Jun 3, 2010

you might think about changing your lighting schedule for the warmer months...

Dyraxe · Jun 3, 2010

I have the same problem due to Florida summer heat. I broke down and bought a 1/2 HP Teco chiller. I started to get a few bleached out spots from the heat. My tank went from 79 to 83 each day and I wasn't happy with running that high of a temp. At first my SPS seemed to not mine so much they grow really fast in hotter temps imo. But once they get to become large colonies it seems to cause problems with hotter temperatures. I KNOW, I KNOW,..... people say all the time how natural reefs get hotter then 83 degrees but we are talking about a little glass box in my living room not a natural reef. No one knows for sure what all is happening in a closed reef and what is the perfect temp for all corals. All I can say is that in my experience keeping the temps down around 78-76 degrees with large colonies seems to have the best success. Do what ya like but I like it cooler.

TopNotchCorals · Jun 4, 2010

Ian said:
you might think about changing your lighting schedule for the warmer months...

That is a interesting suggestion,I may have to try that this summer here in cali

TopNotchCorals · Jun 4, 2010

Dyraxe said:
I have the same problem due to Florida summer heat. I broke down and bought a 1/2 HP Teco chiller. I started to get a few bleached out spots from the heat. My tank went from 79 to 83 each day and I wasn't happy with running that high of a temp. At first my SPS seemed to not mine so much they grow really fast in hotter temps imo. But once they get to become large colonies it seems to cause problems with hotter temperatures. I KNOW, I KNOW,..... people say all the time how natural reefs get hotter then 83 degrees but we are talking about a little glass box in my living room not a natural reef. No one knows for sure what all is happening in a closed reef and what is the perfect temp for all corals. All I can say is that in my experience keeping the temps down around 78-76 degrees with large colonies seems to have the best success. Do what ya like but I like it cooler.

Im with him on this one.It is definitely a uncomfortable feeling watching your tank temp rise and it is even a worse feeling watching them cook.You have to understand that it is very easy for your water to heat up but it takes a long time for it to cool down.A chiller would be best to have then not IMO.

Reef Pets · Jun 4, 2010

Turn your lights on in the evening instead of running them during the day, it helps a lot. Of course fans are cheap and do a great job of cooling down if a chiller is not in our budget. I see that you are in NJ. If you have a basement put the sump in the basement, that eould be a cheap fix to all your problems..

TopNotchCorals · Jun 4, 2010

reefpets said:
Turn your lights on in the evening instead of running them during the day, it helps a lot. Of course fans are cheap and do a great job of cooling down if a chiller is not in our budget. I see that you are in NJ. If you have a basement put the sump in the basement, that eould be a cheap fix to all your problems..

That is another great suggestion.....I am learning a lot from this thread.....now only if I knew where to buy a basement

Reef Pets · Jun 4, 2010

In that case it would be MUCH cheaper to buy a chiller. :bigsmile:

TopNotchCorals · Jun 4, 2010

reefpets said:
In that case it would be MUCH cheaper to buy a chiller. :bigsmile:

Hilarious:cry:with laughter

Dyraxe · Jun 4, 2010

My lights came on at 4pm and did not go off until 2am. The first and last hour was just VHO before the metal Halides came on/off. It didn't help me much, my house thermostat is set at a certain temp all day and does not change so my AC runs to keep the tank at or below 83. The only way to get the tank cooler was to crank down the AC temp. I had 10 pc fans built into the canopy to help with the heat as well but it still got hot. When the lights went off it would cool down but as soon as they came back on it cooked. If your like me and no matter what you keep your AC on so your corals don't fry. It wont help much by changing the time of day your lights come on because your house will be at a constant temp any how. Now if it is getting Sun light from a window that can cause more heat. Mine gets no outside light so it wont effect what time I have my lights come on. Fans are the cheapest way to get temps down like they said. But I could not have fans all over blowing my wife would not have it. I had to keep it looking clean.

Dyraxe · Jun 4, 2010

ricwilli · Jun 4, 2010

Thanks for the response everyone.
My sump is in the basement and its not helping much. Last night I did put on a fan to blow on the sump. I woke up this morning at 5:30am and the temp was at 80.1. WOW! the basement is now humid. The tiles on the floor is a little slippery from the moisture. This is one problem that I was battling before and a few people here helped me to control it. Now I'm back with the same problem cause I added a fan.

Lighting schedule:
12pm - Actinics on. 2 T5's
3pm - Main lighting on. 6 T5's (total of 8 on)
9pm - Main lighting off
10pm - Actinics off