Temp opinions.

[Mooneye56]

I see most people talk about setting coral reef tank temps to 78. Have also heard some temps of 82. What is everyone running there tanks at and why? Trying to understand why a certain temp and not just a temp

 

[cCRAWLINS]

I usually get different opinions from people with nice tanks and meet them all in the middle lol unless ive had better results with something else. So me personally I go 79-80

 

[sarcophytonIndy]

I used to run at 80, but decided to drop a few degrees for safety sake. So now I have my Apex set for 77 degrees. I have a 125 gallon reef with two 200W heaters. If both heaters fail stuck on, the temp goes up to 82 degrees. If both fail stuck off, it will drop to 70, which is what the house is set at. I have tested this, and neither extreme is fatal to my livestock.

 

[CivicS14]

I run mine at 78 cause we keep our house at 75 in the summer and 70 in the winter, so trying to save a few pennies from keeping it any higher. Pretty much the only reason for me.

 

[Sailingeric]

I am in the 78 camp. It gives me some cushion and time if a heater fails. I do run two smaller heaters so if one gets stuck on it will take awhile to heat up the tank.

 

[X-37B]

I run 78-80

 

[Jon Fishman]

77. In a perfect world. In practice, it is much higher in the summer. Usually 81-82

 

[Brian_68]

Call me crazy but for years I did not have a heater and it would bottom around 71-72 in the winter and still had growth. Now I have an undersized 100w heater in the 125G and it bottoms around 74 in the winter instead.

 

[pcon]

So I started on the 78-82 camp, targeting 78-80f for my first year or so. Since then I have slowly lowered my target window. Right now I am shooting 74-77f compromise between deeper water fish who want cooler waters and acros and other SPS who want warmer waters.

 

[Cory]

I run mine between 74 qnd 82f. I dont worry if its in that range. I agree with post 3 if having two heaters.

 

[KrisReef]

Stability with one parameter, my chiller comes on at 77 the heaters at 76.

Wild reef temperatures, especially in shallow water can get into the mid 80's and the coral is ok short term. Long term, cooler water allows higher O2 concentration and lower temps mean slower metabolism which is generally more acceptable to the stuff we want to keep alive in our tanks.

 

[Westside Guy]

77. In a perfect world. In practice, it is much higher in the summer. Usually 81-82

I also try to stay about 77. When it has gone higher I have too much algae buildup on my glass.