Temp swings how much is too much

[skywurz]

Hi all

I've been working with tuning in the ability to maintain a stable temperature and have been seeing a wide mix of results because we'll... It just depends.
I've put together a spreadsheet of what I plan to keep for coral and livestock and their basic care Sheet info. Taking the smallest Max and highest low I'm looking at 75-80F is tolerable .
Everyone seems to say 77-78F is the sweet spot. Right now I have my reef-pi set to kick on the heater at 77.5F and turn it off at 78F.

The temp swings about .5 over an hour. but I have unfortunately oversized my heaters and have seen 1 degree in 1 hour.
Tldr
I guess what I'm asking is how much is too much of a temperature swing up or down over a given amount of time.

 

[Quietman]

1F swing to maintain temp will be fine. Getting too tight will unnecessarily cycle your heater and controller shortening life spans.

Also corals do see both daily and seasonal temperature swings in nature.

 

[PatW]

I agree with quietman, less than 1 degree F is and many reefers exceed this.

I am an experienced scuba diver. Coral reef temps in the Caribbean can easily swing over 10 degrees per annum. On sites near walls going into deep water, an upwelling can really drop temperatures And these can shift quite a bit in a short period of time.

 

[YankeeTankee]

I've seen data on temperature fluctuations in actual corals reefs. From day to night the average swing is just over 2 degrees.This does vary in different locations but that's pretty typical. Just like our lights warm the tank, so does the sun, and when they switch off/sun sets they cool down just a tad.

Hope that helps!