Temperature
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Z06-Hec
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if you look at what your aiming to buy I think the normal range is 72-78 F
I used to keep around 78 and didnt like how fast the water evaporated, i lowered to 73-74. Issue with me keeping it low is that temp reading is usually with lights on which give some heat as well so I can imagine at night with lights off it was going below 72.
I have since corrected mine to be around 75 so with all off at night it cannot possible go below 72.
I only run 1 heater. 150 Gal tank. with a RS200 Sump which i think holds another 20 at least, prob more.
I dont like the rate of evaporation so i try to stay as cool as possible without harming anything.
As far as fish and Livestock never had any issues running on the cool side
AngelFish, Tangs, Clams, LPS Corals, Clowns, Blenny...
I think I may have killed one of my Giant Mexican Turbo Snails when i raised from 72 to 76. Not sure if that was the cause but apparently they like it cool.
As far as the Giant ones i still have 5 left.
I used to keep around 78 and didnt like how fast the water evaporated, i lowered to 73-74. Issue with me keeping it low is that temp reading is usually with lights on which give some heat as well so I can imagine at night with lights off it was going below 72.
I have since corrected mine to be around 75 so with all off at night it cannot possible go below 72.
I only run 1 heater. 150 Gal tank. with a RS200 Sump which i think holds another 20 at least, prob more.
I dont like the rate of evaporation so i try to stay as cool as possible without harming anything.
As far as fish and Livestock never had any issues running on the cool side
AngelFish, Tangs, Clams, LPS Corals, Clowns, Blenny...
I think I may have killed one of my Giant Mexican Turbo Snails when i raised from 72 to 76. Not sure if that was the cause but apparently they like it cool.
As far as the Giant ones i still have 5 left.
EZMAC114
Well-Known Member
Are you saying that LED lights don't look as good through a glass tank cover? I'm upgrading to LEDs soon so I'm just wondering.
Z06-Hec
Valuable Member
I keep it uncovered not to change the effect of my lights at all, whether it be weaken or strengthen them.
Glass or whatnot gets dirty and may block light to some or all spots on the tank bottom. you may get a certain PAR reading in one spot and a completely different one 1 inch off and not realize there is a blotch or something on the glass, say maybe some food or anything on the glass....
I have my lights about 18" above the water itself and i still get a 200PAR reading on the sand bed in the tank.
Glass or whatnot gets dirty and may block light to some or all spots on the tank bottom. you may get a certain PAR reading in one spot and a completely different one 1 inch off and not realize there is a blotch or something on the glass, say maybe some food or anything on the glass....
I have my lights about 18" above the water itself and i still get a 200PAR reading on the sand bed in the tank.
EZMAC114
Well-Known Member
Oh gotcha...that makes sense. I'll just have to keep it nice and clean then
Randy Holmes-Farley
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I discuss what I think most reef aquarium parameters should be here:
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/re...-coral-reef-aquarium-randy-holmes-farley.html
from it:
Temperature
Temperature impacts reef aquarium inhabitants in a variety of ways. First and foremost, the animals' metabolic rates rise as temperature rises. They may consequently use or produce more oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, calcium, and alkalinity at higher temperatures. This higher metabolic rate can also increase both their growth rate and waste production at higher temperatures.
Another important impact of temperature is on the chemical aspects of the aquarium. The solubility of dissolved gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, for example, change with temperature. Oxygen, in particular, can be a concern because it is less soluble at higher temperature.
So what does this imply for aquarists?
In most instances, trying to match the natural environment in a reef aquarium is a worthy goal. Temperature may, however, be a parameter that requires accounting for the practical considerations of a small closed system that might suffer a power failure and trap the organisms in a small amount of poorly aerated water, something that rarely happens on a natural reef. Looking to the ocean as a guide for setting temperatures in reef aquaria may also present complications because corals grow well in such a wide range of temperatures. The greatest variety of corals, however, are found in water whose average temperature is about 83-86° F.
During normal functioning of a reef aquarium, the oxygen level and the metabolic rate of the aquarium inhabitants are not often important issues, and many reef tanks do well with temperatures in the low to mid 80's. During a crisis such as a power failure, however, the dissolved oxygen can be rapidly used up. Lower temperatures not only allow a higher oxygen level before an emergency, but will also slow the consumption of that oxygen by slowing the metabolism of the aquarium's inhabitants. The production of ammonia as organisms begin to die may also be slower at lower temperatures. For reasons such as this, one may choose to strike a practical balance between temperatures that are too high (even if corals normally thrive in the ocean at those temperatures), and those that are too low.
These natural guidelines leave a fairly wide range of acceptable temperatures. I keep my aquarium at about 80-81° F year-round. I am actually more inclined to keep the aquarium cooler in the summer, when a power failure would most likely warm the aquarium, and higher in winter, when a power failure would most likely cool it. All things considered, I recommend temperatures in the range of 76-83° F unless there is a very clear reason to keep it outside that range.
One additional comment on temperatures: having a small temperature swing is not necessarily undesirable. While temperature stability may sound like a desirable attribute, and in some cases it may be, studies have shown that organisms that are acclimated to daily temperature swings become more able to deal with unexpected temperature excursions. So while a tank creature that normally experiences only 80° F may be very healthy, the same organism adapted to a range from 78° F to 82° F may be better able to deal with an aquarium that accidentally rises to 86° F
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/re...-coral-reef-aquarium-randy-holmes-farley.html
from it:
Temperature
Temperature impacts reef aquarium inhabitants in a variety of ways. First and foremost, the animals' metabolic rates rise as temperature rises. They may consequently use or produce more oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, calcium, and alkalinity at higher temperatures. This higher metabolic rate can also increase both their growth rate and waste production at higher temperatures.
Another important impact of temperature is on the chemical aspects of the aquarium. The solubility of dissolved gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, for example, change with temperature. Oxygen, in particular, can be a concern because it is less soluble at higher temperature.
So what does this imply for aquarists?
In most instances, trying to match the natural environment in a reef aquarium is a worthy goal. Temperature may, however, be a parameter that requires accounting for the practical considerations of a small closed system that might suffer a power failure and trap the organisms in a small amount of poorly aerated water, something that rarely happens on a natural reef. Looking to the ocean as a guide for setting temperatures in reef aquaria may also present complications because corals grow well in such a wide range of temperatures. The greatest variety of corals, however, are found in water whose average temperature is about 83-86° F.
During normal functioning of a reef aquarium, the oxygen level and the metabolic rate of the aquarium inhabitants are not often important issues, and many reef tanks do well with temperatures in the low to mid 80's. During a crisis such as a power failure, however, the dissolved oxygen can be rapidly used up. Lower temperatures not only allow a higher oxygen level before an emergency, but will also slow the consumption of that oxygen by slowing the metabolism of the aquarium's inhabitants. The production of ammonia as organisms begin to die may also be slower at lower temperatures. For reasons such as this, one may choose to strike a practical balance between temperatures that are too high (even if corals normally thrive in the ocean at those temperatures), and those that are too low.
These natural guidelines leave a fairly wide range of acceptable temperatures. I keep my aquarium at about 80-81° F year-round. I am actually more inclined to keep the aquarium cooler in the summer, when a power failure would most likely warm the aquarium, and higher in winter, when a power failure would most likely cool it. All things considered, I recommend temperatures in the range of 76-83° F unless there is a very clear reason to keep it outside that range.
One additional comment on temperatures: having a small temperature swing is not necessarily undesirable. While temperature stability may sound like a desirable attribute, and in some cases it may be, studies have shown that organisms that are acclimated to daily temperature swings become more able to deal with unexpected temperature excursions. So while a tank creature that normally experiences only 80° F may be very healthy, the same organism adapted to a range from 78° F to 82° F may be better able to deal with an aquarium that accidentally rises to 86° F
amorese30
New Member
I've been running my tank between 78-80 degrees. Its difficult if you have a smaller tank with T5 lighting (T5's get reflect a lot of heat into the tank), I've been using Marineland Reef LED and my temp has maintained leveled.
I used to run in the 82-83 range but every so often I would get brown jelly disease in a head of lps. I had a clown that loved the coral too much, but I lowered temp to 77 to hopefully slow bacterial growth and so far so good. I do carbon dose and then 77 degrees does not seem to have much effect on those bacteria from what I can tell.
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Why not use the Season Table in Apex system,Right now temp should be 77.8 and keep falling going into winter.
Its just the actual ocean temp..
Its just the actual ocean temp..
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Randy Holmes-Farley
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o2manyfish
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Also take into consideration the temperature in your house/room. Make sure the room temperature doesn't affect the temp swing. If the room gets to warm it can cause a bigger swing in temperature. You want to try to avoid big swings. If your room stays very warm, or gets morning or afternoon sun that heats it up, then perhaps kick the tank temp up a few degrees to minimize the swing.
Dave B
Dave B
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Where? That temp is below the values ever reached in many reefs.
the Apex has a tab that adjust your temp per season .
page 63 of the manual
http://www.neptunesystems.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/APEX_manual.pdf
hawkinsrgk
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I keep mine at 78.5 to 79.2
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Thanks. Not sure why they elected that particular program, but if it were me and I wanted to run such a seasonal variation, I'd run it opposite the local season to offset problems due to power failures. I do that, but not nearly to the extreme they do and not nearly that low.
from the site:
"The AquaController Apex and vary the temperature based on the typical temperatures from a reef at 15° north latitude, called Regional Temperature or
RT. The temperature will get as low as 75 degrees in February and as high as
80.5 in August. "
Here's a plot of actual average temperatures:
http://www.ronshimek.com/salinity_temperature.html
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