Temperatures

[rayn]

I can't imagine a large swing is good, but possibly a few degrees might not hurt. I had a 5 degree swing once I got lights online, but have dialed it back to a 1 degree swing now. I prefer not to go to high in temp as oxygen is lower and parasites seem to get stronger. Maybe my thinking is wrong, but it makes me comfortable.

If the tank is working and everything is healthy, you know your tank. It all comes down to the location the particular species thrives in. Cold water species aren't going to do well in a tropical environment and visa versa. That is proven.

 

[Wiz]

There's this.

We often try to maintain a constant environment in mini-reef systems and trust that such an environment will provide the appropriate conditions for organism survival and growth. Constancy of conditions, however, is not particularly important if those constant conditions are wrong. Additionally, fluctuations in the reef system environment are of no concern as long as the fluctuations are not so extreme as to exceed the animals' tolerances. Temperature in lagoonal environments often varies as much as ± 18 ° F (10 ° C) per day around an average value. That average value, however, is often close to the physiological optimum of the species present. While hobbyists should try to maintain the average conditions in their captive environments near the physiological optimum for the organisms involved, fluctuations in temperature and salinity will not cause problems as long as they are within the tolerances of the species involved.




Taken from this articl
http://www.ronshimek.com/salinity_temperature.html

 

[zoomonster]

I control my heater 77 on 78 off for the low end. I work at home so airs always on and the highest tank will get heat of summer with LED's is about 81. MH was a different story and 82-85 not uncommon in summer where I turned off MH. It was 90 today and I hit a high of 79.8. Fluctuations are normal but I tend to keep my range 77-81 and my average is currently running about 78.59. Like other things in reef keeping there is some thing to be said for stability.

 

[ksc]

and this....

Discussion
The effects of fluctuating temperature regimes on temperature tolerance, thermal stress accumulation and recovery, and growth is still largely a mystery. Developing a model that assesses these effects will require a basic understanding of the relationships between fluctuating temperature and tolerance, stress, and growth. These relationships have been investigated in a variety of laboratory experiments although few definitive conclusions have been drawn. For example, studies by Otto (1974), Heath et al. (1993), and Bennett and Beitinger (1997) all found that fluctuating temperature regimes increased a fish’s tolerance of high temperatures, but Currie et al. (in press) found no such enhancement in similar studies. The effects caused by fluctuating conditions can also be quite complex and not always easily explained. Greater growth under conditions of greater daily temperature fluctuation as predicted by the model (see Figure 3) has also been observed in laboratory studies (Cox and Coutant 1981, 6 Kohstantinov and Zdanovich 1987). However, the difference in growth under these conditions is not necessarily just a function of the amount of variability, but might also be a function of how near the mean temperature is to stressful levels. Hokanson et al. (1977) found that temperature fluctuations within the preferred temperature range resulted in greater growth than constant temperatures with the same mean, but when the mean of the fluctuating regime exceeded the optimal temperature range, constant conditions resulted in greater growth than did the fluctuating regime.
http://www.osti.gov/scitech/servlets/purl/14623

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Just remember on the higher end, some "conditions" of the tank will change as the temp goes up and not all advantageous. If your O2 is flat at a lower temp, consider what will happen as it rises and what effects that can have on the rest of the tank.

 

[ksc]

The O2 level between say 78 and 83 is negligible in a properly setup reef tank.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I said if your 02 is flat.... as in suboptimal to begin with.

 

[Apkpswtank]

65 gallon tank 15 gallon sump

 

[Ocho Cinco]

What are some of the best brand of thermometers used to monitor temperature? I've used the cheap glass ones and the coralife digital one. I've looked into others but have only red bad reviews. The coralife digital one sucks.

 

[klp]

78-80 degrees. I go lower than higher.

 

[Ryan Wain]

Temperature variations do not affect the fish or corals, my previous reef tank was in a small room and temperature varied by 10 degrees a day due to the metal halides, I used a fan to assist but everything thrived

 

[Cory]

My tank reaches 86f from 82 or 84. I dont mind the swing.

I dont use a heater. Too risky. Could kill everything.

 

[Dulcelife]

Emulate, don't postulate!

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

I try to keep my tank temp 77.5-79. It has gone outside that range from time to time with no apparent ill effects, but I try not to let it stay outside that range. I actually like the temp to fluctuate with that range just so the inhabitants develop *some* temperature fluctuation tolerance.

I'm not saying this is the best, it's just what works for me.

 

[Bunkinator]

I use 2 heaters, both controlled by my Digital Aquatics Archon, set at 76.8 degrees, which is the night time temp. the water gets up to 77.7 during the day when the MH lights are on. I have never used a chiller, so temps will be a little higher during the summer, 78-80. I live on the coast, if you live in an area that is warmer, and you let your temps rise as high as some stated above 86, or higher, the issue is not as much the water temp as it is how the water temp affects water chemistry, dissolved oxygen being reduced for instance. I have always used heaters as I do not want the water temp to fall below 76.50( lower end of tropical reef temps.) remember reef temps may swing 4-6 degrees from winter to summer, or a few degrees suddenly when an up welling event occurs, in general the temp swingsare gradual , and the fish and corals in their natural environment are generally much more healthy and less stressed than the ones living in our pretty little boxes. My opinion is constant favorable water parameters are important for long term success. long term and success are subjective, so enjoy the process, and (buy a couple heaters

 

[Graphicsplus]

Interesting topic. Depending on the size of the tank, mine being only a 65g, I find that temperatures fluctuate from one side of the tank to the other. I purposely only use 1 heater rated for a 50-60 gal tank and place it off to one side. I will see that the fish move through the warm side and sometimes even stay on one side of the tank for hours and then move into the cooler side for a few hours. Like our reefs there are warmer and cooler pockets which IMO emulates real reef conditions.
I run our AC year round living here in Paradise so the heater is a necessity. I have seen a bucket of change water drop to 70 in my house lol.

This is a great source for info and once again want to shout out to everyone Thank You!!

 

[aereaus]

The more stable the better, one reason i dont recommend running oversized heaters (they tend to continue heating water after they turn off resulting in overshooting the desired temp.) However fluctuations of around 1-2° F are not terrible in my experience. Since switching from halides to LED my tank only fluctuates about a quarter of a degree at any given time (a/c running etc) but i have noticed some positive trends since temp is more stable.

 

[rock_lobster]

What I do is run several small heaters. In the off chance that one of them fails, Ive got backup or if the thermostat fails it wont be able to raise the temperature of the tank much. A failed 250w heater can fry your tank very quickly.

 

[aereaus]

What I do is run several small heaters. In the off chance that one of them fails, Ive got backup or if the thermostat fails it wont be able to raise the temperature of the tank much. A failed 250w heater can fry your tank very quickly.

You said it.

 

[Ocho Cinco]

My tank reaches 86f from 82 or 84. I dont mind the swing.

I dont use a heater. Too risky. Could kill everything.

How does your tank stay that hot without a heater?