To heat or not to heat.

kenniole · Feb 25, 2016

So a fellow reefer who I deeply respect suggested for me not to run a heater in my reef tank at all and I was wondering what everyone's thoughts were on this suggestion.

The conversation started out when we I was helping out at my LFS and asked him why the water felt so cold compared to my tank. I informed him that I usually keep my tank between 78-80 and that my corals/fish are doing great.

He told me that in all of his tanks and on his customers' tanks he stopped using the heater completely. His reasoning was that even though most corals that are collected are in the warmer climate regions... yes the surface level of the water might be warmer but where the corals grow it's normally in the high 60s' low 70s'..

There was also proof to his statement.. All of the service tanks that he has been handling have extremely great growth rate and the fish seems very vibrant and active as well..

I haven't attempted this suggestion yet and wanted to see what everyone else thinks about this.

ngvu1 · Feb 25, 2016

Does he have a chiller or a fan for the summer?

I keep my tank cooler in the winter and warmer in the summer to save energy. However, 74 is my bottom point for the winter and I do not see a problem when the temp is near 74....I normally keep the temp at 75.5 during the winter and 78-79 during the summer.

Duke4Life · Feb 25, 2016

I'm fortunate enough that I can up/down the heat/a.c. Tank stays about 76 degrees. I do have 2 just in case an emergency arises.

kenniole · Feb 25, 2016

he doesn't keep any chillers and just lets the temperature fluctuate along with the room itself.

ngvu1 · Feb 25, 2016

I can't argue with his result, but every tank is different. Just because he can do it, it does not mean you can or should. It is case by case. I am pretty sure corals do not respond very well if temp is above 85.....don't know how cold they can handle. Maybe you can tell us after doing the experiment

kenniole · Feb 25, 2016

I'm probably going to try it on my new tank that I'm building now and see how that goes.. It'll probably help if I make a build thread too haha

scardall · Feb 25, 2016

I haven't had a use for a heater in over 20 years. I do have a chiller ( set to 77F) on my 75g mixed reef. I presently use Led type lighting. My house never gets cooler than 73F ever. It does tank several hours for tank water to meet the room temp. Most coral especially SPS did poorly at 81F and above. I hope this helped.

ngvu1 · Feb 25, 2016

I just changed the heaters to kicks on at 73.5 and turn off at 74.

scardall · Feb 25, 2016

ngvu1 said:
I just changed the heaters to kicks on at 73.5 and turn off at 74.

optimum coral growth is a 77F over all. How cold does you house get and is your tank close to a window?

Sabellafella · Feb 25, 2016

It really depends were you live because the ocean without a doubt doesnt change +/- 5° in the wild. People down in texas have serious problems with overheating and have to invest in a chiller. I live in ny were the summers are hot and winters are freezing but ive seen a few people around here not using heaters and just have all their pumps heat the tank.as long as you temp is somewhat between the 72 and 85 degree range without crazy temperature fluctuations you should be ok. I have my heater on a controller and it turnes on in the morning and at night when the temp starts to decline, to be honest i can prob pull my heater without a problem

Sabellafella · Feb 25, 2016

kenniole said:
So a fellow reefer who I deeply respect suggested for me not to run a heater in my reef tank at all and I was wondering what everyone's thoughts were on this suggestion.

The conversation started out when we I was helping out at my LFS and asked him why the water felt so cold compared to my tank. I informed him that I usually keep my tank between 78-80 and that my corals/fish are doing great.

He told me that in all of his tanks and on his customers' tanks he stopped using the heater completely. His reasoning was that even though most corals that are collected are in the warmer climate regions... yes the surface level of the water might be warmer but where the corals grow it's normally in the high 60s' low 70s'..

There was also proof to his statement.. All of the service tanks that he has been handling have extremely great growth rate and the fish seems very vibrant and active as well..

I haven't attempted this suggestion yet and wanted to see what everyone else thinks about this.

And like you said the typical ocean surface could drastically become warmer or colder but down below it relatively will stay the same all year around

ngvu1 · Feb 25, 2016

The house could be as cold as 68 at night. The tank is next to an "always closed in the winter" window. I open the window in the summer only

scardall said:
optimum coral growth is a 77F over all. How cold does you house get and is your tank close to a window?

TaylorPilot · Feb 25, 2016

I've always used two stage controllers. Above a certain point, the fans come on. Below a certain point, and the heaters come on. This allows me to keep a smaller swing. For example, when running hotter lights, the fans come on during the day, but about 2 hours after they go off, the heaters start coming on. It may seem counter intuitive to run both heaters and fans, but it allows you to keep a tighter temp swing through 24 hours. Maybe not as big a deal if you run lower heat lights like LED. I still (and probably will for a long time) run MH. When I would run without heaters, the fans wouldn't come on till about 3 in the afternoon, but my temps would swing about 5-6 degrees at night. When I run both, it stays within the deadband of the controller.

scardall · Feb 25, 2016

ngvu1 said:
The house could be as cold as 68 at night. The tank is next to an "always closed in the winter" window. I open the window in the summer only

tape a plastic sheet over that window because in the localized area temperature will be a little lower than the rest of the house. Oh yeah ,I bet you tank water is warmer.

srad750c · Feb 26, 2016

I didn't have heat for 2 days, my tank got down to 72 with no ill effects, not sure that I would leave it that low. 75 is my lowest limit, mine will get up to 78 in summer. Anything more than 78 I get algae bloom. Chiller doesn't work for me cause it heats my house up too much. I just keep a fan running 24/7 in my living room. My tank fluctuates about 75.5 - 77 daily. The ocean is a fairly constant temp. Unless you are in a specific location to take readings, I would stick with "norms". Our livestock comes from many places and I would hate for you to loose fish or corals. Every tank is different, you can tell by looking at your tank what works.