What temperature do you keep your tank at?

[Sdot]

That's what I did.... I had fans but between the elevated evaporation and me lowering the temp in my house wasn't a good fit... so chiller it is and I haven't looked back.

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

That's what I did.... I had fans but between the elevated evaporation and me lowering the temp in my house wasn't a good fit... so chiller it is and I haven't looked back.

You just completely described my situation!

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

I have a 200 gallon tank. You saw my temps... what do you think about this as is a solution?

1/3 HP JBJ Chiller (haven’t decided on a pump yet either)

 

[Sdot]

I have a 200 gallon tank. You saw my temps... what do you think about as is a solution?

1/3 HP JBJ Chiller (haven’t decided on a pump yet either)

Are we twins!? ROFL thats the chiller i bought.....

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

Are we twins!? ROFL thats the chiller i bought.....

My doppelgänger!

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

Are we twins!? ROFL thats the chiller i bought.....

What size pump did you get? Are you happy with it?

 

[KWT]

Mine run 77 to 78. Have to keep an eye on the because of the summer temps in Las Vegas.

 

[Scp]

I try to keep my 14 tanks between around 76. I’ve never had an issue in 27 years with mild temp swings.

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

Mine run 77 to 78. Have to keep an eye on the because of the summer temps in Las Vegas.

I get that... I live in Houston, Tx

 

[RSnodgrass]

It really depends on several things... my 2 cents.

1st you'll find alot of people run around 78 and that's fine unless you have coral like scoly that need to be "cooler".

2nd a fan will do everything you need if you can handle the humidity.

3rd really a question of location... is your tank at greater risk of rising in temp or falling due to a home failure? Possibly you go counter and run opposite as a buffer.

4th if you go diving on many of these reefs you will find they spend their year as low as 74ish and upwards of 85 but why push the envelope (especially on the high end). 76-81 is a good place to be, I'm at 77 generally so my heaters only turn on 4 times a day on average.

5th a higher temp can yield better growth as long as the other systems can support the elemental/nutritional needs.

 

[Sdot]

My doppelgänger!

Right!!!!

 

[Sdot]

I get that... I live in Houston, Tx

Yup same here... you know about our hot summers....

 

[Sdot]

What size pump did you get? Are you happy with it?

I have a Vectra L2 and i have been happy with it. That one pump drives my entire system through a manifold

 

[X-37B]

80-81° with 8-T5's 4" off the surface for 14 months. Same temp now with 2 250 watt MH.
I run no heater for 8 months.
Summers are 100° and controled by ac at 75°.
Winter I use a small heater 100 watt and keep the house at 70°.
Small sump fan during the summer.

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

It really depends on several things... my 2 cents.

1st you'll find alot of people run around 78 and that's fine unless you have coral like scoly that need to be "cooler".

2nd a fan will do everything you need if you can handle the humidity.

3rd really a question of location... is your tank at greater risk of rising in temp or falling due to a home failure? Possibly you go counter and run opposite as a buffer.

4th if you go diving on many of these reefs you will find they spend their year as low as 74ish and upwards of 85 but why push the envelope (especially on the high end). 76-81 is a good place to be, I'm at 77 generally so my heaters only turn on 4 times a day on average.

5th a higher temp can yield better growth as long as the other systems can support the elemental/nutritional needs.

Awesome response! Thank you!

I plan on getting a “few” rare species? That suggests lower temps than I am achieving.

Humidity in Houston, Texas stays at 100% all summer long...

My tank would heat up dramatically in a total power failure!

I think I am “there” on element/nutritional needs : )... still bringing down my phosphates a little more (guilty grin)

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

I have a Vectra L2 and i have been happy with it. That one pump drives my entire system through a manifold

Ph wow! Very nice

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

80-81° with 8-T5's 4" off the surface for 14 months. Same temp now with 2 250 watt MH.
I run no heater for 8 months.
Summers are 100° and controled by ac at 75°.
Winter I use a small heater 100 watt and keep the house at 70°.
Small sump fan during the summer.

That’s a wider range than I have been planning for... but, you are getting an annual “weather change” That I am not getting. (I kinna like what you are doing : ) ...trust me, I’ll be running my AC in December at least half the month lol ... I would like to get a few degrees cooler : ‘

 

[TvanB1]

I keep my tank between 79-80
I tuned my chilled and added fans to the sump & above the display. Before these changes with the chiller running alone I had fluctuations of 3°. Prior to the changes it fluctuates 1-1.5° every 5 hours at most.

 

[stephj03]

Fwiw I would test with a fan to see how much bang for your buck you get with it.

Are you running a canopy? If so is the canopy vented with fans.

A chiller is good peace of mind in the event your AC goes down. But as a daily driver, a fan might be sufficient and less expensive to use.

 

[blasterman]

I guess what I am asking is this... is being at an average temp of 78.5... with high spikes reaching 79.6 a problem worth spending a thousand dollars on?

#@!% no.

My SPS tanks hit 85f or more doing the summer days and they dont care. They run 78F now. They can get warmer than that in a shallow tidal reef on the equator.

Some LPS on the other hand doesn't care for high temp swings because many LPS come from deeper water.