What's an acceptable temperature swing during the day?

[jmt1030]

Hey everyone,

I have a closed canopy system with an 8 light T5 fixture, which as you can imagine, puts out some heat. I do have some exhaust fans on the canopy which help keep the temp down. On a normal day the tank begins at about 77.5 and at its hottest up to about 79. Is that too much of a temp swing in a single day? It does it very gradually. I haven't seen at ill affects for the coral or fish, but just wondering what you guys thought.

 

[Crabs McJones]

If it's a gradual swing it shouldn't effect anything. I have the JBJ truetemp controller, and it swings from 77.5 to 79.5 throughout the day. But its a gradual swing.

 

[mckinleyw]

I have heard " as long as it is not more than 2 degree change in 24hrs" but that is just what I had heard. I try to keep it within 1 degree swings. run a oversized chiller and 2 heaters. I live in fl so heaters are berely used, the chiller kicks on about 3 times a day on the hottest days. We keep AC at about 76-78 inside.

 

[PatW]

I would think that you are fine. You might think of adding fans in the sump that come on when the temp rises. If you already have a controller with a temp probe, it would be a cheap fix.

 

[scchase]

Anything less than 6 degrees is fine in my 27 years of experience as long as the corals are used to it. If they have been kept at a constant temp for a while then they have a harder time to adjust to swings. My tank swings from 78-81 daily with spikes to 82 fairly common. 84 isn't unheard of either.

 

[boeingn747]

Question on temp! I know it's a old post but thought I'd ask. I have a decent size colony of birdsnest (approx size of a basketball), and a 6"x5" lobo. I spent all day doing a 220gal tank tear down, and install of a new 450gal system. I took the corals out at 78° I put them into a brute barrel with a heater. This was a 14hr day. Come to find out that the heater would light up but wouldn't actually heat up so all day what I thought was 78° water actually had dropped down to room temp around 71°. Fast forward to now, new tank is up and running. I am wondering how Long should I try to acclimate these corals back up to 78°? My biggest problem is, if I drip slow enough then I lose a lot of heat, and if I do it to fast I worry about these coral. Any suggestions would be sweet!