temp swing

[plastrman]

what is a safe swing in temparture, if any? my light fixture was raising the temp 1.5 degrees in 9 hrs. then i put the canopy on and it rose 3 or so degrees.might have to open up some of the top.

[GuitarMan89]

Most heaters are designed to have a swing of 2 degrees, so as not to prematurely wear out the contacts, so two degrees is not a big deal. As long as the overall temp. doesn't get too high, over 80F, you should be ok. If you are finding that the temp. goes up b/c of the lights, then do what you are doing, air it out. A another option is to buy a small cooling fan to blow across the top of the water. Last resort a chiller.

[plastrman]

so what is the healthy swing for your tank. i am going to setup a fan between the glass and canopy to try and pullit down some.

[omard]

Tank inhabitants can easily handle temp changes +- 5/6 degrees...

Just not all of a sudden or over short periods of time.


Good Luck!

[GuitarMan89]

I haven't built mine yet, but my brother's tank has a natural swing of between 2-4 degrees, depending of the weather and season

[GeejEx]

While we're on the subject what *is* the best temp? I had been told (here I think?) to keep it at 78F, but I was reading a book yesterday that suggested 72-74F to allow for overheating up to 80F max.

[kimmy]

I believe that temp depends on what is in your tank. Like I have a tank full of corals that come from areas that the water temp is 80-82 degrees all the time, so if my tank heats up to 83, things are fine, nothing melting actually standing tall and open. I have 2 clip on fans on my 75 under the canopy, they really help. I have to watch the evaopration more closely, but the other benifit (to hight temps) is I don't use a heater (acrylic and california)!

[GuitarMan89]

I believe the temp. for a 'standard' tank is about 76F. This is a temp. at which most marine creatures can live at. this allows room incase the heater breaks or if the power goes out.