What's the optimal water temp?

So I am sure theres probably some thread running in here somewhere that addresses this but haven't found it so I am just curious as to what are the best temps for your tank? I am assuming if you have corals that may affect the necessary temp range? My tank is currently at 74 degrees and I do have corals is this okay? sometimes it drops to 72 could that be stressing out the fish?

 

mine runs between 79-80.5. i think you will find most aare running highs 70's also. IMO , you will want to raise your temp up coralqueen.

 

I agree with guitarman..you need to get the temp up a couple of degrees at least. I keep mine around 77*

 

It's not necessarily the temp, but the stability of the temperature. A swing of a few degrees isn't too bad, but you don't want to go +- 5 degrees for example. The lower the temp, the more oxygen, so if you have a lot of fish then you may want to keep the temp lower, but IMO, something around 78 would be good. I think you should try to raise it up a bit, but do it gradually.

 

well I am just not sure how to go about raising the temp I have a heater but have never actually used it. It was more of an in case of emergency type thing meant for during the winter time. Now that its summer I am just not sure what I should do. Our house stays kind of cool and the fan is usually running a lot now in the room with the tank. Could this be accounting for the fluctuation in temperature? I have just heard so many different numbers in the past so it can get a little confusing. So far the upper 70's seems to be the consensus.

 

i am not sure there is an optimal, depends what you have. 75-80 degrees is probably the better range.

 

Most heaters have built in thermometers that shut the heater down when the water reaches a certain temp or they have a dial to adjust the temp. I keep my tank at 78 all the time and I only have a +-1 degree fluctuation, if that. During the day with the lights and stuff on, the heater isn't on as much but during the night it comes on a lot more to keep the temp stable. Like previously said, a stable temp is generally more important than say the "optimal" temp, but I would shoot for something between 76-80. Now if you're doing seahorses or a cool water tank then your temp is good as they require cooler waters.

 

I try to keep mine between 79.2 - 80.6 degrees F. 78 degrees at the lowest. Occasionally it will go above 80.6 in the summer(I don't have air conditioning), but I have an alarm for that. Though I'm running mine as a reef. 74 does seem pretty low. It all depends on what fish you want to keep/do keep and make sure that temp stays constant within 1 to 1.5 degrees. I would try to keep it in the high 70's.

 

I was about to go crazy for you not having a heater. Then I realized you are in Virginia Beach. : I used to live there. Really miss it actually.

 

haha I know the temp is pretty well maintained just with the weather outside right now and added to the heat from the light it does not do much changing.