Tempurature Fluctuations

Hi....my tank temp drops to 76 at night and then during the day goes up to 79.

Is this ok to fluctuate this much and I am planning on putting soft corals in soon and want to make sure this wont effect them.

Should I be concerned here?

 

ccscsccp
I would not worry about a 3 degree temp fluctuation between night and day to be honest
both those temps are well within the tolerable ranges of most soft corals
its only when the temp creep up during the day starts exceeding the comfort zone that you should then look at taking action to reduce those peaks

Steve

 

What are we talking for a max temp for soft corals and fish during the day?

I am going to get a chiller either way in a couple of months...I dont want to take any chances.

 

a lot depends on the species of corals, as some are from cooler climates
but in general, if your temps start climbing into the mid 80s, thats when many species would show signs of not appreciating the heat IME

Steve

 

wow....mid 80's...I would freak out! I get nervous when my tank creeps near 80...like 79.6...79.8....

So I guess I am ok for now and once I get my chiller I will be all set. Now the trick is finding a cheap, efficient chiller...(always hard to do)

 

cheaper than a chiller is a fan and a cheap controller, like a RKL..

 

I just ordered the RKL 1 the other day...it should be here in a couple of days.

How will that cool the tank though....wont that just shut the heaters/lights if it reached a pre-determined temp?

 

Im not sure what an RKL is but I'm assuming the source of heat during the day is your 250W MH's, any fan across the top would dissapate the heat away from the tank and probably be sufficient for temp control instead of spending hundreds of dollars on a big piece of equipment.

 

One of my plugs has a fan in it.. I set the fan to come on when temp rises 1 degree.. The heater works the same way, its just set to come on when it drops by .1 degree.. So it goes up a tiny bit, but not down..

 

3 degrees is nothing to worry about. Temperature fluctations are natural, in the wild water temperatures fluctuate by up to 6-8 degrees every day.