The temperature debate

In the summer I was running my tank at 80f or 81f. Not because of my choice, but because I don't have a chiller. I tried since to cool it off, even though I never saw anything bad happen. I had a period where the temp would start at 78 and would slowly rise to 81 though the day. My fish didn't have a problem with this, but corals did. Too inconsistent, perhaps.

Now in winter, I run my 55 at 78f-79f with good results. My photosynthetic corals will grow nicely, but my sps's won't extend polyp at any other time but night time. I'm not sure this is temp related.

I'm subscribing to this one, it seems like we'll have a nice debate and possibly very beneficial information about this.

Welcome back crimsom!

 

I keep my tank at 80, but I'd say the ideal would be 78 to 84. You don't want to get higher than 84, since it can hurt corals, but lower than 78 you're going to see decreased growth rates.

 

I am at 78-80 using a RKL and fans for cooling. I sold my 1/4HP chiller two summers ago after I realized I could manage with fans and an ATO. Nothing scientific but I have noticed when the temp climbs up closer to 82 the nuisance algae gets worse on the glass. The only time it gets over 80 now is when the fan blades need cleaning, its amazing how much difference clean blades make, I could not imagine how often I would have to clean the fans if they were sucking hot damp air out rather than blowing cooler drier air in.

 

I keep mine at 78 to 80, but after reading the article I might bump it up 2 degrees on both ends.

 

Im at 80 presently

using a chiller for 11 months of the year and a heater for the other 1

I was running at 78, but realised that the increase of 2 degrees was going to be fine and made a decision based on economics rather than any other considerations

almost 3 years ago, before I had the chiller and my tank was full of soft corals
the tank which was set up in September was fine until about March the following year
when the temp did creep up to 84 ish
when it got that high I noticed shrooms, leathers etc shrivelling up
once the tank was cooled back down these corals suffered no long term effects

Steve

 

Mine is at 81-83 F. Mainly because that is where it settled. Trying to lower it doesn't work too well after a day of pumps and lights heating it up, so I chose higher temps to maintain a constant level. I don't feel like anything is hurt by it. Maybe my pod population could use a break in the heat wave but that's about it I think.

 

mine stays at 76 -78 not to much fluctuation. 78 is summer temp

 

I never like to see an 80. My tanks are at about 76.

 

I want mine at 78 to 80 because it's a happy medium. At higher temperatures, there's less Dissolved Oxygen for the fish, it's closer to the bleaching point for SPS corals, and higher temperatures increase metabolic processes for corals, algaes, microbes, etc.

At lower temperatures (say 76 or less), the Dissolved Oxygen will be greater but the metabolic processes are MUCH slower and your corals will not seem to be even growing.

Before anyone makes any changes from what is working for you based on this article, think of this one serious flaw (actually more than one but this is the biggest one) that the whole article is based on......I don't really care one iota what the SURFACE TEMPERATURE is anywhere in the world. Corals don't live at the surface. He also suggests that we get all of our corals from one part of the world where there's more variety of corals but he doesn't mention that in those same places, if you went down 20 feet, you're going to still find corals that are commonly seen in the hobby and they won't like the temperatures he's recommending at all. Besides that, many of are corals in the hobby are not from those reefs.

If I could make a suggestion. If you have a question about worms, snails, and other odd critters, by all means, take what Dr. Shimek says seriously. However, just because he has a PhD and his articles appear very professional, please note that many of us fought with him for years because on other topics, he was putting out JUNK SCIENCE and this article would be another example of same. (Also note that his only source of income is speaking at hobbyist events, selling books to hobbyists, etc.)

 

I keep my tanks at 78-80...I like the cooler temps for keeping bacterial blooms (and the like) at bay and at those temps my heating and cooling bills are less. Plus the lower the temp the more dissolved oxygen the water holds.

For the winter I keep it at 78 so I can keep my house temp between 68-70 since if you have a heater that's sized for your tank it's good for keeping your tank at 8-10 degrees above ambient temp.

For the summer I'll let the temp rise to 80 so I can let the house get to 85-86 before the a/c kicks in.