Temp to high?

My Halid was heating the tank up from 74-79.5 degrees and it was on for about 8 hours..Now the heater has it at 79.8 mostly through the night and my mom turned on the lights at 12 yesterday, i got home and left them on till about 9..The temp was at 83.5 when i shut the MH off..Is that too high? I This is about pretty stable for me..79.8 at night, 83.5 at the end of my lighting period..Everything looks okay..But im wondering if its okay?

 

I was able to keep my HQI within 2 degrees with a fan blowing over the top of the water. With it being spring time now I might be a little worried about that thing getting really hot in the summer.

 

Stability is better IMO. And I agree with the fans. I have 2 250w Halides in a canopy with 3 fans blowing in and 2 exhausting out. My temp never fluxes more than 1.5* either way. Evaporation is crazy though.

 

I agree with both above. I have a small quiet fan on my light kit, 2 150w 14k MH bulbs. It keeps my temp. steady, even in southwest florida. Evaporation rate on my 75g is usually a full gallon per day, sometimes a bit more.

 

Temperature stability in natural reefs is a myth, plain and simple. There is no evidence to support this and in fact research shows the opposition and that it is beneficial to some extent.

Most reefs average about 82-84 and have considerable variation, both seasonally and daily. Reefs commonly swing 3-5 degrees daily, with some even swinging 10-15 degrees daily. As long as it's within the acclimated temperature range it's not an issue and can be beneficial in some cases.

Some people will say, well, our tanks are not the ocean. Sure, but that dosn't explain why there would be a benefit to not following nature.

In our tanks, the issue and reason not to follow nature is that you will have problems when you get out of the acclimated temperature range. And corals are collected from a variety of locations. So, you want to average around the midpoint of the collection areas, with a bit of a buffer against higher and lower temperatures.

So, I might be worried if temps are significantly higher than 83ish for this reason. Fans work very well though. Also, for this reason, in the winter I like to keep my tank warmer and cooler in the summer. Of course this also dosn't follow nature...


Anyway, interesting read on reef temperature dynamics.

Part II

Manhattan Reefs - The Great Temperature Debate Part II

and

Part III
Manhattan Reefs - The Great Temperature Debate, Part III by Chris Jury

Also, the first par, but is somewhat less relevant than the conclusions, so I list it last

Part I
Manhattan Reefs - The Great Temperature Debate (Part 1) by Chris Jury

 

Okay, i may have to get a fan..Ill see how it goes though, ide like to keep evap to the minimum..But iknow its gunna be hard to avoid..

 

I don't see a problem with minor swings as long as they aren't fast and extreme.

 

I have my heater cut down to 71 and my tank temp goes down to about 76 during the night with the house temp at 68-70. The tank goes up to about 80 during the day with the lights on. This summer I know the house temp is going to be 74-76 during the day due to poor insullation in the attic and an old air conditioner. Im sure the tank temp is going to hit 80+ this summer and i plan on getting a chiller... I hate spending the cash on one but I think im gonna need to .