Water Temperatures

Ive had my chiller/ heater set at 79* since I started my tank 4 years ago. Ive asked all of the lfs, opinions vary, and the topic oftem seems irrelevant. So I would like your opinion, as things are more accurate at 3reef with so many experienced reefers. Do corals and certain types of fish do better in cooler water (77* - 78*) and others at higher temps (79* - 80*) ...? We have thousands of vareties at our fingertips and some are indigenious to warmer or cooler waters. The general scale is 77*-80* ...4* is a wide scale.

 

...really? ....anyone ....or is this truly irrelevant?

 

There certainly are some fish and coral that are indigenous to different temp ranges, some acclimate better than others. This is one reason to do a lot of research before you buy a fish. I think generally 78-81 is considered a pretty good middle ground where most species adapt OK at least in the short term. I don't think it's that big of a scale considering how much reef temps can vary in an area over the course of the day sometimes or throughout the seasons etc.
There are some fish and snails I know for certain that do better even cooler than 77 degrees, some of the deeper water butterflies and angels and some types of temperate snails like margaritas do much better in cooler water. I'm not sure if maragaritas even like it in the 70's that might still be hot for them.

I'm no expert but that's just from what I've read, just to give you some kind of response and let you know your post isn't invisible.

 

It's not irrelevant, but many peoples tanks vary by at least a few degrees. Mine will go from about 77 to 79, so it's hard to see any long term effects of different temperatures. I like to keep mine right around 78. The hotter the water is, the less oxygen it can hold and you also have more time if there is a heater malfunction or something like that.

 

I have always heard that consistency is the most important factor. No big temp. swings. My 120 gal is 77degrees in the winter and 78 in the summer

 

Thanks all of you for your opinions ....Especially to screwtape for acknowledging my question. Of many, thats the first time i didnt get 10 replies in 20 minutes.

 

One other thing to note, depending on where your thermometer is like in my case I have a digital one with a probe that is only a few inches under the water in the back mostly out of the light - I would tend to think the area surrounding the rockwork and the rocks themselves would change temp slower than the upper portion of the water - especially those of us who may be running metal halides. My temp will go anywhere from like 76.3-78.8 which is only 2.5 degrees and that is when the house is cold in the winter and then in the evening when the lights are just about to go off its at its peak

 

I keep mine at77 to 78. I have a brittle star and from what I have read starfish prefer cooler water. High temps increase their metabolism and can cause problems. That's just what I read from a trusted source, not 100% on that.

 

Check out Dr. Ron Shimek's article on reef temp and salinity:

http://www.ronshimek.com/salinity_temperature.html

You might be surprised by what you read!

I believe it is most important to keep temp stable in a range that the inhabitants naturally come from. This should be part of your decision making when selecting your tank's critters.

I try to keep mine between 80-82 deg F.

 

My chiller displays the current h20 temp ....and my thermometer inside the tank is on the opposite side from where the chiller inlet is. Thanks for all of your input. Thanks gab... Ill check out the site and see what info it provides.

....and now after skimming thru it (Ill read more details later after dinner) ....a thought process came to me. Perhaps this is old news to alot of reefers, but maybe it is a good idea to have lr, livestock, corals and inverts from the same general region ....a caribbean tank ...a fiji tank ...etc etc. I know that everything in my tank is from different reefs around the world ....altho everything in my tank seems always be thriving. OK, Im rambling ....Im finished ((GRIN))