Temperature in our reefs

[Charles Poole]

Hello Everyone,

I am wondering if I can get some feedback from all of you?

What do you understand to be the best temperature / range for maintaining a reef tank. Why?

If you feel temperatures are specific to reef habitats, please let us know that as well. :)

Tanks Everyone,

Chuck

[MikeS]

I keep mine at 80 deg F.

I'm not sure if temp is reef specific....I have had numerous dive trips to the Carribean, and I notice a large variety in water temps....from 76-78 in the Turks/Caicos to 84-86 in Belize. I ahve never dove the Pacific reefs (someday :roll: ) but I understand that water temps there are mid to high 70's usually.

I guess I picked 80 deg. because that is about as warm as I'm comfortable keeping my tank.

Mike

[Charles Poole]

I keep mine at 82'F. I have a chiller though, so I feel a bit safer with them at this range.

For about 4 months of the year, the tank temps will rise above 85'F if I don't intervene. The other 8 months, my heaters do most of the work.

I chose to run my temps at 82'F, after doing a lot of reading. trying to find the average levels for reefs. 82"F is the winner so far. And who knows where most of the corals I have, actually came from. I know I don't... :(

[MikeS]

Mine will climb to 82 in the summer sometimes, I have noticed no negative effects at that temp...

If I had a chiller, I might try 82-83...but I like having the breathing room that 80 degrees gives me in the summer months.

Mike

[icereefer]

At first I ran my tank at 82 every thing looked good but,my corals really were'nt growing very fast. and then one day I stuck a different thermometer and noticed it was 83 degrees. so I slowly started to drop my temperature.I was going to try 81 degrees.but got called out of town for 2 weeks,and called my wife and asked her to drop my thermometer down one more notch but she turned it down 2 notches and after 2 and 1/2 weeks later I got home and noticed my xenia had took off and I had more zoo's sprouting up my finger leather looked fuller and my toadstool polyps stuck up higher then they ever did before. so I thought 81 was my happy spot for my tank so I put in an electronic thermostat the next day after I got home and found out that the temperature was actully sitting at 79.9 at night and 80.1 when the lights are on and I've left it there every since and my softies seem to do well at that temp.
myself I think it all depends on what your housing in your tank

[Charles Poole]

That is the most important issue. That the inhabitants are happy.

I don't have to many softies in my tanks, so I have to use LPS and SPS corals to judge the affects of any changes. I slowly raised the temp from 79 to 82'F over 6 months time, and things have been doing quite well. I also have a chiller, so I have a greater chance of not overheating the tank in the summer months.

So, as it looks so far, would it be safe to say that 80 - 82'F is a good range to shoot for?

[MikeS]

So, as it looks so far, would it be safe to say that 80 - 82'F is a good range to shoot for?

I'd say so...

Mike

[Mongoose]

I keep mine right at 80 for a couple reasons.

I did have it about 78 degrees and after reading an artical on ReefCentral I raised it two degrees and notices a very abrupt change in coral growth both SPS and Softys (Zoo's mostly) Everything is growing faster now and even looks better so I can only assume that they are liking it. I would raise it even more but I like to keep it at 80 or below simply because the higher the temp the less oxgyen water can hold and if you have a power outage for any amount of time I could see that making a differance. Since I'm temp keeping a Yellow Tang in my tank I think is very important to keep as much Oxygen in the water as possiable since he is very active.

8)

[Aquaman]

my AC broke in my house and for the past 2 days my tank has been at 86.
Thank god it will be fixed today!

Temperature impacts reef aquarium inhabitants in a variety of ways. First and foremost, the animals' metabolic rates rise as temperature rises. They may consequently use more oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, calcium and alkalinity at higher temperatures. This higher metabolic rate can also increase both their growth rate and waste production at higher temperatures.

Another important impact of temperature is on the chemical aspects of the aquarium. The solubility of dissolved gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, for example, changes with temperature. Oxygen, in particular, can be a concern because it is less soluble at higher temperature.

So what does this imply for aquarists?

In most instances, trying to match the natural environment in a reef aquarium is a worthy goal. Temperature may, however, be a parameter that requires accounting for the practical considerations of a small closed system. Looking to the ocean as a guide for setting temperatures in reef aquaria may present complications, because corals grow in such a wide range of temperatures. Nevertheless, Ron Shimek has shown in a previous article that the greatest variety of corals are found in water whose average temperature is about 83-86° F.

Reef aquaria do, however, have limitations that may make their optimal temperature somewhat lower. During normal functioning of a reef aquarium, the oxygen level and the metabolic rate of the aquarium inhabitants are not often important issues. During a crisis such as a power failure, however, the dissolved oxygen can be rapidly used up. Lower temperatures not only allow a higher oxygen level before an emergency, but will also slow the consumption of that oxygen by slowing the metabolism of the aquarium's inhabitants. The production of ammonia as organisms begin to die may also be slower at lower temperatures. For reasons such as this, one may choose to strike a practical balance between temperatures that are too high (even if corals normally thrive in the ocean at those temperatures), and those that are too low. Although average reef temperatures in maximal diversity areas (i.e. coral triangle centered Indonesia,) these areas are also often subject to significant mixing. In fact, the cooler reefs, ( i..e. open Pacific reefs) are often more stable at lower temperatures due to oceanic exchange but are less tolerant to bleaching and other temperature related perturbations.

All things considered, those natural guidelines leave a fairly wide range of acceptable temperatures. I keep my aquarium at about 80-81° F year-round. I am actually more inclined to keep the aquarium cooler in the summer, when a power failure would most likely warm the aquarium, and higher in winter, when a power failure would most likely cool it.

All things considered, I recommend temperatures in the range of 76-83° F unless there is a very clear reason to keep it outside that range"

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm

I agree with this is my point of view regarding temps and I like to stay 79-80. Dr. Shimek kind of confused matters IMO with an article about natural reef temps. It started a pretty funny fight.
Repudiation of Dr. Ron (http://web.archive.org/web/20030712164405re_/www.animalnetwork.com/fish/library/articleview2.asp?Section=&RecordNo=2927)


Dr. Shimek’s response is simply a restatement of the claims of his earlier article. In my opinion, the assertions of the original article were unsupported by his references and he again has offered no corroborating evidence. He simply states that he understands the issues and I do not. He dismisses my numerous quotations as irrelevant, but most were from sources he originally cited. I wonder why they were relevant when Dr. Shimek referred to them, but no longer relevant when I quote them.

Scientist verbal lashing contest (http://web.archive.org/web/20021220135515/www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1998/mar/features/1/default.asp)

Once corals hit a limit, they will expell their zoox and bleach. Pushing the limits is not a good plan in my book.

We have to remember that we are NOT running full ecosystems in our glass boxes of water. A coral reef has tides, hurricanes, upwellings, etc. and are oligotrophic. Our closed systems don't have those [CTRL] [ALT] [DELETE] rebooting sequences and are not oligotrophic....they are nutrient-laden instead. Our systems are closed and we don't get the advantages of periodic upwellings of cooler, less saline water. If you are keeping SPS, then once the heat-stress enyzme is triggered, you're going to bleach. In the wild, the corals often host zooxanthellae from more than one clade. A partial bleaching is a survival mechanism while they hope to be infected by a clade that is more heat tolerant. In our tanks, we don't have the advantage of all of the different clades. Typically a dominant strain takes over based on tank conditions and a partial bleaching is more likely to cause the death of the coral.

[gman0526]

Awesome post mantisfreak!!!

[Sugar Magnolia]

I love that...scientist verbal lashing contest. hehehe.

I keep mine in the 80-82 range simply because the halide raises the temp 2 degrees during the day.

[reefpaddler]

My nanocube stays between 80 and 82 which is just by luck because I have yet to use a heater or a chiller. I read in john tullocks book on natural reef aquariums that it is the fish who desire the cooler temps. mainly in the 75-78 range which makes sense because they are so active. Higher temps speed up their metabolisim and can cause some added ammonia. However we are more concerened with corals which seem to like it a bit warmer. But if what he is saying is true and you have several active fish per inch (i.e. tangs) then maybe a cooler temp would work better. I would probally judge my tank by the most fragile coral in the tank and how it is doing.

[romunov]

http://rshimek.com/reef/tempsal.htm
:hmm2:

[Funky_Fish14]

My 10g Nano stays at 75 most of the time and that has worked fairly well for me. 33g Tank sits at about 76 or 77. I plan on having temps in my future tanks around 77-80. I will probably raise the temps in my tanks up a degree or two aswell.

Chris

[Funky_Fish14]

Also, my tanks are in my room which is in the basement. This room stays cool in the summer, so I dont have to worry about my temps getting high. The only problem I have had with temps getting too high was when I hadnt drilled more ventilation in the hood of my 10g and my heater malfunctioned and shot the temps up to between 83 and 85.

Chris

[jman785]

Funky_Fish14,

Do you have metal halides? If not, then wait till then to decide about temperature issues.

[atrocity]

Both my tanks hover around 79.5

I try to keep my temps in the 75-78 range.....

[chucklepup]

Mine's currently at 78, but after reading this I'll prabably raise it to 80

[BoldAsBrass]

I don't have a temperature guage on/in my tank. Too much technology is too much to worry. If the tank looks healthy, the temp is fine. I do try to keep my corals with in the tropical/semi-tropical origin since I live in a tropical region. The corals are from the same range. I say research the corals and not the guages.

[MikeS]

Granted, corals can do well in a fairly wide range of temperatures...I've seen folks keep ther reefs as cool as 75-76, and as warm as 81-82. Tropical coral reefs around the world have an average temperature around 78-80 deg. F. As long as you are in that ballpark, you'll probably be ok.

A cautionary note on the temperature...even if you don't worry about the specific temperature of your tank, having a thermometer is handy in catching problems...case in point, in December, I went on a family trip...my heater failed in my absense. (why do these things always happen when you are out of town? :roll: :evil: ) My tank was at 67 degrees when I found it. The lower temp had began to wipe out zoanthelle in my corals, particualrly my pearl coral, it was barely clinging to life. The lower temperature also caused some dieoff of my denitrifying bacteria I suspect, as I began to see some minor water quality swings. Sure, I had a thermometer and it didn't prevent the accident because I was gone, but had I been there, I probably would have caught it in time... :-D

Mike

[bigfoot]

BIGFOOT SAYS DISPLAY TANK NEEDS 2 IDENTICAL HEATERS SET TO SAME TEMP JUST IN CASE I only run 1 heater in qt tanks and hatchery tanks

[KDFrosty]

I live in the desert, so before I got my chiller temps would routinely climb to 84 in the tank. I maintained the tank at 84 degrees....No adverse effects. In the best interest of my fish, and fear that my tank temp would climb even higher, I now own a chiller. Temps set at 80

[MarineScientist19]

yea i have at 79.4 constant unless the house heats up but even then my custom cooling still regulates around 79-80

[Brock Fluharty]

I keep mine at 75...too low? On www.liveaquaria.com, they recommend that most saltwater fish and corals need to be somehwre between 72-78. Is this just their opinion? I might rais it...


Brock

[gman0526]

80.5 seems like a good temperature. Most importantly is to be able to control big temperature swings which are more harmful in the long run.

[MarineScientist19]

as long as u dont go too high for long periods of time 85 starts to kill most bacteria with long exposure, just keep it within 78-82f and make sure it does not swing around alot

[davebehlen]

I was swinging from 78 to 86 daily...darn MH....you could get a tan. I threw down for a chiller and sleep better now with a slow steady 79-80 swing. Stability is what helps me sleep now. It's like buying a gun safe that cost more then you guns....no worries and it's worth it.

[Doctor_Reef]

I have a chiller and heaters and my tank stays between 79 and 80 also... :)