What temp do you keep your tank at?

[coryjac0b]

I was always told anything between 75-80 is a good temp to keep it at, as long as it stays steady. my tank is running at 76 with lights on, and 75.8 with the lights off. is it to low?

[STEELERFAN747]

I would really think it depends on what livestock you are keeping.

Thanks to a chiller, I was keeping my tank at 77 degrees but I have since set it at 78 for the past 7 months or so.

[gman0526]

80-82 here everything is dandy ;)

[coryjac0b]

i really just plan on keeping softies, zoas mushrooms, maybe a few LPS, do the certain fish require certain temps?

[DMK]

81.5-82.7(pinpoint). all is good last 4 years. alot say too high. i say show me a natural reef that is lower...as long as temp swings are not huge...u will be fine. keep it 77-83ish, but steady.

[scarter]

82

[artman18944]

79f but its all about consistency

[ACBlinky]

78-79F, everything seems happy as can be. As long as you're between 76-83F without large temperature swings things should be fine -- I think stability is more important than the exact temperature.

[Mackelshak]

Also 73° F would be ok.

[kabal2]

i keep mine at 78s at all the time and everything looks happy

[greenbean36191]

Somewhere between 78 and 86.

[bigloggerhead]

What would be an unacceptable temperature swing? 5 degrees? Let me know.

[DMK]

i would say try to keep swing below 2, 3 most, but 0-1 best.

-more importantly is that beautiful sinner in greebean's avatar!

[bigloggerhead]

That's what I thought.

[xtrstangx]

78

[acrylic_300]

80-82 More than 5 degree swing is hard on fish and after 85 corals start losing.

[kass03]

Well one thing is the lower the temp the more oxygen.
Did you guys know Doc Fosters/Live aquaria keeps theres at 76 in Rhinelander, Wi?
They used to keep it higher but lowered it cuz they said it does better. Least thats what they told me last summer when I was at the aquaculture coral facility.
I kept mine at 76 for over 20 yrs in the winter but in the summer it would rise alot of times over 80. Everything was ok.
Then 2 yrs ago I went to Doc Fosters/live aquaria and they said they kept it at 78 I think so I raised mine lol.
Now they said they lowered it to 76.
I now keep mine around 77-78 just so it isnt such a flux in the summer.

kass

[Kurt03]

80 here

[dragonforce]

I like to keep mine right at 80 and then maybe raise it up to 82 in the summer if I can't keep temps down. I like to use a good titanium heater with a chiller and dial them in so they keep eachother perfect.


I did run my tank at 83 with no ill effects but I warn you, once you start to break 84 you run into problems.

[dpearly88]

I shoot for 80 and end up just under 82 at the end of the photo period. That's a little more swing than I would like. But Everything seems okay. I'm not rushing out and buying a chiller at this point.

[Melody]

A steady 79 degrees.

[SuperNerd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8826209#post8826209 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mackelshak
Also 73° F would be ok.

How?:confused: If my water gets below 75 growth almost stops or happens extremely slow and some corals start to recede.

Above 85 not everything looks good as well.


I keep mine now at 78ish to 80ish (I don't know which thermometer to believe).

[Mackelshak]

Even 85 seems to be too high for me. Just in the surface water of hot summers the temperature gets over 85° (in the big reefs of our oceans). A bit deeper aren't these high temperatures but the corals do grow there.

[aquarius77]

From what i understand Global Warming and higher water temps are being blamed for reef bleaching, i keep mine at 78 degrees.

[Mackelshak]

Right! 77-78 degrees is the best temperature for a good working reef aqua. Just my opinion...

[andyjd]

77-78 here also

[Rhodesholar]

I keep mine a stable 80 and the SPS are growing like weeds.

[michaeldaly]

Between 80 and 86

[AZDesertRat]

79-81 with 80 as the target.

[SuperNerd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8825945#post8825945 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DMK
81.5-82.7(pinpoint). all is good last 4 years. alot say too high. i say show me a natural reef that is lower...as long as temp swings are not huge...u will be fine. keep it 77-83ish, but steady.

IYE is the pinpoint thermometer more accurate than say a coralife digital thermometer?

[sasscuba]

79.8-80.9

[melev]

79F to 81F.

[Broog]

78-80

[reefD]

i just want to say that swings more than a degree every day constently is bad!

[SuperNerd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8832656#post8832656 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefD
i just want to say that swings more than a degree every day constently is bad!

How do you manage to prevent a 1 degree swing?

[reefD]

well living in california you deal with higher room temps. anyways the best solution is to adjust temp to envirnment. do you have issues with temp spikes or drops. if spikes the solution is to raise your heater to the temp that is spiking to. so if your spike is at 74 make you heater keep the temp at 73 all the time. this way the spike will occur during afternoons and wont be a huge shift. the idea is to feel it out. if you have a hot tank then keep temp heater a bit set high so the spike shift isnt far from the consatant temp. in otherwords heater keeps tank at 83 all the time...my tank spikes at 84. so shift is only a degree...if i kept my heater at 787 then the spike would be huge. get ity?

[reefD]

living in new york i experience high spikes in summer and no issues in winter. so if i left my temp at 80 now ( winter) it is fine but i have to consider that in aug. my tank can spike up to 82! so i should change my winter temp at 82 trhat way in summer the swing wont be that much

[supertech3]

mine kept 80-81

[saltycreefer]

Keep mine about 75

[greenbean36191]

From what i understand Global Warming and higher water temps are being blamed for reef bleaching, i keep mine at 78 degrees.
The bleaching issue is a lot more complicated than just an increase in temperature. There are lots of other compounding variables. Pre-global warming, the average temperature of the world's reefs was about 82, which is about the same temperature most hard corals show optimal growth. 78 is at the low end of reef temperatures, but certainly isn't a bad temperature.

Well one thing is the lower the temp the more oxygen.
The difference in oxygen concentration between upper 70's and mid 80's is pretty small, and even into the upper 80s the saturation point is more than double the concentration you shoot for in mariculture. If adjusting the temp helps with oxygen issues then there are some much more important issues to deal with than the temperature.

i just want to say that swings more than a degree every day constently is bad!
What is this based on? It's repeated as gospel within the hobby, but outside of it, it's hard to find any justification for it. These animals don't come from stable environments and they've been doing fine there for a few million years. Basic ecology says that you probably aren't doing them any favors by keeping things artificially stable, and that's been shown experimentally.

[snslarison]

78 in the winter slowly up to 81 in the summer.

[michaeldaly]

In nature there are cooler and warmer currents and the water will become colder as they swim down, so i dont thing a smallish temperature swing is harmfull.

[Alaska_Phil]

what happens to the temperature of a shallow reef in nature during a heavy rain storm? Or the salinity for that matter? I'd think there would be some short term local fluctuations. Anyone every seen a study on this?

Phil

[greenbean36191]

what happens to the temperature of a shallow reef in nature during a heavy rain storm? Or the salinity for that matter? I'd think there would be some short term local fluctuations. Anyone every seen a study on this?

Yes. Both fluctuate regulary. NOAA and several other agencies monitor both at several coastal stations including some reefs. The readings are usually taken hourly or less often though, so don't always give the highest resolution as far as short lived changes go. It's not uncommon to see a 3-5 drop in an hour at some places though.

A guy named Brian Helmuth has also done a lot of work recently looking at shorter term variation on reefs and how the animals are affected. His work goes against conventional hobbyist wisdom.

[Travis L. Stevens]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8837267#post8837267 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greenbean36191
A guy named Brian Helmuth has also done a lot of work recently looking at shorter term variation on reefs and how the animals are affected. His work goes against conventional hobbyist wisdom.

...my favorite types of work. Have any more information or links? (Shoot me a PM if you feel it's more appropriate)

[gdm42001]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8832049#post8832049 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SuperNerd
IYE is the pinpoint thermometer more accurate than say a coralife digital thermometer?

I had a couple of those Coralife digital thermometers, and there was a 2-3 degree difference between the two of them.

[gdm42001]

Oh yea, and 77

[gdm42001]

dupe

[dwculp]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8832656#post8832656 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefD
i just want to say that swings more than a degree every day constently is bad!

I am going to have to disagree with you on this one.

Temp swings of a degree F over the course of a day is nothing to the animals in our tanks. In fact these same animals probably experience greater temperature swings in their natural environment.

The key to temperature swings is in how gradual they are. A fish can easily adapt to a 3 degree F temperature swing over the course of say an 8 hour lighting period. However, the same animal would be stressed if taken out of 78 degree water and plopped into 81 degree water.

[dwculp]

76-77 degrees F.

[greenbean36191]

Travis, if you remind me in about a week I'll send you some references for his stuff. I don't have my ref manager on this computer though.

[dirtyclownfish]

78 daytime
drops to 76.5 nightime

[Travis L. Stevens]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8840653#post8840653 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greenbean36191
Travis, if you remind me in about a week I'll send you some references for his stuff. I don't have my ref manager on this computer though.

Sure thing, GreenBean. Will you remind me to remind you? ;)

[dwculp]

I will remind you to remind him to remind you.

[SuperNerd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8837267#post8837267 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greenbean36191
A guy named Brian Helmuth has also done a lot of work recently looking at shorter term variation on reefs and how the animals are affected. His work goes against conventional hobbyist wisdom.

greenbean36191,

I am also interested. Can you please send me the links too?

(dwculp: please add me to your list as well) :lmao:

[SuperNerd]

bump

[Zoos]

79-80