sps tank at 90 degrees!!!!!!!

[A.T.T.R]

well past 3 days my ac unit kept blowing the breaker...
well

for atleast 4 hours each day my tank has been reaching hte low 90's
(89-92)

some how the coral is fine with full PE and color.


any one else ever have that happen? possiable when everything else is ok the corals can handel it?

lets face it ocean isnt nearly as stable as our tanks in terms of temp ( granted not low 90s but still)

[xhappyx]

i'd say u got lucky. if my tank gets to 81 - 82 degrees they let me know they are unhappy.

[reefkoi]

Your temp gauge may be out of whack, you might want to try a second one for reference. I've personally seen tanks in our area lose like 80% of the SPS with near 90 degree temps.
C

[coralfarm123]

I had my tank hit 94. I have my tanks in a spare room and close the door only at night to prevent heat buildup. One night for some reason my timer didn't turn the halides off and when I opened the door in the morning it felt like a sauna. I about had a heart attack when I saw the temperature reading. I consider myself extremely lucky. My tank hits up to 85 sometimes with no ill effects and never drops below 80.

[A.T.T.R]

temps accutate let the gauge sit in open air that was reading 92 on an temp/ humidity gauge i have in there the thermometer set in at 91 ish so its almost dead on
tank is currently 85

i cant get teh room temp bellow 82 withou thte ac turning off.. really sucks lol

[LockeOak]

If you come home to a tank that hot, immediately turn out the lights. Not only will it help it cool down, but high temperatures and high light are more harmful than high temperatures alone (experiments have shown corals placed in the dark can survive for a while at pretty high temperatures, but they bleach at the same temperature in the light. Over 85-86 is when you really start getting into dangerous territory... if it's forecast to be a particularly hot day, just leave the lights off.

[DNickell]

Have you tried directing a conventional box fan at the sump? Air movement there will increase evaporation which will do a lot for keeping the temp down. My tank stand (which contains the sump) has an open back. Sitting the fan so it blows in there does wonders.

In extreme situations I have also cooled my topoff water while it is still in the containers waiting to be used. Just add the top off water slowly to avoid shock to any critters.

I grew up with root cellar technology that kept water and food in the 60s or at most 70s even on the hottest Kentucky summer days. Some of those old ways are still very useful, and they've always been cheap!

[A.T.T.R]

temp is slowly coming down.
tomorrow im hooking up an air system that
if teh temp inside goes above 80 then outside air will be sucked in at about 300 cfm atleast it will be lower humidity air

[george albert]

mine stays at 83-85 and seems to do well but never had it to 90

[gskidmor]

I know the ocean doesn't get in the 90's on the reefs, but there are those sps that are in the inter-tidal zones that are exposed the sun at low tide (they do excrete a slime that protects them from UV), but they've got to hit the 90's - 100 degrees then quickly back to the low 80's once the tide comes back in. So there has to be some natural protection against temp swings

That aside, I had a small sps tank that would swing from 79 - 84 everyday (during the summer) for almost 4 years before I had to move a couple of times and take it all down. Not that I would recommend this - but they all survived (I don't think they flourished though)

[reefer1024]

My tank got up to 86 one time with no problems.

I read somewhere that corals in higher flow will survive higher temps then the same corals in less flow. This is because a coral under direct light is actually a lot warmer then the surrounding water temp. The more water you have moving over it the better it can cool itself.

Many reefs in the wild get up to the mid to high 80s in the summer. Look it up.

[BLKTANG]

Not to sound like a jerk,but wouldnt it be worth it to you to invest in a good chiller?

You got lucky this time.

[Philwd]

If your tank sees more temp variation normally then it will withstand temp spikes better. I run a 3-4 degree range throughout the day as added insurance. I do try and keep the high below 82 though as I have deep water wrasses that won't tolerate higher temps over along period.

One more thing I've done when temps get a bit high is freeze water in a 2 liter bottle and place in the sump. Will help keep temps down a few degrees. I have 4 always ready to go in my freezer.

[A.T.T.R]

i have a good chiller on my inside tnak

i have 3 tanks in this area and if i ran a chiller on all of them then id have teh same issue( blowing the fuse)
i cant run more lines easily.

i have a 12 or 18 k btu ac unit covering a 100 sq ft area.

[JR's Reef]

why not run the lights at night and have them off in the day.

[A.T.T.R]

what do you think i do?

LOL
been doing that since day 1

[Kip]

keep RO water frozen in the freezer... when an issue arises it can take the edge off (depending on how much you can freeze/store)

just watch salinity if you have to use a lot to cool down the system and adjust accordingly

[gasman059]

90 degrees means
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n320/gasman059/IMG_6135.jpg[/IMG]