81-84 degrees

[outssider]

Anyone keep their tank at 81-84 degrees.

Reason I ask is because Ronald L. Shimek (Ph.D. and author of A pocket expert guide to Marine invertebrates ) says on page 15....

"Most coral reefs have temperatures that range between 78 degrees and about 86 degrees. The average temperature of about one thousand coral reefs spread throughout the world is about 81 degrees. Virtually all coral reef animals will do best within this range and i consider the temperature range of 81 to 84 degrees as the optimal and normal temperature to maintain all reef animals".

This seems to be a very popular book among hobbyists. Most people in this hobby that i have asked consider this temperature range way too high ??


Anyone have any comments ???

[HighlandReefer]

85 degrees F. and higher (for relatively short periods of time) has been shown in research to cause coral bleaching in many species of coral throughout the world. I would not personally push the upper temperature limits myself and would allow some margin for error. ;)

FWIW, many species of coral can withstand much higher temperatures. The high temperature effects seem to be related to the actual dominate species of bacteria, dinos & viruses present either within the coral tissues or within the outer mucal membrane.

[john f]

Out of necessity I have kept tanks this high for years. My current tank runs 79 to 82 degrees, but I have kept corals at 82-84 constantly for years. That said, I do think the margin of safety is lower at higher temps. If you have a failure of a cooling fan for example, it does not take too long to get up to 86 and at that level you may see some coral stress.
Dr. Shimek is not wrong about natural reef temps, but IME a little cooler (78-81) is a little easier to deal with the occasional problem with a fan, etc. The slightly cooler temps also keep algae growing slower. This is good if you have nuisance algae problems, but bad if you want maximum growth from your corals.
The most important thing IMO is keeping the corals close to the range they are acclimated to. If you keep them at 82-84 all the time, an occasional excursion to 86 is unlikely to cause a problem. If they are used to 78 degrees though, you may very well loose some corals during an 86 degree excursion.


John

[kenith]

This is good if you have nuisance algae problems, but bad if you want maximum growth from your corals.

John

John- are you saying that temps between 81-83 will promote better coral growth? I keep mine around 78 and would like to know if a slight increase will help coral growth.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I personally wouldn't want a tank at 84 deg F, at least in the summer. It gives you little or no buffer in case of problems (like a power outage on a hot day).

[john f]

Kenith,
Yes, increased temperatures do increase coral growth rates. That said, after a while many reefers look to slow down the growth rate of their corals.
If you raised your temp to 80-81 it will increase growth but give you that extra safety margin.

[milkman55]

My temp ranges from 79 to 82. I have my controller set to shutoff all the lights at 82 so I will not get any higher. I don't use any cooling other than a fan over the sump.

I have noticed no issues with corals at 82.

[Gary Majchrzak]

Anyone keep their tank at 81-84 degrees.

Reason I ask is because Ronald L. Shimek (Ph.D. and author of A pocket expert guide to Marine invertebrates ) says on page 15....

"Most coral reefs have temperatures that range between 78 degrees and about 86 degrees. The average temperature of about one thousand coral reefs spread throughout the world is about 81 degrees. Virtually all coral reef animals will do best within this range and i consider the temperature range of 81 to 84 degrees as the optimal and normal temperature to maintain all reef animals".

This seems to be a very popular book among hobbyists. Most people in this hobby that i have asked consider this temperature range way too high ??


Anyone have any comments ???don't follow what the majority does ;)

Like Randy already suggested, running an aquarium at it's upper temperature limit allows no room for a temperature spike.

fwiw I strive to maintain my reef aquarium at 80F.
at 84F cooling measures kick in over here.



fwiw#2 certain reef fishes and corals require cooler temps (75-80F) in order to thrive

[tmz]

FWIW, 77 to 79 (an ocassional low of 76 and high of 80) works for me with reasonably good growth.Higher temperature increases metabolism for organisms and all things being equal might increase growth rates . Unfortunately, higher metabolism also occurs in pathogenic organisms some of which may become more concentrated in a closed system than the open sea.

[bertoni]

I ran at a base of 82 F for years, and never had any problems.