Temperature at 80f, who else does this?

[Reef264]

Hey there, Hi there, Ho there! :wave:

So, yesterday morning I got outta bed, and went straight to my tank, like always.Except this trip was different, Because Upon arrival I noticed something, My corals looked so happy that they could pop!Color was out of this world, Polyp Extension was tripled on every colony, even the Sea Fans!So that made me wonder, something had to be different, and there was, my temperature had swung from 78, all the way to 81.2, due to the 4th plug in my Reef Keeper getting stuck in the on position, which was where my heater was plugged in at, it is the wierdest thing!It will not turn off!I automatically assumed it was the heater, So I went out and bought a Blueline Heating Element and plugged it directly back in to the 4th plug, and it was instantly turned on!So that means it is the plug on the Reef Keeper.So I am now running my temperature at 80 degrees(on purpose), and my tank has just never looked better!Its probably the clearest I have ever seen it.

Now I am not saying go jump your tanks temperature up to 80, But Im wondering if my story can match with any others.I am also looking for answers about my reef keeper plug!

Cheers, and thanks for reading.

-Ray

[bellis31]

That's pretty interesting, I have been considering raising my low end temps so that my tank temp with the lights on would reach 80 degrees. Although that would mean I would have to adjust it again for summer... or I could not be lazy and program it into my Apex.. hahaha

[NatureNerd]

I run my tank at 78. In the summer, it often hits 80 on hot days. We tend to not run the AC if no body is home. My fans kick on at 79 so the tank doesn't get too much hotter. But, even when the tank gets to 81 or 82, I have never noticed any problems. The corals look fine. If anything, there is a bit more PE at those temperatures.

[Reef264]

It's pretty interesting, Becuase I read an article where a coral farmer Kept his Tanks at 90 degrees.His corals looked great!Then I read another article where it was saying rock solid temperature was un-natural, and that temperature swings were better for a reef tank than solid temperatures.So, It made sense, because there are corals in shallow waters that more than likely reach over 90 degrees in the day, and below 70 at night.

[redfishblewfish]

I remember reading somewhere that corals actually grew faster at lower temperatures....I think it said in the low 70's. I'll see if I could find the source. My corals are happy at 78!


And FYI, I had a similar problem with ReefKeeper and now run both my heaters through an Expansion Socket (dedicated power supply).

[Potsy]

I tend to keep my tank warmer than most. In the winter it's around 82 and the summer heat brings it to 84 - 85 with no deleterious effects. That's with T5s for lighting. My old tank with halides that I kept in the loft of our old condo used to get up to 86 degrees with a fan blowing across the lighting fixture and water surface. The corals in that tank grew like weeds. 80 degrees is a chilly day in my tank!

[Sk8r]

I've always operated around 80 with lps. And growth is considerable. I don't like it to get much above that, because I had a bleaching event once at 85, (combo of intense halide light plus high temp). In chemistry, things tend to go faster at higher temperatures and slower in colder. I've found this works in biologic chemistry too, as long, of course, as you're well within the life-range of the critter in question. I'm told that lethality starts below 62 and above 85 for a marine tank, and rock and sand act to retard any change. Even in a tank chill-down, such things as zoas and other corals will still be sitting on relatively warm rock for hours into the event. Which saves the tank in a power-out.

[karsseboom]

Natural reef run up to 84f so I see no probl running it higher then 80. Infact most of the time my tank hits 83 during the day. 81f is normal

[rajkovich207]

Cool, with our recent warm weather my tank has been about 83 from its normal 78. I didn't like the large swing so I adjusted my heated for 80. Now that I think about it things do have a bit better polyps extension, and are faster to come out if retracted. Not sure if that fits into your scenario.

[Peter T]

I keep my tank temperature around 80-81 degrees during the day and about 78 degrees at night. During the summers, the temperature is usually around 82-3 degrees with swings up to 84 degrees. I've noticed my corals seem to do worse when my tank temperature is around 76 degrees or lower.

This is an interesting article by Ron Shimek dealing with tank temperature and coral reefs. It states how many reef tank keepers slowly kill their tank by keeping the temperature too low:
http://web.archive.org/web/20030218193420/www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1997/nov/features/1/default.asp

edit: bad link, I will try to find the article on another site and repost.
edit2: Nvm, it is a good link, just wait about 5 seconds as it loads the article :)

[Reef264]

This has been very informative!I am wondering if I will see any algae growth ignite, due to the fact algae reproduces faster in warmer water.Im puzzled about what to do over the plug bar issue in the Reef Keeper, I guess I will just order another.Maybe they will send me one at a discounted price, since it is only a year old.Did the constant on/off stress of the plug stress it to break down?

[xavi_west]

Hey I'm in the caribbean, my tank is only 3 months old but i've seen growth from allmost all my frags, it runs about 80-84 in a normal day and corals have been thriving in there! at nights it goes from 78 up to 76.

[tebstan]

I'm in central Texas - 80 is normal for my tank. I'm really surprised when it gets lower than 78. It happened a day or two this last winter. I don't even bother having a heater, but I have lots of fans. I try not to let it get higher than 82, but if I forget the fans it has gotten up to 84.

I can't say if it's better or worse since I don't have a comparison. I just accepted it as something to deal with in a hot state.

Could the polyp extension have something to do with phytoplankton bloom? or zooplankton? Does it grow/breed at warmer temps?

[jeffesaurusrex]

80 degrees is my standard operating temperature. I was just getting into coral after waiting about 8 months for the tank to stabilize, but I had a house fire and lost the tank. The few small pieces I added had good extension and everything seemed to do great at this temperature.

I have heard that higher temperatures speed up the metabolism and life cycle of parasites such as ich. Another thing to keep in mind is that some snail species as well as many other species, even some fish- come from colder areas. Turbo snails come right to mind, as well as a few Goby species. 80 degree temps won't kill those critters right away but it isn't the ideal conditions for them and it will shorten their lifespan.

It's also worth noting that I had temperature swing all the way to 92 one day for several hours with no losses. I came home to the air conditioning in my house having failed on a very hot day - I had to put ice in bags in the tank to bring the temperature back to manageable numbers until I could get a window A/C in.

[tkeracer619]

It depends on the livestock. Some fish require lower temps. Check out the suggested ranges and base off that.

As for the reefkeeper. What model is it?

I have an old reefkeeper 2 that used to do that but turning one of the relays on all the time solves the issue. Sometimes relays stick, its a good idea to have a backup plan.

I use a Ranco Temp control for my heaters. They are rock solid and have an excellent track record but anything can stick on. If you get a Ranco plug it into the Reefkeeper. Set the reefkeeper at your emergency shutoff temp and the Ranco at the temp you want to run the reef at. Should something fail (ranco usually fails off if it does fail) the reefkeeper will still shut it down. You can also use the internal thermostat to do this.

As for temps. I run my tank daily above 80. Here is a screenshot of my controllers online graphical log. You can see my temp swing daily. Low is ~76, High is 82.
http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/9756/reefangelportalscreensh.jpg

[rhdoug]

My tank runs at 80 as well, and has for years with no ill effects, except possibly a high snail mortality.

[scapes]

I have a two car garage thats been converted to a room. I have a 180g thats been set up since may 07. Ive never used heaters, dont use a chiller, nor use any fans. I do have a window ac unit. The tank is on the north side of the garage on a wall thats in the house, ie its not on a wall where the outside is on the other side. Summer it goes from 78 mornings to 85 day. Winter it goes from 75 up to 82. It houses 80% softies, 20% lps. 3x150w MH and 4x80w t5s. Everything is doing well! I figured that the oceans fluctuate so why cant a tank?

[Reef264]

Scapes,

Sounds like a sweet setup!