Reef tank Temperature?

[CoralReeferGal]

We keep our tank about 80 degrees, but got told today that it should only be 76-78, and that we have it too warm for an anemone. We never had any trouble before, so I'm curious. What temperature do you keep your tank at??

[MARINECRITTERS]

For me 76-77, I keep it cool since I have non photosynthetic corals ( deeper water )

If I had a sps/lps tank then I would keep it about 79.

[Jeff000]

I keep mine at 80, mixed reef and two rbta, one being the most amazing anemone I've ever seen.

[CoralReeferGal]

Thanks guys... yeah, they tried telling my issue with our GBTA was because its too warm... glad to hear thats not necessarily the case.

[Steve175]

80-82 here with 5 healthy nems

[ReachTheSky]

79-81 degrees, as stated in my signature. I used to keep it cooler, roughly 76-79. The change in temperature had zero effect on my RBTA but some of my corals seem to prefer the slightly warmer water. My Superman Monti definitely looks a lot more lively now. :)

[Adam G]

Keep mine at 75.5. I live in Minnesota so it is cool 6 months oout of the year. This is the most energy efficient temperature for me year round. Corals and fish do great at this temp. Kind of cool that these "fragile" animals that we keep can thrive in a variety of temps.

[a.browning]

Yeah, 80 is not too warm for a nem...

I'd say anywhere from 76-82 is fine for a reef. I keep mine at 78.5, but might bump it up a little. Always helps to have a little more buffer room in the winter if the power were to go out.

[TylerHaworth]

78-79 here

[SSLVRNBLK]

I keep all different corals and I keep mine tank at 80-83.. I have had it at 85 with zero issues... As a matter of fact I feel all things in my tank do better in warmer water.. I tried 76-78 and it is no good... IMO

[Buzz1329]

78-81. I notice that Live Aquaria lists the recommended temps for SPS and LPS coral as 72-78°. 72 seems pretty dang low to me.

[CoralReeferGal]

I've also noticed a lot of places do have specific temps listed for different things. We have a variety of corals, and everything seems to thrive in the temp we have it. We also had 2 BTAs before, and never had a problem. Thanks for all the input!

[sirreal63]

78-81. I notice that Live Aquaria lists the recommended temps for SPS and LPS coral as 72-78°. 72 seems pretty dang low to me.

Live Aquaria uses that temp for every saltwater creature on the site. I use 77 to 78 as a low temp and 83 to 84 as a high. Most people run their tanks cooler than an actual reef temp, that is not always a good thing to do.

[Dave Thebrewguy]

Heat on at 77.1, off at 77.5, although the temp does often creep up to 78 or more when the lights are on.

[Sethjamto]

Mine runs from 78 by night upwards of 81.5 by day at the end of the light cycle. 2 RBTAs and a Sebae. Neither seem to mind.


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[DopeCantWin]

I wish Marine Biologists would reply to these posts. All I see is "I keep mine...". How can we know what's right if all we hear in response is personal experiences? For example there was an article a while ago that some species of Acro grow best at 84 degrees, but except for one response, nobody had their tank that high here. Or maybe I'm just ranting.

[96p993]

My tank has been as high as 84 during our Texas summers but I usually average 80-82. While I have never kept my tank at 84 for a long period of time, I have also never seen a negative affect on my coral

[ReachTheSky]

I wish Marine Biologists would reply to these posts. All I see is "I keep mine...". How can we know what's right if all we hear in response is personal experiences? For example there was an article a while ago that some species of Acro grow best at 84 degrees, but except for one response, nobody had their tank that high here. Or maybe I'm just ranting.
There is no "right" temperature in this hobby because most of us keep fish and corals that come from different parts of the world. A reef can experience 5-6 degree swings between day and night. A reef on one side of the world can be 68-73 degrees while another reef on another side can be 81-86 degrees. If you want variety, a little bit of temp acclimation and tinkering is in effect to find a "sweet spot".

There is likely very little to zero hard evidence that a Marine biologist can give you on this topic because of the variety of livestock most people keep in this hobby. If you'd like to make a Fiji tank or a Great Barrier Reef tank, then it's a whole different story. :)

[Peter Eichler]

If 80 was too hot, or even 84 for that matter, that anemone wouldn't exist ion the first place. I'm fine, and so are my inhabitants, if my tank is anywhere between 76 and 86. I encourage daily swings and usually bounce between 78 and 82 most days.

[cherubfish pair]

You got to know some of our livestock come from non-tropical zones like subtropical ones.

[sirreal63]

Some good reading for those who are interested.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2203610

And one of Greenbean's highly informative posts.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1977164

[swcc]

temp and salinity swings are fine for our coral and fish...but...these swings also have another effect and that is on our bacteria element. The stability of an aquarium benefits the biological filtration primarily. As temps rise and fall, changes happen to our bacteria processes and you get more bacterial flux in your system...now if one notes behavioral differences in their fish and coral from swings in temp or salinity it is really due to the bacteria processes and their effects.
To keep a better balance to your biological filtration...it serves one to keep a good balance in temp and salinity..
For temp, I have my system at 77.4deg, rising to about 78 during daytime, then back down.

[schlosser_jr30]

78-79 for me. As long you are within range I believe its more important to keep the temp stable. Keeping the ups and downs to a minimum.

[sirreal63]

I'd humbly suggest that reading this series which I recently wrote for Reefs Magazine could be useful. It's a four part series entitled "The Great Temperature Debate":

http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/reefs-magazine/78026-great-temperature-debate-part-1-chris-jury.html

http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/reefs-magazine/82353-great-temperature-debate-part-ii.html

http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/reefs-magazine/93637-great-temperature-debate-part-iii.html

http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/reefs-magazine/100587-great-temperature-debate-part-iv.html

The very short version is that most (i.e., not all, only most) coral reefs have historically experienced temperatures in the neighborhood of ~78-84 F and have spent relatively little time outside this range. Some reefs are hotter than typical and regularly spend time in the 84-87 F range (and even higher in the Persian gulf) and some reefs are cooler and regularly drop down to the upper 60's, or even lower. However, the extremes are poorly tolerated by most corals. Corals from all reefs can thrive at temperatures in the neighborhood of 77-82 F, and most are flexible enough that they can tolerate a few degrees higher or lower for a bit. You can see much more detailed discussion in the series.

Back to the original question: if it were my tank, I'd use a fan on it as suggested. I think a temp of 83 F is fine and pretty much all our critters will thrive at that temperature, but I wouldn't want to intentially let it get much higher. Some corals will tolerate many degrees warmer without problems, whereas those form cooler reefs won't. Putting a fan on should allow better temperature control.

As a side note, greenbean is hecka smart and has given oodles of great advice; I'm a Ph.D. candidate in oceanography here at UH, working on coral eco-physiology; I live about 3/4 of a mile from the nearest reef and work adjacent to one; the temperature there averaged about 82 F today, which is a degree or two F lower than normal for this time of year (and 6-8 F warmer than is normal for 6 months from now, but then our reefs are on the cool side here in HI).

cj


I can only hope that as many people as possible take the time to read the attached article. It does a very good job at explaining what actually happens on reefs, what has happened and why a temperature variation is a healthy thing and why trying to control temp can be a recipe for disaster. Stability is a buzz word that gets a lot of use. What is stability? Is it one constant temp and any variation is unstable? If a tank has a daily temp variation of 77 to 83 and does this every day and the corals are acclimated and adapted to it, then that is also stable. If a temp variation is within the normal range for the corals in your tank, and it does not vary from that by too much then it is stable. Corals do not come from an unchanging and docile environment, they come from a constantly changing and at times hostile environment. Keep the big 3 as unchanging as possible, calcium alkalinity and magnesium and the NO3 and PO4 in check and don't worry too much about the rest.

As far as bacteriological process go, bacteria are one of the most adaptable organisms on the planet. I have never noticed any bacteria loss or adverse reactions in my tanks from a temp variation, in fact perhaps just the opposite, the best tank I ever had, had what most would consider a dangerous temp swing, 76 to 77 to 84 and at times 86. The corals grew extremely fast, coloration was excellent and excess nutrients were in control. My current tank swings from 77 to 78 to 83 to 84 daily and I have no nitrates and PO4 is typically .04, though I have tried to let the NO3 and PO4 rise a little. I stopped any carbon dosing many months ago, once the tank began to process them on it's own. I control the PO4 with GFO and it works beautifully.

There are so many ways to have a successful tank, how you choose to do it is up to you. Take the time to learn as many of the different ways to run a tank as you can, your tank will usually tell you what it likes, once you understand and learn what to look for and adapt your husbandry to what the tank likes.

[fishysteve]

I keep mine between 75 and 83. Closer to 75 in the winter months and 83 during the summer.

[aandfsoccr04]

77-82 for me depending on the time of day.

[swcc]

I
As far as bacteriological process go, bacteria are one of the most adaptable organisms on the planet. I have never noticed any bacteria loss or adverse reactions in my tanks from a temp variation, in fact perhaps just the opposite, the best tank I ever had, had what most would consider a dangerous temp swing, 76 to 77 to 84 and at times 86. The corals grew extremely fast, coloration was excellent and excess nutrients were in control. My current tank swings from 77 to 78 to 83 to 84 daily and I have no nitrates and PO4 is typically .04, though I have tried to let the NO3 and PO4 rise a little. I stopped any carbon dosing many months ago, once the tank began to process them on it's own. I control the PO4 with GFO and it works beautifully.


adaptation through fluctuation...fluctuation and die off will increase PO4...
higher temp and bacteria accelerate their metabolism..this as well leads to numbers slopped off then ramped up and the subsequent release of nutrients as bacteria will be in search of balance to nutrients. GFO and PO4 of.04 in the water column is not better than zero gfo and zero water column PO4. If you canget the tank to balance out you can run it with no need to control PO4 and nitrate water column accumulation...this is not in effect saying that temp fluctuation is an only cause but it will contribute... tank balance and stability parameters cannot be equated to natural parameters...one system is open the other is semi closed. You cannot duplicate the ocean and you should not be trying to do so cause it will never work.

[sirreal63]

Aren't bacteria always in a state of flux based on the available carbon and NO3 and PO4? The limiting factor is not temperature, it is food. Increased metabolism would be a plus, not a negative as long as the skimmer is working correctly and any unprocessed nutrients are addressed. I have been carbon dosing since about 2005 and admittedly I don't have all of the answers, but I have learned what works for my tank. At any rate, I have never had any issues resulting from the temps I run my tank at. The positive aspect to allowing that daily variation is the corals are adapted to a change and are better able to handle the times that the "norm" is disrupted, such as a heater malfunction or a loss of electricity. If someone chooses not to allow that temp variation, then there won't be any problems until something disrupts the "norm" in the tank.

[KafudaFish]

No clue because on 2 of my tanks I don't have heaters or thermometers. On my other tank I have a heater set to 72 and I think my temperature is usually around 76 maybe 78.

I just don't worry about it. Why?

[jimmy frag]

Keep mine at 75.5. I live in Minnesota so it is cool 6 months oout of the year. This is the most energy efficient temperature for me year round. Corals and fish do great at this temp. Kind of cool that these "fragile" animals that we keep can thrive in a variety of temps.

thats the Key. a consistent temp, with in reason

[CoralReeferGal]

I just don't worry about it. Why?

Just curious. If you read my whole original posting also explained why I am curious.

Thank you much for all the responses! You all make me feel much better, and very glad that's not the case for our nem.

[swcc]

Aren't bacteria always in a state of flux based on the available carbon and NO3 and PO4? The limiting factor is not temperature, it is food. Increased metabolism would be a plus, not a negative as long as the skimmer is working correctly and any unprocessed nutrients are addressed. I have been carbon dosing since about 2005 and admittedly I don't have all of the answers, but I have learned what works for my tank. At any rate, I have never had any issues resulting from the temps I run my tank at. The positive aspect to allowing that daily variation is the corals are adapted to a change and are better able to handle the times that the "norm" is disrupted, such as a heater malfunction or a loss of electricity. If someone chooses not to allow that temp variation, then there won't be any problems until something disrupts the "norm" in the tank.

Yes they are in flux..it is not that a stable temp will stop bacterial flux...it is the stability of temp will improve the degree to which it happens. The metabolism of bacteria does not just ramp up..it also backs down too...this up down change cause much greater fluctuation in counts than one would get with a more stable temp in the tank...the higher the fluctuation of counts the more release of nutrient you have from bacterial processes.. specific to our tanks the more PO4.
It is hard to quantify the aspects of issues related to this higher degree of fluctuation... however it is an aspect where one may find issues of higher usage of alk...doing battle with PO4 that they might not need be. Not to mention the ill gotten..." My nitrate and Po4 are zero but I have an algae problem"...

None the less, the real reason for keeping a stable temp and salinity in our tanks is to best stabilize dramatic changes in our bacterial fluctuations. Our tanks are semi closed systems and the tanks balance is directly related to bacteria vs the ever changing flow of a natural reef.

[shellsea]

I keep mine about 78. Fans kick on if it gets higher.

[KafudaFish]

Sorry. Yes I did read the why for your question and it is a good one.

I meant why should I worry about something that I feel is unimportant.

I don't know if I have ever read about a tank crash due to temperature flucuations on a daily basis but I know I have read many about a stuck heater etc.


Yes someone's power can shut off in August and you can have thermal stress but that is an episodic event compared to daily changes of 5 degrees F.

As stated earlier each of us has to decide what works best for us and follow that method. My method isn't any better than someone else's method and an argument can be made for either school of thought.

I like flexibility and whether we like it or not, this hobby is all about maintaining these animals that live in a stressful environment.

Often when I read about there is only one way to do something is often followed by me stop reading or listening to that person's opinion.

Again that is just me.

[dcantrall100]

I run mine at 78. It seem to be doing great.

[Chicago]

What bout spread of temp during the day . I recently started run my tank warmer since one of my two chillers on the system broke. So no chiller at all. Tank now runs at around 80. But during the day. Varies slightly. 79.2 to 80.6. I don't see an issue. Anyone disagree ?