Temp for 175 tank...

[mjohnson86]

I live in Florida and usually our house is pretty warm in the summers and not too bad during the winters...

I have a 175 Oceanic Bow Front tank and have noticed with the cooler weather my tank feels pretty cold...

All of my livestock seems to be fine but at the same time I am wondering if I should possibly be heating the water some to keep it more constant...

What size heater should I need? I see the specs on BRS that show a 300watt heater is for 80gals... Does this mean I need 2 of them for my 175?

Any help here would be great!

Mike.

[mike_cmu04]

Being in florida where it dosent get really cold like it does up here I would say go with one and see how it goes.

[kikoreefer]

I have one 300w in my 120 and I keep my house cold in the winter... It maintains temp perfect

[mjohnson86]

Thanks... I might just start with 1 for now and see where it takes me to...

[nickandMK]

I used 1 300w jager heater kept it at 78 all year I had it for the three years I had my 150 gallon

[bdeibler]

Agree the more constant you keep it the happier your corals and fish will be.

[sirreal63]

Agree the more constant you keep it the happier your corals and fish will be.

Why would you think that?

[bdsage]

''feels cold''? do u not have a temp gauge or 2? i dive alot and temp on these reefs at least in s.fla. fluctuate alot from 1 moment to the next...

[James77]

I would start with a thermometer....

[kikoreefer]

I guess seeing that an ocean fluctuates temperature why can't an aquarium man I'm probable gonna get hammered for that one but we will see. And yes I understand my aquarium is not an ocean ;)

[sirreal63]

I guess seeing that an ocean fluctuates temperature why can't an aquarium man I'm probable gonna get hammered for that one but we will see. And yes I understand my aquarium is not an ocean ;)

You won't get hammered for correct thinking. :thumbsup:

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

[bowfront]

i dive alot and temp on these reefs at least in s.fla. fluctuate alot from 1 moment to the next...

I dive in SE FL also and totally agree. The temp on the reefs are all over the place even mid summer with upwelling. I always wondered if it was so important to maintain a perfectly constant temperature in the aquarium.

[GrampaDon]

You won't get hammered for correct thinking. :thumbsup:

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

Very imformative. Thanks

[quantim0]

I have two 250 watt heaters in my tank during the winter since my heat is terrible. It keeps it at 77 at night, during the day the t5 keep the tank warm.

The summer I keep only one 250 watt heater since I don't keep my house too cool.

[bdeibler]

Why would you think that?

ha ha cause I went on vacation this last November and things got a little out of whack from just a little fluctuation. Now things are constant again and corals are growing! YA!

[sirreal63]

That's the danger from not allowing that natural fluctuation, the corals become adapted to a set temp and suffer when the set temp is disrupted. It is far safer and healthier to allow some fluctuation. Corals have evolved with that fluctuation and removing it is a recipe for disaster.

[bdeibler]

You won't get hammered for correct thinking. :thumbsup:

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

Very interesting, this does make one think. I'm going to have to do some more reading. quick temp changes are obviously bad but what if they were gradual over a period of time to create seasons? just a random thought. i personally have always tried to keep my temp as constant as possible.

[sirreal63]

Quick changes are also natural but hard to reproduce and there is no reason to. It takes time to acclimate corals back to a normal fluctuation if they have acclimated to a set temp. You can't just decide to give them a 5 degree variation over the course of the day, so you go slow, give them a little and keep that going for a month and then let it vary a degree more for a month.

FWIW I am varying about 4-5 degrees a day. There are two main issues with temp, time outside of their acclimated range and how far out of acclimated range. Corals stress with as little as two degree outside of their normal range but can take much larger variation if the time is short.

If a coral is acclimated to a range it is better able to handle those times when something happens that changes that range, as it already has the mechanism in use to deal with change. Corals adjusted to a set temp don't have the same ability to deal with the stress from out of range temp fluctuations. It is no different than asking a marathon runner to run 5 miles longer than he normally does as opposed to asking a desk jockey to get up and run 5 miles. The runner will suffer less than the desk jockey because the runner is already accustomed to running. I hope that makes sense?

[bdeibler]

Quick changes are also natural but hard to reproduce and there is no reason to. It takes time to acclimate corals back to a normal fluctuation if they have acclimated to a set temp. You can't just decide to give them a 5 degree variation over the course of the day, so you go slow, give them a little and keep that going for a month and then let it vary a degree more for a month.

FWIW I am varying about 4-5 degrees a day. There are two main issues with temp, time outside of their acclimated range and how far out of acclimated range. Corals stress with as little as two degree outside of their normal range but can take much larger variation if the time is short.

If a coral is acclimated to a range it is better able to handle those times when something happens that changes that range, as it already has the mechanism in use to deal with change. Corals adjusted to a set temp don't have the same ability to deal with the stress from out of range temp fluctuations. It is no different than asking a marathon runner to run 5 miles longer than he normally does as opposed to asking a desk jockey to get up and run 5 miles. The runner will suffer less than the desk jockey because the runner is already accustomed to running. I hope that makes sense?

yes it does. learning new things every day on here.

[cichlid1098]

I live in SE Florida and I try and I try and maintain the room temp this time of year by deciding what windows are open at night. If I know it is dropping into the 50's I will close most of the windows and my house rarely gets below 70.