Are These Temps Too High

[revrick3]

Since putting in MH lighting, my temps are up, I have an open top with 2-250 MH and 4-54watt t5's. My temp during day will rise to 82 and at night drop to 78. Is this a problem. I dont have a way of putting a chiller in system due to location. If this is too high any suggestions on heat reduction. I have a 90gl with a 30gl. sump under the stand, mixed coral and fish with LR. Thanks guys

 

[t316]

No, these temps are not too high. What you want to watch out for regarding temperature, is drastic fluctations, that's what can harm your fish.
But if you want to cool things down just a bit, without a chiller, point a small fan blowing on the surface of the water. You can put the fan on a timer so that it comes on/off along with the lights. This will be the hottest time period.

 

[life~reefer]

Originally Posted by T316
http:///forum/post/2978742
No, these temps are not too high. What you want to watch out for regarding temperature, it drastic fluctations, that's what can harm your fish.
But if you want to cool things down just a bit, without a chiller, point a small fan blowing on the surface of the water. You can put the fan on a timer so that it comes on/off along with the lights. This will be the hottest time period.

 

[fishstick4sale]

 

[ryancw01]

What you have to watch out for is temp swings over 2 degrees. Will cause too much stress to the tank with a 4 degree swing in a day. 82 is fine for a reef tank but the drop is too much. Set your heater at 80 so that the temp does not drop below that. Definetely get a fan to blow over the top of the tank also. Not sure where you live, but if your summers get hot there your fish could be in for a stressfull couple of months with too much fluctuation in temp. Some reefs in the ocean get as hot as 86 degrees some months, but it is much more gradual than in an average reef tank. Keep some frozen bottles of water in the freezer that you can drop in the sump just in case you have a too much an upward fluctuation in temp. Like if the heater is set at 80 and your temp goes up to 84 or something.

 

[ahren]

i had the same problem when i added mh's. i put my heater on a timer, it goes off when the lights come on that keeps my temp change down to 1 degree. that might help you

 

[fishhunter]

Originally Posted by ahren
http:///forum/post/2979158
i had the same problem when i added mh's. i put my heater on a timer, it goes off when the lights come on that keeps my temp change down to 1 degree. that might help you
I run mine between 82f-84f with no problems.

 

[drtito]

My LFS told me to run my QT at 82 degrees to help fight ich. Dose this have any truth to it??

 

[t316]

Originally Posted by Ryancw01
http:///forum/post/2978928
What you have to watch out for is temp swings over 2 degrees. Will cause too much stress to the tank with a 4 degree swing in a day. 82 is fine for a reef tank but the drop is too much. Set your heater at 80 so that the temp does not drop below that. Definetely get a fan to blow over the top of the tank also. Not sure where you live, but if your summers get hot there your fish could be in for a stressfull couple of months with too much fluctuation in temp. Some reefs in the ocean get as hot as 86 degrees some months, but it is much more gradual than in an average reef tank. Keep some frozen bottles of water in the freezer that you can drop in the sump just in case you have a too much an upward fluctuation in temp. Like if the heater is set at 80 and your temp goes up to 84 or something.
4 degrees, over 24 hrs, will not stress your fish. They won't even notice the changing.
Originally Posted by DrTITO
http:///forum/post/2979205
My LFS told me to run my QT at 82 degrees to help fight ich. Dose this have any truth to it??
Yes, but mostly no....
Yes it does help speed up one particular phase (where they release from the fish) but if ick gets in the tank, heat does not kill it. It may fall off the fish, but it just moves to the next cycle, reproduces, and repeats it's cycle all over. This is really a whole different topic to which I am no expert. There are a lot of sticky threads in the "New Hobbyist" section which address the life cycle of ick, and how various myths/beliefs/products work or don't work. Your lfs runs high temps so that their ick is not in the "visible" stage on the fish for very long, thus making customers think their fish are ick free.

 

[flame hawk]

try a fan the best temp i foung is around 76-78 dreg the corals love ot like that to warm they dont seam to do as food most req temp is 72-80 dreg

 

[jackri]

I think I have the same set up as you do with a 90g tank, about a 30g sump and same light fixture.
I had temp swings like your having and a chiller just wasnt an option. I wired up 2 cpu fans with adhesive velcro so they would blow across each of the halides... put on a timer with the lights and keeps a pretty constant temp.
If you want more info or possibly pics just PM me.

 

[tizzo]

Originally Posted by fishhunter
http:///forum/post/2979196
I run mine between 82f-84f with no problems.
Same here.

And I do have a chiller. 1 full HP, and I choose those temps because I have the most success around there...

 

[cranberry]

How much warmer will the ambient temp be in the summer?

 

[revrick3]

Great info guys, sounds like my top temp is fine, it is getting too low at times. I was really worried I was getting too high at even 82. Glad to know this. I live in SC so summers are outragious but we run our air cool. I cant stand the heat any more. Keep house around 73 in summer. I havent had my heater up because I was worried I was already too high. If I put my heater up to 82 for the nights will this not start my day out at 80-82 when MH come on. This might cause my temp to go up even higher. Should I put heater on 82 then run extra fans over MH as one post mentioned. My Current light has one internal fan already for lights, should I add another possible cpu fan to end of tank, what would be best configuration? I am currently having 1.5 gallons of evaporation a day, these fans will increase this greatly. I dont have a way to get a top off system to tank. My RO/DI unit is on back porch and tank is in living room. about 40ft. away from tank. Thanks for info guys, you are always great.

 

[fishstick4sale]

 

[stanlalee]

if its not a problem its not a problem. is your tank not doing these swings daily yet everything is alive, well and under no appearent distress? surge zones and shallow reefs are exposed to temp swings like that and much more rapidly (so I've read in my reef books). MH lighting + no chiller often = this kind of swing (raising the temp during the light cycle off hours will only raise the swing from 80-84 instead of the 78-82 you have now). my tank now probably doesn't swing 4 degrees frequently but my last tank with MH and a closed canopy certaintly did EVERY DAY without issues. when I was in nursing school doing my ICU clinical rotation I was assigned a patient and noticed one of the telemetry values off and told the charge nurse this looks off a little. he advised me to look at the pt. is he alert, in no distress, no complaints and nothing assessed to be an issue besides one number on a machine? if he is that number on the machine is just that a number.....then the patient flat lined

just kidding.

 

[stanlalee]

Originally Posted by DrTITO
http:///forum/post/2979205
My LFS told me to run my QT at 82 degrees to help fight ich. Dose this have any truth to it??
all temperature does for ich is change the speed of their life cycle. if you are treating ich or leaving the tank fish free they will complete their cycle and die off quicker but it doesn't do anything to kill them at all. without treatment or with fish host they will only drop off and multiply quicker then they would at lower temps.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by Ryancw01
http:///forum/post/2978928
What you have to watch out for is temp swings over 2 degrees. Will cause too much stress to the tank with a 4 degree swing in a day. 82 is fine for a reef tank but the drop is too much. Set your heater at 80 so that the temp does not drop below that. Definetely get a fan to blow over the top of the tank also. Not sure where you live, but if your summers get hot there your fish could be in for a stressfull couple of months with too much fluctuation in temp. Some reefs in the ocean get as hot as 86 degrees some months, but it is much more gradual than in an average reef tank. Keep some frozen bottles of water in the freezer that you can drop in the sump just in case you have a too much an upward fluctuation in temp. Like if the heater is set at 80 and your temp goes up to 84 or something.
++1

 

[pohtr]

Geeze, I also have a 90 gal and have temp from 78-82 and sometimes higher (84) in the summer. I'm only running 4x65! The temp issue scared me away from mh lighting. Running one fan over the water surface and opening the cabinet doors to the sump helps when its getting too hot but it requires a lot of attention. You can't just forget about the tank for a day. Successful SWA people are VERY dedicated. You pretty much need to wake up every day and head to the tank!

 

[revrick3]

I am having an ich issue now and have read that the temp swing can lead to this due to stress. If this is true then it might be the temp that is causing the stress. I am still learning alot guys and need all info I can read. Thanks