Dazed and confused about Temps..Help

[firedave]

I have been reading on a different sight that temperatures in a tank should average between 72-78 degrees for most fish. Yesterday I went to a Pet shop that had an awesome variety of fish, invert, you name it. The guy who helped me really seemed to know what he was talking about. He said his store kept temps 80-84 degrees. This seems to be a large difference in temperature ranges. I understand that all fish are different but there should be at least some agreement to an avereage temp. Right now I have various inverts, maroon clown, blennie, yellow tang, and various damsels. I reside on the Florida west coast where cool temps are infrequent. I bought a heater and my temps were registering around 78 degrees right now. How about a little help from some Experts...Thanks...

 

[broomer5]

You'd have to poll every tank keeper in the world - find out what temperature they keep their tank at ....... then add up all the temperatures they maintain ...... then divide by the number of tank keepers in the world to get an AVERAGE.
This would have to be done for the low temp and high temp swings each day, each week and include every changing season.
Can't be done.
So what people always do is to "choose" a temperature range that works well for them.
Then we all turn around and say " this is the best average range that you should keep your tank at".
We all do it.
LFS's do it.
Authors and authorities do it.
Too cold - fish/inverts die
Too hot - fish/inverts die
Somewhere in between 72 to 84 F most stuff will live. Most.
That's 12 degrees F difference.
You'll get a bunch of answers of people saying what they like to keep their tanks at, and there will never be an agreement.
I try and maintain my reef tank between 80-82 F
It's the best and this is what you should strive for ( see what I mean )

 

[jmesmcm]

It also depends on how wide a range your tank swings on a given day. For instance if your tank on average goes up 4 degrees during the day from the lights being on and pumps running etc. The wider this range is the narrower that 12 degree band gets. For someone running with a dual stage controller for both heat and chiller keeping the tank at 82 is no problem. but if your tank is starting at 82 and goes up 4 degrees good chance things may start to die. So it is a bit of a balance and knowing your own tank.
Personally I like to keep my tank at about 76 so during the summer when the room the tank is in gets hot and the lights are on the warmest the tank will get is about 82.

 

[hearn]

I've was running mine at about 72, after reading where alot of people run higher, i took it up to 78, after a few days I started to get a brown alge type stuff on my CC, just to try, I dropped it back to 72. Now it seems to be going away. who knows? It really is to each his (or her) own. Good luck.