what is your reef tank temp?
- Thread starter bullitr
- Start date
lion_crazz
Active Member
I keep my tank at about 81 degrees F.
K
kalied20
Guest
My tank is a constant 82 and everything is great.
bullitr
Active Member
It Summer Right Now And My House Temp Is 76. My Metal Halide Is 20 Inch Up From The Tank I Only Used It 7:00 To 9:00 Am And 6:00 To 8:00 At Noc. I Try To Watch My Spending Right Now And My Time Im Spending Too Much Time With The Tank Is Like My Full Time Job . Do I Really Need Chiller At This Time ?
orangespot
Member
Between 80 - 82...no chiller..just fan the hell out of the room.
murph145
Active Member
my tank stays about 79-80 chiller comes on if the water gets above 80 all my corals seem happy with that temp....
im sure corals have a range they can tollerate in temps so anything from id say 76-84 they can do fine and maybe even a lil hight but u have to acclimate then to the temps the right way and they cant swing too much in one day
im sure corals have a range they can tollerate in temps so anything from id say 76-84 they can do fine and maybe even a lil hight but u have to acclimate then to the temps the right way and they cant swing too much in one day
ophiura
Active Member
Originally Posted by teen
i always thought corals liked the water cooler like 76-79 rather than above 80. am i misinformed, or are things just changing?
Nope, in fact many if not most reef areas have sea surface temps above 80. 76, IMO, is quite cold, and useful for colder water animals such as catalina gobies.
THere are certainly cooler water reefs. What is important is to have an idea roughly where your animals are coming from and what is the norm there. The problem is we mix a little too much.
This is a quote from an article by Dr. Ron Shimek. He once had a tremendous article on natural reef salinities and temperatures but it is hard to find now.
it is worth noting that some of the richest coral reefs in the Caribbean have been historically found near Belize, and in these areas average monthly temperatures are generally above 84.1°F (29°C), and the monthly maximum temperature may reach 91.4°F (33°C) (Highsmith, 1979 a, b). These are temperatures slightly cooler than the Indo-Pacific areas of highest coral diversity, but the Belize area is significantly further north. Generally, higher latitude reefs, those further from the equator, have greater temperature extremes than do lower latitudinal, or more equatorially placed, ones.
i always thought corals liked the water cooler like 76-79 rather than above 80. am i misinformed, or are things just changing?
Nope, in fact many if not most reef areas have sea surface temps above 80. 76, IMO, is quite cold, and useful for colder water animals such as catalina gobies.
THere are certainly cooler water reefs. What is important is to have an idea roughly where your animals are coming from and what is the norm there. The problem is we mix a little too much.
This is a quote from an article by Dr. Ron Shimek. He once had a tremendous article on natural reef salinities and temperatures but it is hard to find now.
it is worth noting that some of the richest coral reefs in the Caribbean have been historically found near Belize, and in these areas average monthly temperatures are generally above 84.1°F (29°C), and the monthly maximum temperature may reach 91.4°F (33°C) (Highsmith, 1979 a, b). These are temperatures slightly cooler than the Indo-Pacific areas of highest coral diversity, but the Belize area is significantly further north. Generally, higher latitude reefs, those further from the equator, have greater temperature extremes than do lower latitudinal, or more equatorially placed, ones.
amphicar77
New Member
Originally Posted by teen
mine never goes below 79, and never above 82.
Hi All,
I just received my Tradewind Chiller. It came with a Ranco Single stage controller.
Did I make a mistake? Do I need a dual stage controller? If my heater is set at 79 and my chiller at 82 do I need to be concerned that they will be doing constant battle with each other to the joy of my electric company. The Ranco does have a "differential setting".
Thanks.
mine never goes below 79, and never above 82.
Hi All,
I just received my Tradewind Chiller. It came with a Ranco Single stage controller.
Did I make a mistake? Do I need a dual stage controller? If my heater is set at 79 and my chiller at 82 do I need to be concerned that they will be doing constant battle with each other to the joy of my electric company. The Ranco does have a "differential setting".
Thanks.
steveweast
Member
This has always been a controversial topic....and the result is that each individual has to decide what is best for himself. These are a few things that I considered before I decided on 78 for my reef...
1) the lower the temp, the higher the dissolved O2.
2) the lower the temp, the less disease
3) the lower the temp, the slower the waste production from fish.
4) When I was diving in Tahiti last fall (their summer), my temp gauge never went above 80.
5) I never trust "experts" that have crappy tanks, limited experience in sps, never dove a reef, think surface temps are the same temps at depth, and lives in Montana.
6) But, one of the real reasons that I keep my tank at 78 -79 is from a post awhile back on -- from Walt Smith. Walt is one of the main suppliers of our corals.....he has no agenda, spends lots of time in the South Pacific, and doesn't really care what we do. Here is his post from that thread.....which all should read if you're interested in this "heated" topic. (sorry for some of the corrupted data)
Dear All,
It seems we are all at both ends of the field here. A couple of things to point out / remember. I am basing my comments on 16 years experience in the South Pacific (Tonga and Fiji) where the water temp for most of the year is mid 70’s at 8 ft – 20 ft. where most of this stuff is collected. During our summer months, if we are unfortunate to get hit by “hot spots†(traceable on the NOAA maps from their site) the temp can reach into the low 90’s and most of the coral dies or becomes bleached. In 1999 – 2000 season we lost over 90% of the entire coral reef on the eastern side of the Island and in most of the northern group (Yasawas) because of these hot spots which can be very discriminative with some reefs bleaching and less than a mile away everything is OK (or most of it) and there is really no telling where these spots will hit from year to year. Just last year I lost almost all of the corals on my farm racks spread over 7 different sites and while we monitored the temps bi-weekly some spots hit 92 (60 feet down) and others only hit 88 …. Still all died off. The racks we were able to move to much lower water had a higher success rate but some did still die. The racks we were not able to move had almost 100% mortality and the dance goes on from year to year as this now seems to be a regular annual occurring event. Dr. Bruce Carlson comes down almost every year to monitor some of the reefs he has labeled and we work together as he sees the same phenomena occurring while we all scratch our heads. It is because of his research and our daily observations that we are now beginning to understand more about the bleaching events that we can not control as we sadly just watch Mother Nature take its course.
Now, I’m just a dumb coral farmer and collector from Fiji and not a scientist but please consider these points.
• I have seen a lot of reference to Caribbean temps. How many corals do you have in your tank from this region …? None! How many species of Acro grow in this region …? Few compared to Fiji and Tonga which is where most of the corals in your tank come from.
• Fiji and Tonga are considered sub-tropical zones and you actually have to where a jacket in Tonga during the winter months and the water is freezing. I have spent up to 5 hours per day in this water and I usually come out blue.
• If you have managed to acclimate the corals in your tank to the low 80’s and they are doing fine then great I don’t doubt this but please remember that you are skating on the edge with this temperature thing.
• Your corals may grow faster but they have hollow legs and have accelerated growth leaving weaker structure. This may be acceptable in a home aquarium but reeks havoc on the reef as corals shoot up and break off under their own weight.
• I have nothing to gain by telling you the truth about the water temps where I have worked and lived for the past 16 years but you can argue that 80 – 82 works best for you and if it does great. However, I do think that some of the references to stability are also important points to consider.
• Will your corals die at 80 - 82 … probably not. Is it the natural conditions at which they occur in nature … defiantly not.
• Keep in mind that the corals from Indonesia are a different matter where the water IS warmer but I still recommend mid to high 70’s as a medium range to keep your mix well and happy.
Again, my opinions are just based on years of experience and I do not have any books to sell just friendly advice to offer.
Hope this helps clear a few things up or you can just take me out back and shoot me.
Forums like this are very good for sharing information and I hope you all do well with your captive reef at whatever temp works best for you.
Best to all,
Walt
1) the lower the temp, the higher the dissolved O2.
2) the lower the temp, the less disease
3) the lower the temp, the slower the waste production from fish.
4) When I was diving in Tahiti last fall (their summer), my temp gauge never went above 80.
5) I never trust "experts" that have crappy tanks, limited experience in sps, never dove a reef, think surface temps are the same temps at depth, and lives in Montana.
6) But, one of the real reasons that I keep my tank at 78 -79 is from a post awhile back on -- from Walt Smith. Walt is one of the main suppliers of our corals.....he has no agenda, spends lots of time in the South Pacific, and doesn't really care what we do. Here is his post from that thread.....which all should read if you're interested in this "heated" topic. (sorry for some of the corrupted data)
Dear All,
It seems we are all at both ends of the field here. A couple of things to point out / remember. I am basing my comments on 16 years experience in the South Pacific (Tonga and Fiji) where the water temp for most of the year is mid 70’s at 8 ft – 20 ft. where most of this stuff is collected. During our summer months, if we are unfortunate to get hit by “hot spots†(traceable on the NOAA maps from their site) the temp can reach into the low 90’s and most of the coral dies or becomes bleached. In 1999 – 2000 season we lost over 90% of the entire coral reef on the eastern side of the Island and in most of the northern group (Yasawas) because of these hot spots which can be very discriminative with some reefs bleaching and less than a mile away everything is OK (or most of it) and there is really no telling where these spots will hit from year to year. Just last year I lost almost all of the corals on my farm racks spread over 7 different sites and while we monitored the temps bi-weekly some spots hit 92 (60 feet down) and others only hit 88 …. Still all died off. The racks we were able to move to much lower water had a higher success rate but some did still die. The racks we were not able to move had almost 100% mortality and the dance goes on from year to year as this now seems to be a regular annual occurring event. Dr. Bruce Carlson comes down almost every year to monitor some of the reefs he has labeled and we work together as he sees the same phenomena occurring while we all scratch our heads. It is because of his research and our daily observations that we are now beginning to understand more about the bleaching events that we can not control as we sadly just watch Mother Nature take its course.
Now, I’m just a dumb coral farmer and collector from Fiji and not a scientist but please consider these points.
• I have seen a lot of reference to Caribbean temps. How many corals do you have in your tank from this region …? None! How many species of Acro grow in this region …? Few compared to Fiji and Tonga which is where most of the corals in your tank come from.
• Fiji and Tonga are considered sub-tropical zones and you actually have to where a jacket in Tonga during the winter months and the water is freezing. I have spent up to 5 hours per day in this water and I usually come out blue.
• If you have managed to acclimate the corals in your tank to the low 80’s and they are doing fine then great I don’t doubt this but please remember that you are skating on the edge with this temperature thing.
• Your corals may grow faster but they have hollow legs and have accelerated growth leaving weaker structure. This may be acceptable in a home aquarium but reeks havoc on the reef as corals shoot up and break off under their own weight.
• I have nothing to gain by telling you the truth about the water temps where I have worked and lived for the past 16 years but you can argue that 80 – 82 works best for you and if it does great. However, I do think that some of the references to stability are also important points to consider.
• Will your corals die at 80 - 82 … probably not. Is it the natural conditions at which they occur in nature … defiantly not.
• Keep in mind that the corals from Indonesia are a different matter where the water IS warmer but I still recommend mid to high 70’s as a medium range to keep your mix well and happy.
Again, my opinions are just based on years of experience and I do not have any books to sell just friendly advice to offer.
Hope this helps clear a few things up or you can just take me out back and shoot me.
Forums like this are very good for sharing information and I hope you all do well with your captive reef at whatever temp works best for you.
Best to all,
Walt
