Temperature

[MattM]

Dan -

1) Yes, the region of the GBR is several degrees cooler than the reefs areas of Indonesia, Fiji, Bali, etc. But since it is a protected area, it is highly unlikely any of us have corals from there.

2) Global warming is real, but the effects are on the overall trend, not the specific temperature. In other words, you wouldn't be able to measure an effect from it by poping a thermometer into the ocean, but do that repeatedly with thousands of thermometers over a vast area spanning several decades, and then you see global warming.

Whereas the gross average temperature of the world's reefs (averaged over all areas, seasons, and several years) is 82.4º today, it was 82.1º 20 years ago. That is the effect from global warming. It's significant in one respect because you only have to raise the average ocean temp by a couple degrees to wreck havoc on the ice caps. Moreover, the change is rapid in geologic time: If the norm is an average temperature drift of 1º every 500 years, then 0.3º in 20 years is cause for alarm.

But, the oceans certainly are not "several degrees warmer" now than just a few years ago. And in terms of the temperature of our tanks, you can see that that change is so small and slow that it is totally insignificant.

Another point to consider is that when we discuss global warming we are talking about the long term trend. We average out changes from year to year. I.e., it could be 8º warmer this year than last year. But last year was 7º cooler than the year before, etc. It is only when you average the temperatures over many decades or even centuries that the long term trend towards warming is seen.

Anyway... tired of typing.

[ May 03, 2002: Message edited by: MattM ]</p>

 

[DEADFISH1]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by MattM:
<strong>

Undoubtedly there are, but they are not endemic to shallow water coral reefs.

As to your angel, keep in mind what temperature he is used to. You could be seeing a reaction not to the temperature, but to the change in temperature.

85º is warm if you're used to 75º, but not if you are used to 83º.</strong><hr></blockquote>

yea, that makes sense, maybe I should get a heater and use it in combo with my fan and ease him back up to 80, using heater may be easier than trying to add a temp controller to a clip on fan.

 

[PHphishPH]

Wow,
Thanks everyone for the information. I put 2 Damsels in the tank yesterday and they seem to be doing fine.

. I guess I'll give my tank some time to mature and then ask some more questions before I put other fish into it. Thanks again. I really appreciate all your help.
Ryan

 

[Anonymous]

but you just set up your tank a couple days ago??? why did you put the damsels in already? also, does your tank have live rock and sand? if so, the tank will cycle with those elements alone. your damsels may get very stressed due to the swings that occur during the cycling process. i learned this the hard way. since then (thanks to all the expert aquarists on this board and all the books and articles i've read), i've learned not to use fish to cycle my new tanks.

[ May 03, 2002: Message edited by: coralshrimp ]</p>

 

[pghflame]

Nice info and comments from everyone...but back to the original question. When it got REALLY hot and I was concerned about the temp in my tank, I used to have about 8 or 9 plastic soda bottles frozen w/ water ready to go in the freezer. I would just drop one in the tank (lid on, of course) and it would take about an hour or more for it to melt. It melts slow enough that you your heater compensates just fine. The trick is to do it early in the morning before the temp actually gets too high and you try to play catch up (which isn't a good thing because of the temp swings). Anyway, I only did this on the hottest of the hot days and it helped keep it under control without any major swings in temp! Hope this helps for when you get those unbearable days.