It is pretty hot in michigan right now and as I don't have a.c., my tank temp is at about 86. This is the first summer that I have had corals and all of them seem fine except for my hairy leather is leaning to one side instead of standing straight up like it usually does. Can most corals tolerate a water temp. this high? Should I be worried?
do I need a chiller?
- Thread starter new reefer in michigan
- Start date
If your tank is always at 86, there wouldn't be too much you need to worry about. However, if your tank were usually at high 70s and temp spiked 5-7 degrees, then you need to worry about if your tank inhabitants can get used to the new temp.
My tank always hovers around 85F.
My tank always hovers around 85F.
My tank is usually between 83-86. I do have a chiller because it gets very hot where I live for sustained periods and I don't have AC, so I know eventually the chiller is going to save my tank. I set my chiller at 87 right now but the tank has never been over 86. The $7 Walmart clip-on fans I blow through the hood do an amazing job at facilitating heat-removing evaporation.
New Reefer, you sound suspiciously like someone who has decided not to go broke pursuing this hobby. Seems like a rather selfish attitude to me. What possible better use could you have for eight or nine hundred dollars?
From what I have read the real issue in coral tolerance of temp rise is the variation, not the absolute level. Like danhmippo said, if you normally run your tank in the 82-84 degree range then 86 or 87 is probably going to be fine. It's the folks who normally run in the 70's and get spikes to the mid eighties that have problems IME. Of course, there is a level where absolute temps are fatal. I don't know exactly where that temp is. But after having a heater stick on me I can say for sure that it's something less than 96 degrees. 8O
From what I have read the real issue in coral tolerance of temp rise is the variation, not the absolute level. Like danhmippo said, if you normally run your tank in the 82-84 degree range then 86 or 87 is probably going to be fine. It's the folks who normally run in the 70's and get spikes to the mid eighties that have problems IME. Of course, there is a level where absolute temps are fatal. I don't know exactly where that temp is. But after having a heater stick on me I can say for sure that it's something less than 96 degrees. 8O
My tank hits 85-86 every single day and you cannot tell any difference in any of the corals, fish, inverts. etc. I have the heater set to come on at less than 82, but that rarely happens--the low is ususally 83 or 84. So, I think the temperature differential theorem is right on--if you have 10 degree swings everyday that is much worse than constant mid-80s.
No AC here, why we are thankful if we get summer ! :lol:
However my upstairs tank was rising to 84 (I keep them at 80) and a fan on top of a speaker blowing across the top of the water lowered it four degrees (with about 4g in topoff water). It is the coolest tank in the house, the downstairs ones with MH are running around 84. Fans and evaporation do wonders.
How can I translate that to comfortable sleep.....
However my upstairs tank was rising to 84 (I keep them at 80) and a fan on top of a speaker blowing across the top of the water lowered it four degrees (with about 4g in topoff water). It is the coolest tank in the house, the downstairs ones with MH are running around 84. Fans and evaporation do wonders.
How can I translate that to comfortable sleep.....
Sponsor Reefs
We're a FREE website, and we exist because of hobbyists like YOU who help us run this community.
Click here to sponsor $10:
