"right" temperature?

[WBrian]

Hi All,
What should my tank's temp be? I currently run about 81.5 during the day, and around the same when my lights came on this AM.

I have a 29 Gal tank. Just added a singularia grag, a button polyp frag and a pulsating xenia frag yesterday.
Other than that, I have a flame angel, 6 line wrasse, lawnmower, 12 hermits, 6 snails (and apparently about 23 baby snails!).

My lighting is PC 130 Watts 50/50 coralife.


Thanks,
Brian

 

[Anonymous]

81.5 is a bit high for the long run. Try for 77-80. I run my tank at 79. (untill summer when it goes up to 82)

B

 

[Anonymous]

The Sinularia is found in waters from 80F - 85F, the Button Polyps are everywhere, say 80F - 85F, Xenia is found in waters that average 80F to 87F.

I think you're perfect right where you are.

 

[Anonymous]

I keep mine at 80-82 for most of the year. It hits 85 for a few weeks in the summer without any problems.

 

[Ben1]

IIRC, with out looking at the book Aquarium Corals by Eric Borneman has a small section where tons of reefs were tested and the average was 82. I keep my systems at 82 all the time.

 

[Rikko]

I shoot for 77-78 whenever possible solely because that gives me a little more buffer time to catch it if the heater goes berserk and starts overheating the tank.

 

[Ben1]

I shoot for 77-78 whenever possible solely because that gives me a little more buffer time to catch it if the heater goes berserk and starts overheating the tank.

Actually that isnt true. If your normal temp is 82 you may not see bleaching until the tank hits 88. Where with a normal temp of 77 you would start seeing bleaching at 83, imagine a real hot day when your a/c wasnt on. You'd want the swing to be less so a tank that had a normal tempature of 82 would last a lot longer.

 

[Anonymous]

I shoot for 77-78 whenever possible solely because that gives me a little more buffer time to catch it if the heater goes berserk and starts overheating the tank.

Actually that isnt true. If your normal temp is 82 you may not see bleaching until the tank hits 88. Where with a normal temp of 77 you would start seeing bleaching at 83, imagine a real hot day when your a/c wasnt on. You'd want the swing to be less so a tank that had a normal tempature of 82 would last a lot longer.

That has been my experience as well. Maintaining low to mid 80's has been a lot safer than high 70's for me.

 

[shred5]

Were you are is fine.. I used to run around 82 for several years and had no problems.. I now run my tanks around 79... I feel things look a little better.. I dont like going to the mid 80's even though for most corals there is nothing wrong with it... I just dont like living that close to the edge... At 86 some corals will start to bleach..

Dave

 

[Anonymous]

I'm unfamiliar with Nano Tanks and mine is really young but I am currently maintaining 85F in that tank. Everything is doing really well except Blue Ricordea yuma. I don't know what that means for R. yuma, but everything else is doing REALLY well IMO.

 

[Rikko]

I shoot for 77-78 whenever possible solely because that gives me a little more buffer time to catch it if the heater goes berserk and starts overheating the tank.

Actually that isnt true. If your normal temp is 82 you may not see bleaching until the tank hits 88. Where with a normal temp of 77 you would start seeing bleaching at 83, imagine a real hot day when your a/c wasnt on. You'd want the swing to be less so a tank that had a normal tempature of 82 would last a lot longer.

Interesting.. Is this sort of like the phenomenon why us pasty Northern folk get heat stroke much more easily than the locals when we go somewhere "nice"?

 

[Anonymous]

I see know reason to try and make a tank any cooler than 80 - 82. Mine runs higher than that right now. I intend to make my 300G tank 82 or less, even if I have to get a chiller.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Im at a steady 78 degrees...mine seems to stay that way all year round even with MH's on it..If the AC aint running, then nothing in the room is running and at that point the tank is already in "hot" water...

 

[Anonymous]

any CONSTANT temp up to 84-85° should be just fine and dandy-it's above 84-85 that the dissolved O2 content begins to drop, anything up to that point just increases metabolism-as long as the energy input (food, light) matches the increase-no probem at all

STABILITY of temperature is the most important thing,- NOT what particular exact number you're at

 

[ChrisRD]

I've run my reef tanks anywhere from mid 70s to low 80s (not with the same tank - different setups over the years) and haven't seen much of a difference. I just shoot for the middle now - about 79F +/-...

I've seen reference made to studies that indicated several types of stony corals to have the greatest calcification rates at 78.8 to 80.6 degrees F (26 to 27 degrees C). Of course I'll be damned if I can remember where I saw that now...

Anyway, I thought this might be of interest to some:

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

 

[Anonymous]

Very interesting comment from Mr. Smith.

 

[ChrisRD]

Here's a post from another board where Habib of Salifert mentions some of those calcification studies...

Calcification rates were measured at different times of year, and therefore diffrent temperatures, over a period of 11 years from 1991 to 2001. Nineteen separate experiments were made on Galaxea and nine experiments on Dendrophyllia. The distribution of calcification rates with temperature is shown in Fig. 2. In both Galaxea and Dendrophyllia the maximum calcification rates appear to occur in the region of 25 degrees C and the distributions are similar. The change in calcification rate with temperature appears to be normally distributed as can be seen in Fig. 2, in which a Gaussian curve has been fitted to the data for Galaxea. In both species minimum calcification rates, at the lower and upper ends of the temperature range, were significantly different (P<0.0001) to maximum calcification rates. The maximum and minimum calcification rates measured for Galaxea were 1.24 and 0.18 lmol Ca g
skeleton)1 h)1, respectively, and for Dendrophyllia the rates were 1.16 and 0.24 lmol Ca g skeleton)1h)1, respectively. Maximum calcification rates for Galaxea long-term laboratory experiments (Clausen and Roth, 1975; Jokiel and Coles, 1977; Coles and Jokiel, 1978; Kajiwara et al., 1995). These studies found maximum calcification rates to occur at around 26–27 degrees C in a range of zooxanthellate corals. This temperature range is slightly higher than the temperature at which maximum calcification (25 degrees C) occurred in the present study.

 

[Anonymous]

temp is not the only thing affecting coral calcification rates, or skeletal density

strontium and magnesium levels can also affect the sclerite structure and density :wink:

the recurring theme seems to be stability, and i'll be willing to bet that a temp spike of 88° will more negatively affect a tank kept at 77, than it will a tank kept at 83 (more of a shock due to a greater difference)

 

[Anonymous]

It's also important to remember that our tanks are not the ocean.

 

[Anonymous]

Nor are Tonga and Fiji the most productive reefs.