I don't get this whol temperature stability thing

[ralphie16]

I went diving for the first time in the virgin islands last week and noticed that the water gets cold and warm real fast. Almost like cold spots and warm spots.

If there seems to be such a difference in temps so fast in areas of the ocean, why are we taught to keep such steady temperature in our tanks?

Besides scuba diving I also went snorkeling along the beach where TONS of tangs, parrot fish, boxfish, etc were living and the water temps were even crazier in terms of temp swings.

Am i missing something?

[bassettmd]

My tank has about a 5 or so degree farenheit swing during the day (this dramatic during the summer for sure) and I have not had any negative experiences with this at all... all my fish, corals, clams are completely healthy. But I would not feel comfortable letting the temps range any more than that.

[Frick-n-Frags]

I couldn't agree with you more.

of ALL the super stable physical conditions in the ocean, temp is not one of them. like when the 74º tide flushes out the 90º lagoon.

[ralphie16]

so why the big deal with keeping tank temps stable? and for that matter, why such importance to matching temp when acclimating a new fish?

i mean dont get me wrong, i have all the gizmos to keep my tanks temp stable at 79F with hardly a 0.5F swing if at all with Ranco controllers, etc. so i have the temp stable thing covered but i dont understand why

[Rare Angels]

If I remember correctly the pH of a fishes blood changes depending on the temperature around it. I have heard that sudden changes are alright as long as the temp returns to "established" normal temp.

I will do some more looking and see if I can find the reference I was thinking about

Dave

[Paintbug]

theres also a big difference between the ocean and our systems, if the fish feels effects from cold water it can swim to warmer waters, or vise versa. is a couple of degrees swing in a tank going to make a difference? probably not, but 5-6 it could. temperature also has effect on oxygen levels in the water, which can effect pH, and so on.

[kfowler]

Also remember that fish living in large temperature swings are used to it. That's all they've ever known and have adapted to that condition. I would believe that many of our aquarium fish are not used to such swings.

[motlot77]

well maybe a diy thermocline is in order now!

[RichConley]

Originally posted by kfowler
Also remember that fish living in large temperature swings are used to it. That's all they've ever known and have adapted to that condition. I would believe that many of our aquarium fish are not used to such swings.

Why not? 90%+ of our aquarium fish are wild caught.





Temperature stability isnt important.

[ralphie16]

damn that $125 ranco controller!

[Tang Salad]

Man, this thread perfectly illustrates an RC phenomenon I've been studying lately. Basically, there's a whole group of 'factoids' that are always repeated as set-in-stone gospel. Everyone always agrees with them. Then someone points out that the opposite may be true, and suddenly everyone then agrees with the opposite, too!

Like this temperature issue. There are thousands of posts where people stress the critical importance of temp stability. Now this thread proposes the opposite, and everyone agrees with that, too!

Note: That's all a little off-topic. I also don't think that temp. stability is as important as it's generally portrayed.

[HBtank]

Yep.

[Peter Eichler]

It's one of thise things that has been pounded into us for years by old aquarium books and magazines and it has just become accepted as fact. Hell, for the longest time people would buy chillers so they could keep their temp at 75-76 degrees. A specific gravity of 1.022-1.023 was also the common suggestion for accepted parameters, and still is in many cases. It wasn't until recently that we started raising temps and SG to closer mimic the conditions most commonly found in the areas where most of our corals come from.

If you want to learn more about the varying conditions on a typical coral reef this article is a very good read.

http://www.reefland.com/rho/1105/reefc7.php

[Tang Salad]

Thanks Peter, that looks like a great article.

[john rochon]

look its pretty freaking simple, if your having temp swings it all depends on the amount of swing and in what range. if you keep your tank at 82f and you have a heat swing into 85+ your gonna have issues! don't believe me? try it out.
a few degree swings in an acceptable range won't hurt much but some [alot] of people have smaller tanks and the temp swing can be dramatic! if a heater sticks on, AC doesn't work, heat wave hits town,furnace goes down. etc...
stabablity in a tank is the safest bet so tis the reason its preached so much. even the reefs have problems from drastic temp swings!

[motlot77]

Originally posted by RichConley
Why not? 90%+ of our aquarium fish are wild caught.



Temperature stability isnt important.

mmm, i'm thinking that since a lot of our fishies are swimming along all nicely then someone blasts them with cyanide, it's all downhill from there:

--not getting acclimated to holding tanks or bags w/crap water--airplane ride to wholesaler in nasty water--wholesaler doesn't acclimate--airplane ride to lfs in nasty water--lfs doesn't acclimate and pawns off to a kid wanting to put a tang in a pico.

i'm surprised my fish look "normal" after such an ordeal. i would think the best thing for them would be stability.

[bgiles11]

Stability is important! Whether it be temp, salinity, ph, you name it. Fish will adapt to certain conditions over time. I used to live in Cinti. When I first got into the saltwater My LFS of choice was Jack's. Simply because the condition they kept thier Aquariums matched mines. Other stores who maintained proper parameters, had efficient skimming, uv sterilizers, in which I bought fish were stressed by introduction to my system. Grant it, now I only purchase from quality lfs's because I have the proper equipment.

[Rewd]

I had a heater malfunction in a horribly overstocked 20 gallon QT yesterday. Temp went from 78 to 89 in a matter of hours. Luckily I caught the problem in time and replaced the heater which then dropped the temp back down to 80 a few hours later. Through all of this my fish didn't even flinch. They all appeared as tho nothing was even going on.

I've always wondered about this topic myself. Honestly, I've stopped being concerned about temperature swings in any of my tanks. I only keep thermometers in there to make sure the heaters aren't malfunctioning and boiling the fish. Personally, I feel as though if everything else is stable and the water quality is top notch (no nitrates, ammonia, nitrite) then these fish can handle things like temp swings without a second thought. I really think our fish are hardier then most people give them credit for.

[zaf888]

im an avid scuba diver and have always wondered this too. i mean ive hit thermoclines that dropped 10 degrees in a couple inches

[RichConley]

Originally posted by john rochon

stabablity in a tank is the safest bet so tis the reason its preached so much. even the reefs have problems from drastic temp swings!

There have been numerous studies that show corals being less prone to death when kept in varying temperature.


Essentially, if the temperature is static for long periods, it only takes about a 1' shift to start killing corals. If theyre kept in a tank that swings around a bit, it takes about a 10' shift to start killing things.

Poeple preach temp stability because people preached it to them. It has no basis.