Florida Tank Temperature Advice

Swampgoat · 10/08/2015, 02:29 PM

I live in Martin County Florida. I am a newbie with no tank. Until today, I wanted to buy a Coraline Biocube 29 for corals and clown fish.

I keep my home at 80 degrees in the day, 78 at night.

I went to the local shop to see if I needed a heater. But my LFS just cautioned me: "Those tanks tend to run 2-3 degrees above room temp. And much above 80-81-82 leads to problems. You would probably need a chiller. But those are more expensive ($400-ish) than tanks. We can see what we can do with some coral and fish, but choices are limited."

I am seeking either confirmation or dispute or advice from any of you with Biocubes who live in warm areas.

Thanks for any input.

SG

ReefWreak · 10/08/2015, 02:32 PM

What was said was accurate. You can run your tank to ~81-82, but it means that if you hit 83-85, your tank is toast, and that's a very narrow margin of error.

You can keep your temps cooler without a chiller. You just have to use evaporative cooling (i.e. a fan blowing on the water, evaporating water), and frequent topping off of the water. I would recommend a large water reservoir and an auto topoff.

It's doable, but annoying. My old tank was in my parents house, and they kept it at 79-80, so I needed to run a 1/2hp chiller almost 8 hours a day to keep the tank from going above 81. Very expensive to run, very expensive to buy.

Cabo2008 · 10/08/2015, 02:43 PM

I used to run my BC29 between 80.5-82.5. You really shouldn't go much higher than that though. At 82.5 my fans would kick on and push air across the back of the BC (I removed the hatch on the back of the canopy).

All of my corals and fish seemed fine with it and I ran that way for months before I swapped tanks. The key is to acclimate them a little slower than normal since most times, the water they're coming from isn't anywhere near that temp (with travel/shipping, etc.).

Swampgoat · 10/08/2015, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReefWreak

What was said was accurate. You can run your tank to ~81-82, but it means that if you hit 83-85, your tank is toast, and that's a very narrow margin of error.

You can keep your temps cooler without a chiller. You just have to use evaporative cooling (i.e. a fan blowing on the water, evaporating water), and frequent topping off of the water. I would recommend a large water reservoir and an auto topoff.

It's doable, but annoying. My old tank was in my parents house, and they kept it at 79-80, so I needed to run a 1/2hp chiller almost 8 hours a day to keep the tank from going above 81. Very expensive to run, very expensive to buy.

Yes, expensive and more than I am willing to pay. The Biocube has fans, but also a closed top, with lighting. A disappointing day, but I'm not giving up yet. Plus, I may begin to explore an open tank.

Thanks ReefWreck
sg

Swampgoat · 10/08/2015, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cabo2008

I used to run my BC29 between 80.5-82.5. You really shouldn't go much higher than that though. At 82.5 my fans would kick on and push air across the back of the BC (I removed the hatch on the back of the canopy).

All of my corals and fish seemed fine with it and I ran that way for months before I swapped tanks. The key is to acclimate them a little slower than normal since most times, the water they're coming from isn't anywhere near that temp (with travel/shipping, etc.).

Well, this is encouraging. I wonder if there is a way to run the fans sooner than 82.5?

What I find hard to understand is how natural reefs survive in Florida when the daytime air temps hit 90 in the sun and 80's at night in the dark.

Maybe someone out there has hacked a Bio29 to send the flow of an exterior fan through the hood and over the tank.

At the moment, I have a bucket of water with a thermometer. I'll take readings of the water to see how they match up against my thermostat and weather station inside temps.

Thanks Cabo for the glimmer of hope. 8-)
sg

SingleShot · 10/08/2015, 07:57 PM

I have a biocube 14 and the fans turn on when the 20k lights are on, I also have a heater in it that keeps it at 78.5 has done well with not over heating during the 100 plus degree days in the summer but I do prop the lid open a little bit. The house stays around 72-74 during the day and the wife freezes us at night at 67 lol

Cabo2008 · 10/09/2015, 01:46 PM

No problem SG. I know I ran my tank warmer that most suggest, but to be honest, it looked the best then. I never even had algae issues until I upgraded my tank and started running it cooler.....which made me ramp up the temp a little more, so I'm running around 79.5-80.5 now and everything seems much happier (might be because much of the tank's inhabitants came from the "warmer" tank and don't like it cooler now though).

kewliz · 10/10/2015, 12:48 PM

A cheaper alternative, although it would require daily, hands-on work to do it is to put water frozen in small plastic bottles or in re-usable ice cubes into one of your back chambers. This would cause a temp swing but it's better than a too-hot tank, imo.

10/08/2015, 02:29 PM	#1
Swampgoat Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Treasure Coast, Florida Posts: 30	Florida Tank Temperature Advice I live in Martin County Florida. I am a newbie with no tank. Until today, I wanted to buy a Coraline Biocube 29 for corals and clown fish. I keep my home at 80 degrees in the day, 78 at night. I went to the local shop to see if I needed a heater. But my LFS just cautioned me: "Those tanks tend to run 2-3 degrees above room temp. And much above 80-81-82 leads to problems. You would probably need a chiller. But those are more expensive ($400-ish) than tanks. We can see what we can do with some coral and fish, but choices are limited." I am seeking either confirmation or dispute or advice from any of you with Biocubes who live in warm areas. Thanks for any input. SG

10/08/2015, 02:43 PM	#3
Cabo2008 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 248	I used to run my BC29 between 80.5-82.5. You really shouldn't go much higher than that though. At 82.5 my fans would kick on and push air across the back of the BC (I removed the hatch on the back of the canopy). All of my corals and fish seemed fine with it and I ran that way for months before I swapped tanks. The key is to acclimate them a little slower than normal since most times, the water they're coming from isn't anywhere near that temp (with travel/shipping, etc.). __________________ Aqueon 40 Breeder, DIY Stand, RO Varios-6 Return, AI Hydra 26HD's, Deltec i600 Skimmer, Profilux 4 controller, Jebao SLW-20's

10/09/2015, 01:46 PM	#7
Cabo2008 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 248	No problem SG. I know I ran my tank warmer that most suggest, but to be honest, it looked the best then. I never even had algae issues until I upgraded my tank and started running it cooler.....which made me ramp up the temp a little more, so I'm running around 79.5-80.5 now and everything seems much happier (might be because much of the tank's inhabitants came from the "warmer" tank and don't like it cooler now though). __________________ Aqueon 40 Breeder, DIY Stand, RO Varios-6 Return, AI Hydra 26HD's, Deltec i600 Skimmer, Profilux 4 controller, Jebao SLW-20's

10/08/2015, 02:32 PM	#2
ReefWreak Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Astoria, NYC Posts: 10,159	What was said was accurate. You can run your tank to ~81-82, but it means that if you hit 83-85, your tank is toast, and that's a very narrow margin of error. You can keep your temps cooler without a chiller. You just have to use evaporative cooling (i.e. a fan blowing on the water, evaporating water), and frequent topping off of the water. I would recommend a large water reservoir and an auto topoff. It's doable, but annoying. My old tank was in my parents house, and they kept it at 79-80, so I needed to run a 1/2hp chiller almost 8 hours a day to keep the tank from going above 81. Very expensive to run, very expensive to buy.

10/08/2015, 07:57 PM	#6
SingleShot Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Posts: 12	I have a biocube 14 and the fans turn on when the 20k lights are on, I also have a heater in it that keeps it at 78.5 has done well with not over heating during the 100 plus degree days in the summer but I do prop the lid open a little bit. The house stays around 72-74 during the day and the wife freezes us at night at 67 lol

10/10/2015, 12:48 PM	#8
kewliz Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 718	A cheaper alternative, although it would require daily, hands-on work to do it is to put water frozen in small plastic bottles or in re-usable ice cubes into one of your back chambers. This would cause a temp swing but it's better than a too-hot tank, imo.