Poll: How high a temp do you let your reef tank go?

[nattarbox]

Yeah I was peaking at 85 last week when it was super hot in New England. It was about 95-98F in the house but the fan kept the tank at 85F with the lights on.

[sanababit]

lowest it has gotten is 75.5 and highest 86, i have had up to a 6 degree swing in one day, i dont have a chiller but i do have a fan, and nothing has happen to my fish, sps, lps, softies, i believe this hype about temp stability is BS, now dont get me wrong i dont want my tank to cook or freeze either but a swing in temp without hitting extreme is good for inhabitants, makes them more hardy

[DrBegalke]

Originally posted by Reefer07
Wow that's amazing. My buddies thermostat broke on his thermometer recently and it hit 95 and he lost everything.

I suppose a heater would heat things up a lot faster?

[keithcrmr]

i have played with temps being that i am new in the hobby...i have run from 86 down to 75 over time but i have also done some reading on the reefs in fiji which run up to 90+ for extended periods of time however i have found that i seemto have the "happist corals " in temps around 78

[CyanoMagnet]

Originally posted by jwithem26
Mine gets to 85- 86 most days in summer never lost anything.

Jaw drops..

Do you have a very established system?

[greenbean36191]

Jaw drops..

You do realize that 85-86 is within the average yearly range seen on coral reefs worldwide, right? There's nothing unusual or dangerous about those temperatures to the animals we keep.

[Playa-1]

My heaters kick on at 76 and If we're going into a heat wave then I would plug in the chiller and set it for around 85 just to keep the swing in check. On a normal day my temp swing is 77 to 81.

[victor_c3]

Fan works for me. Without a fan or any AC in my house I could keep my tank between 80-82 degrees (ambient air temp around 74 degrees)

We turned off our AC this last week after the heat broke and the temperature inside of my house got to 80-81 degrees. With a fan blowing across my display tank and a fan in my sump I was able to keep my tank's temperature right at 82 degrees.

We won't let our house get too much warmer than 80 degrees so I'm glad to see that the fans were able to keep the tank's temperature right at 82. I won't have to buy a chiller and I'll be able to spend that money on corals instead!!

[Ed Reef]

I keep mine 80-82 degree F. Never notice any problems....

[mutualbill]

Must be nice to only have the temp hi 82 inside with no A/C. Here in south Louisiana, No A/C on, within 2 hours temps inside will be above 90!

[Zoom]

77F-79F i don't like for the water to get to hot in a big tank it take a long time to get it cool down .

[ClownReef®]

It never goes past 80 when both halides are on...

[idareefer]

76 for a low, 77 average, 78 for a high

[miwoodar]

Originally posted by sanababit
lowest it has gotten is 75.5 and highest 86, i have had up to a 6 degree swing in one day, i dont have a chiller but i do have a fan, and nothing has happen to my fish, sps, lps, softies, i believe this hype about temp stability is BS, now dont get me wrong i dont want my tank to cook or freeze either but a swing in temp without hitting extreme is good for inhabitants, makes them more hardy

I largely agree with this. 86 is past my comfort zone though. My tank often has 3 or 4 degrees swing in a day. I just noticed that my tank has been getting lower lows than it did in the winter though. It swung from 77(ish) to 80(ish) through the winter. With the heat off (AC on) the house temp can dip to the 60's during summer nights and the heater has a hard time keeping up. I caught the tank at 74 the other morning and at 81 that same afternoon. Nothing was visibly stressing in the least (me neither).

My biggest problem with letting the temps swing is when I want to get a new frag from someone who keeps a rock solid temp. All the sudden that frag goes from 81 on a 24/7 basis to a tank like mine. It makes me a little nervous.

[stevedola]

76-79

I think you can keep corals/fish in a wide array of temps. anywhere from 73 to 86. all depends on what your comfy with.

[Dejavu]

Heres my take on temp. In most cases it not the peak (high) temp that cause major lose, but the sudden change from normal temp that causes losses or large increase from the norm. I keep my tank around 80-82 degrees in normal situations. My lights go off at 85 degrees and I have never had a problem.

[Zoom]

it not the peak (high) temp that cause major lose,

How you come up with that ?
With all the respect global warming kill more natural reefs that anything in the past.

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming...bleaching.html

[Dejavu]

well I guess that didn't come out the way I wanted it too.

What I wanted to say is that if you normally keep your tank at 80-82 you are less likely to see stress at 85 degrees, than you would if you keep it at 78-79. You would be more like to have a higher peak temp thresh hold. As for the "peak" temp my normal temp is between 80-82 and my peak is 85. I have not noticed any stress unless to temp increases fast. sorry not sure what I was try to say with my first post.

[Zoom]

If you have a oxygen test kit you can check your tank water .
Above 80F the tank start to safer from oxygen depletion .
I like to keep mine at 76F 78F much better for the fish and corals .
Many reefers have a problem with lower temp because they have to many heat inducing equipment running there tanks .
To run a chiller to get the temp to 78F is a big problem for some you get the heat out of the tank water and to your living area very uneconomical if you asked me .
Many don't like to keep there tank that low because they have no way to do that , so they just let the tank get up to 82F+ .
At 82F all my fish respiration is double what it it at 77F .
You can check it out your self .

[bubbly]

I believe that corals also grow faster at around 84, IIRC.

I keep mine around 80-82.

[Zoom]

Originally posted by bubbly
I believe that corals also grow faster at around 84, IIRC.

I keep mine around 80-82.

Are you able to keep you temp lower ?
You need to try if you can you see the difference .


Everything grows faster at higher temp is that ideal?

Don't compare our reef tanks to the nature, we not there yet.
Keeping the temp lower in my tank is safer to me .
I have fish and some corals over 15 years now at the same temp 77F to 78F in the summer and 75F -76F in the winter months.

[cloak]

On a hot day, mine will reach 86-87. No problem. The funny thing is, some of the corals have never looked better. The expansion was unreal.

[schigara]

77-78

Anyone keep Xenia in the 81-85 deg range?

[Elevate]

Originally posted by CyanoMagnet
I drive thorugh VA to get to north carolina where I vacation sometimes It is a beautifull state.

VA is a beautiful state but you still drive on through to get to real beauty in NC!

[cloak]

Double post. Can't seem to upload a picture right now.