How low can one bring temp to safely

[Crumbs]

I was wondering how low the temp can be brought down in a tropical tank with out killing bacteria, macro algae and inverts like hermits and cleaner shrimp etc.

I have bin cycleing my tank for 2 months at 77 deg and plan to bring it down to 65 or 70.

Am I going to get a large die off?

[salty3]

Why do you want to bring it down? A tank should be between 78 to 82 from what I have read.

[israelnajar]

I keep mine at 76 to 80

[demonsp]

The key is consistancy with 78 being target.

[Crumbs]

I want to bring my temp down because I plan to keep Australian species that I hear are kept between 65 and 70.

i just got my 1/2hp chiller this week and am about to fire it up.

I need to know if I can still keep my critters or do they have to go? Do I need to re-cycle my tank again at the lower temp for bacteria to develop that tolerate the lower temp?

Thanks

[oct2274]

the average temperature of reefs around the world is right around 84 degrees. I you are going to do a reef aquarium I would recommend 80 degrees. I run mine at 81.......

[drummereef]

There are coldwater reef tanks around. I'd be interested in hearing about these "Australian species" you speak of. Maybe we can point you in the right direction if we know what the animals are.

[Crumbs]

I am getting an Asymbolus catshark. From what the dealer told me they generaly keep the best between 60 and 65.

[Randall_James]

Originally posted by demonsp
The key is consistancy with 78 being target.

I let my tanks range 5-8 degrees a day and never had any issues. Reefs can swing up to 10 degrees in a hour or less with tide changes.

I think trying to maintain such a constant weakens the system (having little or no temp change wipes out the organisms ability to deal with temperature change, if they get a daily swing, you will find that your animals become more resilient to changes in the system thus making them more hardy)