nothing wrong with above 80 degree, why cooling?

[rocko]

Guess I have saw more than a dozen of posts asking for how to cool the tank below 80F, but hey, there is nothing wrong to run the tank at above 80F.

Read these articles will help.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/...5/rhf/index.htm

http://web.archive.org/web/20030218193420/...s/1/default.asp

 

The first article suggests 76-83F, taking into account of possible electronics failure and overheating. and the second article suggests, 84F is the right temperature, as that is most close to natural condition. Get the temperaure to the right number with some fluctuation is much more important than maintain a stable but wrong number (say, 75F). The range most LFS or online store recommended, 72-78F, is just too low and will stress the fish.

 

Besides, there are people recommending others to drop the setting on heater when the tank is getting hot at daytime. This is not the right way. Your heater wont turn on at daytime if the temperature is above the setting, so it wouldnt make it any hotter (assume you have a well functioning heater). At night, when all lights are off, you need your heater to maintain a rather close temperature to daytime temperature so fluctuation is small. Dropping the setting on the heater will do the opposite and cause a larger fluctuation.

 

Rocko

[Upright Joe]

I'm with ya on this one. I run my cube at 83 - been running it that way since I started it over a year ago...

[Diatome]

No arguments here. My temps on my freshwater and salt have been higher than recommended by LFS's for a long time. Salinity is higher too. More natural. More and more arguments are surfacing between traditional aquarium keepers and those that actually look at real paramaters. It all goes back to the days of just trying to keep things alive. Also, leave your heater alone.

[Cellenzweig]

Warm water has less oxygen in it. If you have good water circulation, temperature in the mid-80s shouldn't be a problem.

 

However, hair algae seems to really like warm water, so you may end up lowering your temperature for that reason alone.

[rocko]

Agree with you on the oxygen issue. I usually target at least one powerhead towards water surface to generate nice surface flow, and that's good enough for oxygen exchange.

 

Agree with you on algae problem too, but with the assumption a good cleanup crew is used, it is not a real problem. I actually prefer to leave the temperature high for algae to have a chance to grow a little bit everyday or otherwise my cleanup crew will starve. The snails always run for the last patch of algae on glass like racing, then all take a long break impatiently until something start to grow back the next day. And I already had a couple of hermit crabs starved to death that i had to start giving them out for free. X)

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

I've been the owner of a cube for 2 years and have had to deal with temps that are high, mid to high 80's. My animals or corals have never died but I have seen blooms of algae grow everywhere. And I personally hate algae unless it's coraline algae.

 

I have noticed that colder water keeps them at bay and all my animals and corals are still very happy, I'll have some pics to prove my point, they are expanded and feeding regulary.

 

You can compare those pics to my older pics that would've housed warmer temps only.

 

I want to have the ability to cool down my tank if it needs it and not rely on my house air conditioner freezing everything in its path just for a couple of degrees in my tank.

 

It makes better sense to have it's own source and have me intervene as necessary and make such adjustments. I just like the fact I can walk over to my tank and lower the voltage setting on my particular chiller or raise the heater temp to compensate and I thus I reach an equilibrium.

 

I think it's all a matter of preference and how innovative you want to get in your hobby.

 

Mike

[szesteve]

There is nothing wrong with running your temperatures at 80-82.

 

What you don't want is big temperature swings. i.e. 78-82...I try to keep temp swings to within 1-1.5F

[waterdog1]

In the great B reef temps on upper coral shelves swinf 4 degreed F in 24 hours. Some temp swings are ok, it depends if your coral is from deep water or shallow. I have seen zoanthids actually out of the water in full sun on the gulf coast of FL, now thats a temp shift!