Lowest temp for a reef tank?

[aznr3m1x]

my 3.5g doenst have a heater..using ART..just wondering though..im up in canada and its approaching the cold season...during the daytime the temp is around 79..and at night it drops to about 75...my mushroom at night shrinks up like hell..although it could be cuz its night but i duno is 75 too low? should i get a mini heater for night time?

TIA

[fluidimagery]

I would just run a mini heater at night to keep the temp about 2 degrees above ambient. It's not so much the 75 degrees but the temp swing. 77 to 79 would be fine though.

[aznr3m1x]

hmm..i guess i'll get one then..would 8" be enough for a 50w ebo jager?

[fluidimagery]

I was thinking one of those little 8w heaters. I'm trying to find one online to show you. There's no temp dial but it can usually only keep the temp up a degree or two above ambient. I would find a container to keep 3.5 gallons so you can test to make sure it doesn't get too hot. If you have an HOB filter you could probably hide it away in there instead of the tank.

[aznr3m1x]

thanks fluid..i'll try and see if i can find one..although never seen anythin smaller then a 25w? :S

[fras]

my shrooms shrivel up alot at night too, and my temp fluctuates less than 1 degree. As long as they're healthy during the day i'm sure they're fine. I would take the advice posted here, for the price of a heater better safe than sorry.

[icenine]

A lot of corals have a "night mode" and retract when lights go out if they are photosynthetic. Zoas close up, shrooms shrivel, and other softies will kinda hunker down into stubby versions of themselves.

Others (like lps corals for example) will extend sweepers and are feeding when lights go out even though they are still photosynthetic.

[mickey85]

All of my corals shrivel up at night. And my poor candycane is rarely "puffed up" because my goofy clown goby sits on him.

[aznr3m1x]

they shrivel up when they takin a dump aswell am i correct?

[vanmo92]

i have a similar problem. But my 1 gall pico stays at a constant 74 degrees. is this ok. the only inhavitants are 2 hermits (they are doing great) and a bunch of aiptasia (i know there bad but i like them)

[NEVER SATISFIED REFFER]

I've got so much Moon light, my zoo's and other things stay open all the time...maybe once a week they close for some rest. The zoo's are taking over the tank, my red ones will have the rock completely covered in the next several months the way things are going.