What temp do you guys keep your reefs at?

[Fishguy2727]

You shouldn't have to adjust your heater to compensate for extra heat except maybe turn it up. Your heater should automatically shut off when at or above the set temperature. If pumps and lights add heat the heater should simply turn off, not be set any lower. Setting it lower allows it to drop when lights are off, allowing for temp instability. As stated stability is vital. So if your lights raise it two degrees, really you need to raise the heater temp two degrees so the temp stays stable. This way if the lights are adding heat, the heater will just turn off and the temp will remain stable.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

My lower heater temp doesn't really make a difference since I only have Power Compact lighting, I just keep it turned lower because it was higher and I picked 76. Powerheads and a return pump can add a lot of heat to the water.
If you are using metal halide lighting then the only way to avoid temp fluctuation from night to day is by using a chiller during the day to keep the temp down and the heaters during the night to keep it up.

[Fishguy2727]

Yeah, I was thinking if the heat is bumping up that much cooling efforts are warranted, which may include a chiller if other cheaper methods fail (or a cooler lighting system).

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

If you have the money to shell out for one, the new LED systems are incredible. Extremely energy efficient and 0 heat transfer. Even better than that, they can be used to accurately simulate a day/night cycle and the phases of the moon.

[Fishguy2727]

No money for that, and I already ordered the Coralife T5 anyways. It will cost me about $35 or so.

[oldhead]

If you have the money to shell out for one, the new LED systems are incredible. Extremely energy efficient and 0 heat transfer. Even better than that, they can be used to accurately simulate a day/night cycle and the phases of the moon.

Any links to these systems? I would love to check one out.

[spudbuds]

My heater kicks on at 77.5 degrees and during the day the lights get me to a shade below 79 degrees.

BTW, I've done some reading (I can't remember where) that suggests temperature fluctuations on a reef are quite large varying 5-10 degrees in as little as an half an hour. So, I'm wondering where this notion of necessary consistency in our tanks came from? Or is my research just way off?

- Bill

[squirt_12]

Mine is at 82F but I might slowly notch it down to about 80F.

[kaybee]

...I've done some reading (I can't remember where) that suggests temperature fluctuations on a reef are quite large varying 5-10 degrees in as little as an half an hour...

Temperature flucuations indeed occur. Some gradual, others quite significant as you have mentioned. The fact that conditions vary at different reefs, and even at different depths at the same reef, and that corals are a diverse group with different levels of hardiness or sensitivity must be also considered.

Corals originating from reefs which routinely experience significant temperature fluctuations have adapted to those conditions, and are capable of adapting to even harsher conditions (such as being completely exposed to the air, tropical sun and even rain while out of the water for hours during low-tide conditions which occur on a routine basis). The effectiveness of these adaptions (including tolerance to temperature flucuation) tends to fade when those corals are removed from those environments.

Different types of corals have different types of tolerances, and even corals of the same species in different locales have different tolerances. As an example, the Australian Institute of Marine Science states, "corals at Magnetic Island in the central Great Barrier Reef can happily stand 30.5°C (87F) for 20 days, but just 90km away at Davies Reef, the same species of corals will bleach within a day and at Great Keppel Island in the southern Great Barrier Reef, they would be dead within a day."

Providing stable temperatures eliminates the possibility of temperature stress.

[Halelorf]

Any links to these systems? I would love to check one out.

Here is one that I found. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...9&pcatid=18689 I was looking for one that i've seen online before that is really insane. It runs around $3,000 though so I won't have it for a long long time.