Water Temps.

[bluereefaquatics]

As the heat rises here in Las Vegas many of us worry about the temperature in our aquariums. What are acceptable temps and when is my tank temp to high? Depending on the time of year on the reefs temperatures range from 75f to 87f such as in fiji where many of our corals and fish come from. (View fiji water temps here - http://www.naia.com.fj/fiji.php?climate-water-temperature-2) Some say that corals grow faster at higher temps such as 82f (http://www.ronshimek.com/salinity_temperature.html) I feel that we should try to maintain a stable enviroment for our reef inhabitants and try to keep temps from changing more than 3 to 5 degrees to keep stress at a minimum in our home reefs.

What do you think and what temps are you keeping your aquariums? What are you doing to maintain constant temps? My reef is currently running at 79 to 81 degrees depending on time of day.

[vegaskid]

I have a chiller and have my set temp at 79. My tank runs pretty much 78-80 during the summer but in the winter it will drop to 74-75 sometimes since I dont use heaters. I think this also helps the inhabitants sense seasonal change rather than a constant temp. Also, I think too constant of a temperature may leave corals less tolerable of fluctuations and thus more prone to stress during intermitant swings. Im just guessing though. :)

[Troylee]

I couldn't agree with kid more... that's my opinion on it also.. stable is cool but may cause effects if something ever did happen... My swings like 3 degrees from day to night and I have seen no I'll effects.. it's not in a hour thou it slowly drops over the course of the night..

[wazupjames]

78-81 is my daily temp swing.

[bigronbo]

I just have a 55 gal but have a fan that blows across the tank and my temp stays 74-78 mostly mid day it may get to 77. If i turn the fan off it will climb to 83-85 because of the lights but the fan blowing the heat out really helps. My AC is set to 80

[Narazbad]

**** Ron! How are you able to stand the house that hot? I throw a fit if it gets above 78 lol

[bigronbo]

I use ceiling fans and it is cool enough and better than 400.00 electric bills
last year i had 3-4 months over 350. for electric. My son is home all day so has his PC and 360 going all the time.

[iap]

78 - 81/82ish daily swings

[lvsuckerfish]

mine swings within 1 degree now I have heaters off at night since the lights are on but my temp stays within 76.6-77.5 right now with the heaters on it is 77.5. 400watts of halides will bake the tank as the reason i did it this way it is alot cooler here in the pm but the sun doesn't go down until like 1030 it is finally set fully

[bigronbo]

do you use fans across the top lv or do you have a closed hood? I have T5's not halide because of the heat but i know 400 watt will be much more light and esp heat. If you use a closed hood it traps it and is hard to get it out. if not the heat should be helped greatly by a fan. My fan makes atleast6-8 degree diffrence when lights are on.

[iap]

I hve a 400watt in a closed canopy and three little fans in the back and one in the sump and it makes a HUGE difference keeps my tank where I want it.

[wazupjames]

I keep my house between 85-94 during the day. lol I dont run the AC at all until the evening and night. My wife and I are not home so why waste the money. Fans across the tank keep it at a cool stable temp though. In fact I have one fan that will put the tank below 77 so I can only use that one when I am home monitoring the temp.

[tbone74]

78-81. I have an encolsed hood with 6 pc fans blowing through and the sump has a desk fan blowing 24/7. I also keep the room 76

[lvsuckerfish]

right now it is in the garage with an open top I have not resulted in fans yet I am not sure when summer starts here lol to me it is still cold out.

[iap]

Lol j. I doubt you will ever get the summer that you are used to

[lvsuckerfish]

I know lol whats funny is the water park next to my house is all heated water lol oh do I love that

[chrishei]

**** Ron! How are you able to stand the house that hot? I throw a fit if it gets above 78 lol

LOL Mine is set at 75 and thats too hot for me. ILL pay anything to stay cool($500 + easy in the summer). By the way my tank swings from 78 - 79 with the chiller on board

[lvsuckerfish]

lol my house in vegas was never over 72 I slept with a blanket in the summer lol

[sakeating]

my 20 stays at 81.5 degrees constantly. My 40 that I just set up was running at 83.7 with nothing cooling it. I was a little uncomfortable with that so I added a cooling fan with a thermostat controller. Now it swings between 81 and 82.5. It has a 3 foot pc fixture with 2 96w bulbs in it with a built in fan topped with a closed hood. The fan is in the sump. I keep the ac set at 80.

[Xcali1985]

Room Temp: 80
Tank heaters: 76
Tank chiller 78
Tank size 80g + 20g sump

Most I've ever seen it get to is 79 degrees. Although I have a chiller rated for 250 gallons on a 80 gallon tank. Lol.

Had a 10 degree spike one time after not remembering to turn on the ac and it caused an ich outbreak amoungst my fish. After that every precaution was taken.