Ideal temp???

[ZXZXZ]

I was at my LFS this evening and was helping him with a new shipment of corals. I noticed that the water was cold, well cold I thought. I was led to believe that reef tanks should be at 78 to 82 degrees. He said ideal was 75. When I said to him that I thought he was to low he said anything over 80 degress will end up bleaching the corals. I thought bleaching was due to temp and lighting. What temp do you run your tanks at???

[a4twenty]

i would guess he is trying to save some electricity and maybe even a little bit of salt??

the ideal temp for keeping a multitude of corals ( in nature ) is probably 82 - 86F but along with the high temps come problems with dissolved gasses and increased metabolic rates ( using more dissolved O2 ). this is not a problem in nature but in our closed system low levels of dissolved O2 can be a big problem. at lower temps the metabolic rate drops, which slows growth but also reduces ammonia production, possibly making it easier for the tank to handle the new bioload ( at the LFS ). also at the lower temps dissolve O2 can be absorbed by water much more easily, allowing for more O2 in case of a power outage, combined with the slower metabolic rate could help save some lives.

i would say the ideal temp would be in the middle like 78 - 82 F for an even balance. i keep my reef tank between 79 - 80 F in the winter and 80 - 81 F in the summer.

[Porcupinepuffer]

79-80 year round for me. If it was fish only, I'd probably have it lower. Besides, it gets pretty difficult to keep it lower then 78 with proper reef tank lighting.

[liv]

well.. from what I read in my books, fish and corals are less prone to deseases at 74-78F. like they said above, over this is the amount of available ox that is the main concern. some reefs are crazy hot during the day ( some even dry out for hours because of low tides ) and have cold nights. I keep my tank at about 76-78F. even with all my MH's on, temp moves up about 1.5F - 2F tops. what you gotta look for is stability, I do not believe in a set temp as most of our corals are from all over the planet, and temps are different, yet most survive just fine.

[percula99]

Many LFS also keep the specific gravity of their tanks lower,like around 1.020. I keep mine at 1.025. The reason they do this is to stop parasites from attacking fish in their tanks. Your LFS is probably...well like a4twenty said. :b2: I try to kep mine at 79-80.

[devilmike90]

My opinion is that the exact temperature is not that important if you keep it at 75-76-77-78-79 or 80. The key thing is the keep the temperature Stable. If you keep your tank stable at 75 well your reef will be as much healty as if you keep it stable at 80.

My 2 cents...

[IJO]

I agree... stability is the key. I have found a balance with the wall aquarium at 80. I don't get more than .5 difference day and night. The small fan over the tank keeps the heat down when the lights are on and the heater keeps it there when they are off.

IJO

[liv]

my current problem doesn't seem to be keeping it cool.. but more keeping it warm!.. I need more heaters!.. or better heaters.

[reefgeek110]

my current problem doesn't seem to be keeping it cool.. but more keeping it warm!.. I need more heaters!.. or better heaters.

Same problem here, I like to keep my heaters in sump but for whatever reason the temp in the tank is always about 4 degrees cooler than the sump.
I've double checked my thermometers and they varify the difference. I've started to slowly increase my sump temp until my tank temp stabilizes somewhere around 78-80 degrees.