Temperature fluctuations

[cjg11780]

Hi To All:

I understand the importance of stability in the aquarium which leads me to my question.

What is a safe "window" to keep the temperature at in the tank? My goal is 79degrees. After I keep the lights on for 10 or so hours, the temperature goes up to around 83degrees. Is there a plus or minus that I should shoot for? If so, how do I keep my temperature down while still providing the tank with enough lighted hours? Thanks.

[bennerkla]

You could buy a chiller.

[Nas19320]

Try a fan or two.

[hammerhead]

Im very interested in this topic as well. I have been told that a 6-10 deg swing is normal in the ocean and that we don't need to worry about it. If anyone can shed some light on this would be great. The info I got came from the owner of pacific coast chillers.

[eums]

i do not think the ocean swings 6-10 deg in a day, but i could be wrong. i know there is about a 10 deg change over the corse of a year from winter to summer but thats here, i don't know if it changes that much where the reef's are.

[hammerhead]

from what he said the shallow area's have a high temp swing and the deep parts are more stable.

[bennerkla]

There is no way that the entire ocean can swing 10 degrees in a day. The reefs:maybe.

[hammerhead]

Inever said the entire ocean. REEF OR SHALLOW AREA'S ARE PRONE TO A 6-10 DEG SWING. Deep area's do not do this they are stable. We keep reef tanks so why are we so pairanoid if our tanks swing 4-6 deg in a day. If this is true we should not even woory about it .

[halmast]

Before I bought my chiller, I had 6 degree temp swings from 77 degrees in the morning to 82-83 degrees in the evening. I have 3 250W MH and 2 160W VHO on my 125 gallon reef tank. I have 2 fans in the canopy/hood and a large fan over the 20 gallon sump. With all this I still had these large swings.

One day the temp hit 84 or 85 degrees and I lost my pom-pom xenia and anthelia. The daisy polyps started to die off and I started to lose some zoos.

My LFS had a refurbished aqualogic 1/3 hp drop in chiller for sale.
I have had my tank set at 79 degrees with 1 degree variation. Over the last month the life that has exploded from the LR is amazing. there are things on the LR that I never have seen before and the tank has been up and running since December 02. The corals, SPS, softies, shrooms and zoos are just thriving and growing. The chiller is definitely worth the investment.

HTH

[JPerkins]

Ok, here is why 4-6 degree swings are dangerous. Halmast touched on it sorta...

Yes, certain locales may swing 4-6 degrees but the animals we keep have localized requirements. Think of it this way, a Xenia may reside in water that is 72-79 degrees, but if you start at 79 and swing 6, you are at 85, not healthy for that type.

Hope that helps.