temperature 84.4 degrees

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Jereli

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
May 24, 2010
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as the title says 84.4 degrees...is this way over the limit for of a reef tank? Whats a safe maximum safe limit?

Thanks
 
82 tops. Preferably slightly under 80 for most things. But yea, coral bleaching all over happens when temp remains above ideal for extended periods of time. If it stays that hot with heater off, run some fans over the surface of the water and against the sides. Unless you see the need to go for a chiller.

Keep in mind fans will increase evaporation rates. My tank is sitting at 78 degrees and seems off too a good start.
 
That's the thing i don't have room for a chiller... Well it doesn't sit at that temperature 24 hours... just hot days in the evenings... over night temp does drop and in mornings and afternoons it sits lower...
 
I've heard of people using sealed ice bags when they expect the day to get hot. You can also turn your ac down a bit :D
 
yea if I had an AC lol... I guess my next question is will 84.4 be ok if its only certain days and times... Or is that a definately no..
 
It's best to keep a constant temperature, not changing more than a degree in 24 hour span. You can lose a lot of livestock if there are a lot of changes. My tank seems to do best around 74-76 degree range.
 
like scarcothelia said, coral bleaching starts to happen above 82. IMO, I wouldn't risk it and just add frozen water bottles on hot days. What is your tank size? Don't add like a 1L bottle to a 20g xD
 
As someone earlier mentioned, get a clip-on fan and have it blow it across the top of your tank. Put it on a timer so it's only on during the part of the day when it gets the hottest. You can easily drop the water temperature by 2 degrees with just that single fan.

I'd make 82 your top limit. I wouldn't want to go over that on a daily basis.

What are your heaters set at?

[Edit: After seeing you have a sump, better yet... have two fans - one blowing across the tank and the other across the sump.]
 
I didn't realize a fan can drop temperature by that much... I beleove 78 or so..its been so long since I have checked
 
Even in a hot room, a fan can really do wonders. Evaporation is your friend!

Heater setting seems OK - just wanted to make sure it wasn't set too high to start with!
 
I dont understand how weather outside affects temp of the tank. Do you not have any type of climate control in your home?

edit: Ah I see, time for a window unit...
 
Maybe set your heater for 76? That's a perfectly good temp for a reef, and you may not have temps over 82 with the lower starting temp. My reef does well at a constant 76 anyway. Just an opinion.
 
I too agree with the fan idea. It will do wonders as mentioned above. IMO 78-82 is the ideal temp but more important is stability. If you can get it somewhere in that range and keep it there or within a degree or two then that`s what you want.
 
I too think the fan idea is the way to go with ice bottles for those added scorcher days. I've read an article (think it was Coral Magazine) not too long ago that said temp fluctuations were the norm in the natural environment and a little, approximately 2-3 degrees, is duplicating that in the aquarium. I stay between 78-81 myself but let it fluctuate in that range. Also it depends on the kind of fish or corals you have. Are they more from a cold, more northern spot or warmer area of the ocean?

Steve
 
Consistenccy is IMPORTANT. You do NOT want to see more than a 2 degree temperature swing in a 24 period. When I ran MH lights I had a fan on a timer to blow across the tank top when the MH lights were on. That kept the tank stable within the 2 degree range.

Relying on bags of ice, fozen peas, etc. is fine for when the AC or chiller doesnt work, but not as a long term solution.

They sell sets (2-6) of computer fans in a clip on enclosure to hang on the back of the tank if you can's place a fan nearby.
 
thanks for the responses...but no climate control in my home..not sure where the corals come from but they are soft corals for now....also I just noticed my temp this morning is at 82.9degrees at 5:00am and my heater was on? Does this sound right for my heater to be on if its set to 78degrees and my tank at 82.9? Doesn't make sound right to me but maybe I am wrong
 
Just to throw my 2cents in, corals can survive and recover fully when the tank temp warms up ( mine went to 94) all corals and anenome came back fully, all my fish lived. But I lost all my inverts. Not saying that anyone should do that though. I was at work in the summer time and the furnace got stuck on. My house was 100 degrees. My tank was this hot for over 24 hours. They say it's long periods of heat that will kill the coral
 
thanks for the responses...but no climate control in my home..not sure where the corals come from but they are soft corals for now....also I just noticed my temp this morning is at 82.9degrees at 5:00am and my heater was on? Does this sound right for my heater to be on if its set to 78degrees and my tank at 82.9? Doesn't make sound right to me but maybe I am wrong

There's your problem... it's your heater.

When you say your heater is "set for 78 degrees" do you mean that's what the knob says it's set to? Or have you verified that it truly turns on and off around 78 degrees? Heaters rarely turn on/off according to the numbers on the knob. Best thing to do with heaters before you even put them in the tank is drop them in a bucket with a thermometer and figure out where the setting needs to be in order to keep the temperature you want.

Either your heater isn't set at the right temperature, or you have a thermostat that is failing and it isn't turning itself off when it should.
 
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