Just what does "Stable Temp" really mean ???

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BrendanH

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jan 16, 2004
Messages
166
Location
Gilbert, AZ
Hi All,
I've been noticing a temp swing in my tank from 76.5 in the morning to 78.6 in the evening. That does not seem like a large swing to me but I'm not sure if it really counts as being "stable". What do you recommend as being an acceptable variation in temp ?

My tank stats are :

55g FOWLR (But i hope to move more towards reef later on)
CSL PC Moonlight hood with 2x65W 10,000K and 2x65W Actinic
1x200W Etonic heater in back-center of tank with good water flow over it
1xAquaClear 401 PH (aimed at front-center of tank from back-left corner)
1xAquaClear 201 PH (aimed at heater from back-right corner of tank)
Return from Fluval 404 aimed at surface directly above heater

Prior to adding the CSL hood last weekend (to replace the crappy 40W 50/50 single NO) the temp varied between 76.5 and 77.3. When adding the hood I also added tight-fitting glass covers with very limited openings for the filter and skimmer. Tight-fitting is probably required as some of the fish I would eventually like to house are jumpers.

Any advice ?

One other thing - do you think my temp should be a little higher than the current range? Current livestock is LR,LS,Snails and a Maroon Clown with a Kole Tang coming into QT this weekend.

thanks,
Brendan.
 
I like to say stable temp is a 1-2degree swing max. Your temperature IMO is low so you could bump it up to 80F. With a higher starting temp you might be able to keep the water tempature more stable.

I really dont like glass tops as they also restrict gas exchange and can under higher output lights increase the heat thats trapped in the water. A good fitting caonpy that holds your lights and fits over the tank would also surve the purpose of protecting jumpers or using eggcrate over the tank.
 
Thanks fishfreek. I as thinking about cutting a bunch of small holes in back of the covers (ie. that plastic part designed to be cut to allow equipment access) to help with some of the heat dissipation.

Do you think there might be a problem with O2 also or is that lnot really an issue ?
 
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