# Temperatures of your reef tank



## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

I was just reading an interesting thread over at RC where a member there mentioned that his corals seemed to come alive after his tank temp rose to over 80 degrees. There seems to be articles by the experts to suggest as much. I keep my temp at 78.1 and my colors have been meh - so I'm curious what you guys keep your mixed reefs at?


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## Naoko (Jan 22, 2011)

Mine fluctuates from 80-82F during the course of the day... been like this for years with no ill effect.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

I keep mine lower (77-79), but I'm sure there's other factors that keep my corals meh-looking.

Got a link for that thread Fury?


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## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

ameekplec. said:


> I keep mine lower (77-79), but I'm sure there's other factors that keep my corals meh-looking.
> 
> Got a link for that thread Fury?


Sure do http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2147197

I know there are other deciding factors, and i've been working on them one by one...this came as a bit of surprise as my previous research suggested 78 deg as a good target.


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## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

Also the expert opinion iI sited was from post#10 on an article from Ron Shimek http://web.archive.org/web/20030218193420/www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1997/nov/features/1/default.asp


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## TankCla (Dec 31, 2010)

Interesting things there. 80F (27C) - 84F (29C) ? Is it good? I know, in nature, corals die at high temperatures. You know, greenhouse effect...


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## Naoko (Jan 22, 2011)

Shawn Wilson covered ideal temperatures in Nineball's (Peter's ) build thread on RC also. It's buried in there some place, nonetheless, a very informative build for those who have not followed the progress.

Here's another great article on temperature by Chris Jury.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

In my opinion, it also matters what type of coral we are looking at.

Many types are commonly found in cooler waters, and others deal with constant temperature fluctuations (83+!) and some even are dry during low-tide.

I imagine the metabolism increases the higher the temperature for many as well.

I tend to aim for the lower side (77-78), as many times during the summer and with other heat sources, such as lighting, pumps, etc., you may creep to higher temperatures that are not ideal (82+). Fluctuations in temperature are normal in the wild and in captivity are likely not a huge factor as long as they are reasonable. When we start seeing temperatures climb higher than 82, I think a lot of people see some die off (or even tank crashes), especially in smaller tanks that may not be able to compensate for the lower oxygen levels in warmer water (not enough flow, no skimmer, etc.). It is easier, and cheaper, to heat the tank than to run a chiller though!

If you are running a mixed reef, you may also have a mix of corals from different temperature ranges. While ideally some would like the temperature in the 74 range, others may want 79-80. Running it in between this allows for only a slight difference, either lower or higher, rather than a large gap that may cause significant stress. If, for example, your tank is just full of acropora, you can likely run a higher temperature and see increased growth rates.

Other types like catalaphyllia will likely look great at higher temperatures, but expire within 4-6 months. My theory regarding the mortality rates of the indo elegance is exactly this - too high temperature. Again, there may be plenty of other reasons, but I point this out from experience as an example.

Just my thoughts!


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## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

Good info guys, i'm going to play with the temps by raising 1 or 2 degrees for a few weeks and see how it goes. Keep you posted!


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

I aim for 79-80 F. I have a digital display that I can read from here, right now the tank is at 26.8 C under full lighting which is equivalent to 80.240 F

I agree with what Chris said in regards to such a mixed bag of corals and fish, I wouldn't go higher. 79-80 F seems to be the general consensus of most experts and experienced reefers. I myself have had a mini crash last summer when I peaked somewhere over 85 F in a heatwave... not looking forward to that again. Lost most of my pod population and a few small fish.


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## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

50seven said:


> I aim for 79-80 F. I have a digital display that I can read from here, right now the tank is at 26.8 C under full lighting which is equivalent to 80.240 F
> 
> I agree with what Chris said in regards to such a mixed bag of corals and fish, I wouldn't go higher. 79-80 F seems to be the general consensus of most experts and experienced reefers. I myself have had a mini crash last summer when I peaked somewhere over 85 F in a heatwave... not looking forward to that again. Lost most of my pod population and a few small fish.


I'm only planning on going to 80 F. I seem to be able to hold my target temp consistently without any further cooling (chiller or ac) no matter the time of year, so I don't expect it to creep up any further.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

fury165 said:


> I'm only planning on going to 80 F. I seem to be able to hold my target temp consistently without any further cooling (chiller or ac) no matter the time of year, so I don't expect it to creep up any further.


Lucky!

I too like 50seven had a temp excursion last year - maybe 84-85 for a few hours. Toasted one colony completely. So now I try to stay below that by keeping the AC at 23C all summer....


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

78.5 and everything is thriving in the tank. I think high temperatures will create algae problems, but I do not know what is the meaning of the High in this case

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## darthvictor (Aug 16, 2011)

I was keeping my tank at 78F, but it did get down to 76.8 in the winter and this few days it goes up to 80F..


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