Is 81 degrees to hot???

[WatchinFish]

hey guys i usually keep my tank from 77 to 79. i just finished working on my canopy to make it fit and finaly it does with 4 fans hooked faceing inwards from the back of the tank. my water has stayed a constant 80 to 81 degrees all day. is that to much for coral to live happy. my shrooms are doing great but i havnt bought anything else yet. also if it is to hot, you think i should turn one fan around to help draw air out?

 

[naperenterprise]

I'd try to cool it down a little. I personally like 75 to 78

 

[prow]

nope its ok, IMO. i keep mine at 79-81.

 

[framerguy]

I keep mine at around 79-81. Sometimes it gets to 82. These are normal temps on the reef.

 

[chris&barb]

Most people run their aquariums too cold. If you look at daily, weekly and yearly average water temps from the areas most of our corals and fish come from it shows that most people run their tank 6 to 10 degrees too low. Most people also try to keep temp very stable, this is not how it is in the wild. Temps will fluctuate quite a bit in only a few minutes.

I outlined water temps at different depths here. Water Temperature on the Palauan Reef Tract

 

[BigAl07]

Chris I'm sorry but I have to disagree. In shallow waters yes there could be more variation but at fairly shallow depths the water temp varies very little except for storms or other LARGE events.

 

[reefer4200]

79-81 here as well...sometimes 82.

 

[CATALYST]

Mine's been at 84 almost all summer and everybody's okay. I think it's more important that it doesn't fluctuate a bunch in a day. I have a chiller on there too. Mine seems to fluctuate about 2-3 degrees from day to night. I have had it go from 84 down to 78 and nothing bad happened either.

 

[chris&barb]

Chris I'm sorry but I have to disagree. In shallow waters yes there could be more variation but at fairly shallow depths the water temp varies very little except for storms or other LARGE events.

Thats cool your allowed to disagree:bouncer: but did you read the link i posted and the link to the research paper in that link?

 

[chris&barb]

This is my parafrazing.

"This study indicates that surface water temps in the summer averaged around 30.5c (86f+) with peak highs of 32c (89f) and lows of 29c (84f). The daily average over the year 2000 at 10m depth was around 30c (86f) with peak highs of just below 31c (88f) and lows of just under 29c (84f). At 35m depth the daily average is still about 29c (84f) with highs of just under 30c (86f) and lows 28c (82f)."

It comes from here http://www.coralreefresearchfoundation.org/CRRFassets/Reports/CRRFTechRep1l.pdf

 

[prow]

you can not really compare the temp swings in the ocean to our closed little systems. temp swings esp a extreme rise cause corals to react. they slime up for protection. bacteria eat up this slime, no big in the ocean "most of the time". temps normalize in a short period and the slimming stops. currents bring in fresh unslimed water and all is well. however in our tanks there is no currents bringing in "new" water, unless you a huge water change everytime the temp has big swings. so bacteria eat up the slime, like in the ocean, but the metobolites and things stay and stress corals causing them to release their zooxanthellae and bleach. this even occurs in the ocean, prolonged temp swings(rise) causes coral bleaching in a similar way.

 

[Snelly40]

79-80

 

[chris&barb]

you can not really compare the temp swings in the ocean to our closed little systems. temp swings esp a extreme rise cause corals to react.

I certainly can and more people should think about it.

By keeping corals at an unnaturally low and unnaturally static temp the coral becomes conditioned to these low/static temps so in the unlikely event that something happens in our tanks and the temp raises above what it has become conditioned to the corals cant handle it. The upper temperature threshold for most corals is about 88 degrees but most can withstand temp into the lower 90's for short periods of time. Coral bleaching occurs when these thresholds are met or surpassed for extended times. If you artificially condition a coral to lower temps, over time the corals threshold lowers also. This is why you see people have bleaching and crashed tanks when their temps reach the low 80, its because they have kept their tank at static/artificially low temps.

they slime up for protection.

I think you might be confusing this with corals that are exposed to the air at low tide.

currents bring in fresh unslimed water and all is well. however in our tanks there is no currents bringing in "new" water, unless you a huge water change everytime the temp has big swings.

Water flow and filtration, but i disagree that corals produce slime as a protection to temperature. The temperatures i'm talking about are normal and natural to these corals. They have evolved in these conditions and to say that they cant handle them in our closed systems is nonsense.

so bacteria eat up the slime,

The bacterial content on the slime layer of healthy corals is very high, if you have a reference to back this up i would love to see it.

this even occurs in the ocean, prolonged temp swings(rise)

You make this sound like a bad thing. I'm not suggesting anyone push the upper threshold temperature of corals, What i am saying is that most people keep corals at artificially low and artificially static temps because that what they've been told that they need.

You don't have to believe me but at least read the links provided.

 

[prow]

ok, here you go

http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=MF99078.pdf
CHAMP - Coral Bleaching - NOAA's Coral Health and Monitoring Program
Coral Reef Bleaching

Coral bleaching events worldwide have been attributed to sea surface temperatures (SSTs) rising and staying as little as 1°C higher than the usual average monthly maximum SST during the hottest months of the year (Goreau and Hayes 1994).

FYI; i did read the links you gave

 

[Varga]

76-80 here.

 

[reefmasta]

80-81

 

[Varga]

I like the 77ish range since it gives me room for error. If its at 81 and I forget to open a window or an extra fan on a hot day, then It'll hit 85 in no time.

 

[prow]

I certainly can and more people should think about it.

By keeping corals at an unnaturally low and unnaturally static temp the coral becomes conditioned to these low/static temps so in the unlikely event that something happens in our tanks and the temp raises above what it has become conditioned to the corals cant handle it. The upper temperature threshold for most corals is about 88 degrees but most can withstand temp into the lower 90's for short periods of time. Coral bleaching occurs when these thresholds are met or surpassed for extended times. If you artificially condition a coral to lower temps, over time the corals threshold lowers also. This is why you see people have bleaching and crashed tanks when their temps reach the low 80, its because they have kept their tank at static/artificially low temps.

possible, there are many reasons. temps is one, a big one.

I think you might be confusing this with corals that are exposed to the air at low tide.

nope

Water flow and filtration, but i disagree that corals produce slime as a protection to temperature. The temperatures i'm talking about are normal and natural to these corals. They have evolved in these conditions and to say that they cant handle them in our closed systems is nonsense.

nonsense??? you think because corals can handle things in the ocean they follow suit in our little closed system? now thats nonsense, our systems are from mimicing the ocean.

The bacterial content on the slime layer of healthy corals is very high, if you have a reference to back this up i would love to see it.

and you think a coral that slimes up doesnt feed and increase that bacterial count?

You make this sound like a bad thing. I'm not suggesting anyone push the upper threshold temperature of corals, What i am saying is that most people keep corals at artificially low and artificially static temps because that what they've been told that they need.

i agree that most keep temps lower than op in tanks. but then again high temps increase O2 demand as the tanks metabolism increases, again our tanks dont have capacity to deal with this like we see in our oceans, the metabolites have no where to go unlike our oceans. but you were talking about temp fluctuations too not just high temp, again our tanks just do not have the capacity to deal with such changes, from time to time yeah but not regulating the swing will cause issues.

You don't have to believe me but at least read the links provided.

its not a matter of belief, its how you apply the info. thinking our tanks can handle changes like the oceans is just nonsense. its not that the corals can not handle it per say, its our systems that can not handle it and that effects our corals ability to handle such changes. sure adapation plays a role but that is the easy part. our tanks dont have the same compensating mechs and the ones they do have are not even close to the oceans ability.

 

[tbone71788]

i agree with PROW.... tanks are very different from the ocean

 

[tbone71788]

my tank temp changes from 79 at night to 82 during the day i have the 29 biocube... still trying to get the temp more stable.. on a real hot day it might go a little higher than 82 worries me all the time...