severe temperature fluctuation, beneficial?

[Varga]

Due to heat wave in Seattle, I have been dropping my temperature down to 73 in the PM and letting room temp take it up to 83 in the AM.

I was worried at first, but I'm noticing very positive results. corals are more open than they have ever been, fish are happy and active, even mangroves are growing faster than ever!

My question is, could this be beneficial? or will I see some negative results on the long run?

 

[funkpolice]

how about few before and after shots.
bill

 

[mps9506]

I have to say in my experience I had a totally different result. My sps tanks grew very slowly until I got my temperature stabilized. After I got my temps stabilized with the right timers and fans my coral growth was much better. My tank was fluctuating between 74 and ~82 or 83 degrees (who knows for sure, I don't know how accurate my digital thermometer actually was). Once I got it stabilized to stay between ~75-79 I noticed much better coral growth.

 

[BigAl07]

I would venture to guess (this is ONLY a guess) it depends on WHAT corals you have. Shallow water corals may be better adapted to temp swings because it's not rare for shallows to have a larger temp swing. Inversely the deeper water corals don't see hardly ANY day to night or day to day swing. Yes there will be a slight seasonal shift but it's slow and over a much longer period of time.

How's that for "riding the fence" on a subject.

 

[kinghokus420]

my tank can go from 76-84 in a day during the summer. I dont see any adverse effects on the corals that have been in there a while. my new pieces usually dont like it and pale at first but adapt fairly quickly and color up well.

 

[Woodstock]

If it is working for you, great!
I know Heinz's reef has a large fluctuation in temp but I can't remember just how much. Maybe he can chime in..

 

[framerguy]

Yeah, this goes against everything thing I've heard and experienced! Heinz...where are you?!

 

[reefsmoker]

I'm no biologist, But it would seem that 2-4 degree flux in temp would be more like natural conditions, even deeper corals could and most likely are around many under-tow currents and fluctuations in at least 2-4 degrees.... i don't know - just some discovery channel i.q. going on here, heh

 

[BigAl07]

*lol* on occasion yes "things" change but for the most part once you get away from the coast and or get deep the ocean is fairly constant. with the exception of a massive storm or something the temps are slow to change one way or the other....

 

[hma]

Corals are exceptionally sensitive to fluctuations in temperature. The ideal water temperature is between 25° C and 30° C. If the water warms to over 30°C, the microscopically small zooxanthellae which provide the corals with food die first, followed by the corals themselves. The reefs of Indonesia are considered as the species-richest ones on earth, a reason for it are the nearly constant temperature.

Stronger variations in temperature of the oceans are considered than a cause for the coral bleaching. Seasonal fluctuations of 2-5° C are considered as normal. Dailytemporally the temperature should not more than 1-2 degrees varying. Negative effects of strong dailytemporal variations in temperature are among other things an intensified growth of algae and Cyanos.

In the coral reefs of Indonesia, for example, the water temperature nearly the whole year within the range between 25° - 27°C. My aquariums are underlying (Computer-controlled (IKS)) exactly these variations. In summer the temperature is in the area of 26 – max. 28°C, in winter the temperature is almost consistently with 25°C. At temperatures more than 27°C as well as under 25°C a lower coral growth is to be noted.


This article makes clear the dependence rather well.

 

[Woodstock]

Thanks Heinz!

 

[BigAl07]

Excellent write up Heinz! Good to see you buddy

 

[reefsmoker]

well that cleared that up, i vote heinz #1 ! i was kinda close right? hehe:hallo:

 

[BigAl07]

Just for fun & games check out this thread.... it's directly related to what we're discussing here... sort of kind of... right?

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/aquarium-corals/33441-bleaching-tied-overheating.html#post491175


It sucks JT had to experience this but hopefully not ALL is lost. Sometimes they CAN recover!!

 

[fatman]

As long as you are not easily overwhelmed this is an excellent site to obtain information. It is a posting site for professional papers on coral reefs. There are several thousand articles that can be downloaded. You must register and provide a factual email address so as they can send you a affirmation link that will allow your first log on. You can however use a fictitious name and other information. Most contributers are doctorate degreed researchers, from academic, private and the government sector. With out registration all you can open up or download are abstracts, that are much more limited. It might be more scientific than quite a few reefers would like.

This is the link.
ReefBase :: A Global Information System For Coral Reefs

 

[silverwolf72]

I don't know if it's true with corals but I've seen it in humans. After moving from Texas to California I can no longer take temperature swings the way I did in Texas, any thing much above or below 75' is either freezing or freakin hot! Think why when places like NY get heat waves there always seem to be alot of deaths their just not adjusted to the heat.
If your tank constantly has temp swings I think the corals get use to it, but if there always at a constant temp and then a sudden change it severely stresses them.

 

[Snelly40]

good to see you explanation Heinz!
i completely agree, since i got my controller and really stabalized the temp i have seen great progress in my trank.
Through fans and a heater in my contoller the temp never varies from 79.2-80.1 day or night and its usually right at 79.5!

 

[BigAl07]

I've seen increased coral growth with a more steady temp as well. My frag tank (before it was a frag tank) had GREAT coral growth pre-controller. Then coral growth stopped. I spoke with a local "old-timer" and he said that one theory about temporary enhanced coral growth could come from a shock-factor. Some corals will expand/grow (or at least it appears) to try and generate off-spring in hopes that some will be able to survive a negative event. It's similar to how some anemone will split when stressed. This is believed to be so that one can travel on path (A) and one of path (B) in hopes that one or the other will survive. Notice I had temporary coral growth followed by STOPPED growth and then slight bleaching/pouting throughout the tank. Once I got the controller and was able to maintain a lower and more constant temp things returned to normal.

Talking about hypothetical here

 

[Opsanus tau]

I find this subject to be most interesting;how much of mother nature's parameters should be mimicked EXACTLY within our aquariums.
Our aquariums are not like mother nature, they are closed-system bonsai miniatures that contain some of the same animals from the sea, yet if I were to apply the same EXACT current to a Acropora cervicornic, in one of my tanks, as the cervicornis receives at my insitu coral nursery,(36' deep at the reef line).
My dog would be getting sea sick.

How much do we apply? my Acroporas in the nursery are living in 60 degrees Fahrenheit during the middle of the winter, and thriving, yet I would never drop my closed system tanks( even with the same genotypes ) to that temp.

I also have Siderastraea, Favia ,and Porites on my sea wall( in my back yard) that thrive in 95 degrees(F)+ in the summer,...again you would never see me setting my heater to 95-99 degrees in any closed system.
So how much do we apply from mother nature? or is the truth that our closed system reefs are a whole different animal, and should be delt with as such,..properly somewhere in the gray area-Dave

 

[BigJay]

Dave thats a contemplation I've had many times. Everyone always says to mimick the ocean but nothing in our tanks is like the ocean. I always come back to one thing for comparison why do we not have corals in fresh water. Fish, inverts even jellyfish have made the transition between the two. For me its the easiest to grasp what we need to replicate. Of course its just theory mind you.
As far as temperature we do have some facts.. the higher the temp goes the less disolved oxygen we have in the water the lower the PH the more chance we have to grow algae/cyano. I have a feeling if we could replicate the ocean currents , waves and the volume of water to livestock this would be less of an issue in the tank.
Just me thinknig out loud.