What Temperature Do You Keep Your Tank At ?

[Roy Page]

Over last few days of travelling on long haul flights I had the chance to read [from cover to cover] the "Marine Reef Aquarium Handbook" by R J Goldstein.
Since I started my C-250 a month ago I have been trying to keep the temperature at about 79 F and I have been struggling to keep the swings from 79 to 81 F.

Robert Goldstein in his book [Page 17, para 1] advocates that a reef aquarium should be maintained at about 75 F and never be allowed to go over 80 F.
So I am intending to slowly lower the temp over the next few days.

Question
What temperature do you keep your tank at ?
And
If not aiming for 75 F, Why ?

Thanks
Roy

 

[pablomay28]

I keep mine 79-81 at 81.5 my chiller kicks in. My fish and coral are very happy

 

[Seagars]

78-80 with chiller

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Question
What temperature do you keep your tank at ?
And
If not aiming for 75 F, Why ?

1. 81F (27.22C)

2. The reason I am not aiming for 75F (23.88C) is because I am trying to match the same conditions the corals lived in the ocean when they were harvested both the temperature and the water.

For me this makes since - though with many of us choosing to keep mixed reef tanks with corals & fish from several latitudes and seas, it does present a compromise, for me, this is where experience plays a part, my tanks have run 81F for years & the corals & fish I am keeping are thriving.

This is not to say what is best, as that I don't even attempt to offer an opinion on that because I don't know, just sharing what has worked for me, in hope it helps someone, I readily acknowledge I don't know how my corals and fish would do at other temperatures, as I don't have that experience to share.

Good thread see what others think...

http://www.ronshimek.com/salinity_temperature.html

 

[Overlook Reef]

79 degrees for me.

Great article nanoreefing4fun!

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

Randy Holmes Farley - Conclusion
All things considered, those natural guidelines leave a fairly wide range of acceptable temperatures. I keep my aquarium at about 80-81° F year-round

------------------

S. RANDY HOLMES-FARLEY - Reef Chemist
Arlington, Massachusetts

EDUCATION

1982-1986 Harvard University Cambridge, MA
PhD in Chemistry
Research Advisor: George Whitesides

Investigated the relationship between polymer surface chemistry and physical properties through controlled surface modification and testing.

1980-1982 Cornell University Ithaca, NY
BA in Chemistry and Biology
Graduated Summa Cum Laude
Distinction in All Subjects
Grade Point: 3.94/4.0
Honors research: isolation and characterization of the epsilon subunit of CF1 enzyme

1978-1979 Stanford University Palo Alto, CA
Grade Point: 3.55/4.0

EXPERIENCE

1992 - present Genzyme Drug Disvcovery and Development Waltham, MA
(bought out GelTex Pharmaceuticals in 2001)
Vice President and Distinguished Scientific Fellow 2006-present
Vice President, Chemical Research 2001-2006
Senior Director, Chemical Research 1999-2001
Director of Chemical Research 1997-1999
Manager of Chemical Research 1995-1997
Group Leader 1994-1995
Senior Research Scientist 1992-1994

Helped start GelTex as second employee
Managed various research programs with multi-million dollar budgets
Supervised research chemists (17+)
Co-inventor of several polymeric pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical candidates including Sevelamer Hydrochloride (FDA approved) and Colesevelam Hydrochloride (FDA approved)
Company Safety Officer for 3 years
Chemical Hygiene Officer 2000-present


1990-1992 GTE Corporation Waltham, MA
Senior Member of Technical Staff
Applied research involving polymer interfaces
Metallization of plastics
Polymer/polymer adhesion
Optical coatings

1986-1990 Lord Corporation Cary, NC
Senior Research Scientist 1988-1990
Research Scientist 1986-1988
Basic and applied research on surface chemical bonding
Developed new adhesive compositions
Developed new sol-gel coatings for corrosion resistance

HONORS AND AWARDS

Amercian Chemical Society Team Innovation Award 2005
Industrial Innovations Award by Northeast Region of American Chemical Society (6/2001)
National Kidney Foundation of Northern California Honoree (5/2001)
American Chemical Society/Polymer Chemistry Division Industrial Sponsors Award (8/2000)
R&D 100 Award from R&D magazine (1999)
Sherwin Williams Award in applied polymer science (9/85)
IBM Predoctoral Fellowship in Polymer Science (1984-1985; 1985-1986)
Award for highest GPA in Chemistry Department (6/82)
Summa Cum Laude Honors in Chemistry (6/82)
Phi Lamda Epsilon (6/82)
Phi Beta Kappa (2/82)
Cornell University Dean's List (1981, 1982)
Harvard Book Club Award for highest GPA senior year (1978)
First Place in western NY ACS high school chemistry exam (1977)

 

[Danreef]

I keep my tanks at 78 with chillers. Before the chillers with fans controlled by a Reef Keeper lite. Variation 1 F (78-79).

 

[Oxylebius]

I keep my tank at 78-79 degrees - my chiller kicks in at 80 degrees.

If you know where your corals come from, then by all means try to set your temps to where they come from. Deep water corals will like the cooler waters of 75 degrees, lagoon corals can tolerate temps around 81-82 (and higher is some cases). Many corals start to bleach starting at 83 degrees, so be careful with any higher temps then this. The problem w/trying to set your tank temp where you think the coral is from is that you may not end up getting corals that come from the same area or same temps. Most corals will survive in temps that range from 75-82. Some corals will have sensitivity at the low range and others will have sensitivity at the high range, so finding that middle range of temps may work out for all corals involved.

 

[goma]

79-81 for me.

 

[Mark9]

79-81
I have a chiller, but the wife doesn't like the sound, so I've bumped the a/c down a bit and am trying not to use it.

 

[pablomay28]

79-81
I have a chiller, but the wife doesn't like the sound, so I've bumped the a/c down a bit and am trying not to use it.

Curious. What chiller are you using and is it outside the stand. Mine is a bit loud so i keep it in the stand and i dont hear it unless i open the stand

 

[jvelkgrove]

78-80 for me and tank is happy

 

[Lexinverts]

79-81 with my chiller, and my tanks are doing really well. 75 is too cold, in my opinion.

I run a 1/4 HP JBJ Arctica chiller in both of my tanks. They aren't too loud.

 

[Mark9]

Curious. What chiller are you using and is it outside the stand. Mine is a bit loud so i keep it in the stand and i dont hear it unless i open the stand

Its a Teco 1/8, in the stand.
Its actually quite quiet, but the wife is a bit sensitive to certain sounds.
I barely hear it, but that that may be due to being over 50 and hearing not so good.

 

[Lexinverts]

I keep mine in the stand, but I keep the door cracked for ventilation. I can hear it, but it's quieter than the stock RSM250 skimmer.

 

[Roy Page]

Thanks for all the responses.
So it seems to me that no one is trying to maintain 75 F as advised by the author of this manual.
Everyone is higher.

I am not sure what conclusion I should reach from this ?
Could be no specific reason other than someone said aim for about 79 F or something like that rather than a scientific decision .... lol

Well I turned my temp down and aiming now to run at 77 F and see what happens :dummy:
Roy

 

[salty23]

I don't have a chiller, if I did I'd aim to run it at 77-78F as well. However my tank usually sits at 80-81F, is that bad?

 

[jimv]

78-79 with a chiller. I was topping out at 84-85 on some days before the chiller and my coral were doing ok bit they seem much happier now.

Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk

 

[Jared410]

So it seems like my RSM C-130 is OK to be running at 79-80.5. We are thinking about getting into corals and was told 81 was to high but after reading this i think we will be OK for the ones we are looking at.

If i did want to get a chiller for a RSM C-130 is there anything i should look for, or would the money be better spent putting in LED lighting instead?

 

[Seagars]

77-79 chiller