?Temperature Help?

[sotsreef]

Hey I was wondering what temperature everyone runs their system at. The preset heater I got is hovering around 76.8-77 degrees F. The room temp is between 68-70 degrees depending on when the heater is on and off. Most people online say that after 6months the heater goes from preset of 78 down to 76.5-77. Since I got it used from another hobbyist that’s probably the case. Is this an issue, if so should I buy another heater like an Eheim? Thanks John.

 

[dball711]

Personally I think that temp is fine, I run my tanks at 77.5.

 

[urbanknight]

It can also depend on the animals you keep.  Like Dave, I keep mine from 77.5-78 Range. In Ronald Shimek's Aquarium Frontier's On-Line Magazine article What are Natural Reef Salinities and Temperatures...Really...and Does It Matter?, he makes the point that the corals you have in your tank come from many different ocean water temperatures ranging from 72 degrees up to about 92 degrees. He states that "Maintaining a tank in the upper 70 degree Fahrenheit (24 to 26 degrees Celsius) range will stress any reef inhabitants from the central Indo-Pacific, as it is too cold. And, because this is near the upper limits for subtropical organisms, it will stress them as well. It would be better for all concerned if aquarists concentrated their efforts on maintaining separate systems for organisms from geographically disparate areas." Knowing what kind of animals you have and where they come from play an important part in deciding what is the best tank temperature for your aquarium.

 

[bhodges82]

I would think you could at least have a backup heater in case of heater failure to turn on. Used equipment tends to fail, in my opinion it’s good to failsafe a system.

 

[bcavalli]

Personally I like to keep my temp at 79.0 during the winter and 78.0 during the summer.  I found it gives me a little time to correct an issue if something goes wrong with heaters or the house gets too hot in the summertime.

 

[camellia]

Your temps are ok imho. If you critters are happier a little warmer, you can bumb it up. I run mine at 77.5 - 78.5 using Apex.

Eheim is a good brand heater, yes it’s important. If yours is an unreliable older brand, I’d replace it. You can use the old one as a back up.