What is your Ideal Temperature?

[coral_hog]

I'm glad that you asked... Attached are pictures of my tank before I started keeping gigas clams, and you can pull up the thread Marcs 240 and Marcs 300 in the large tanks thread to see my complete setup as it is today. Each setup was and will continue to be run at 85 degrees. This has always been my practice and works best for my setup. I get great growth and color, so I am very comfortable with where it is.

But, to answer the question as to why I keep my tank so high, I would have to say that it is because two of the industry experts have stated that it is ok, and have stated that it is optimal for my setup.

I started keeping my tank at 85 after a conversation with the great "Bob Fenner" of wetwebmedia. Also, Danial Knop confirmed that the temperature was ok, and it is also stated in his book "Giant Clams" on page 159. He states the the optimal range is within 25 to 32 degrees Celcius for the gigas clam. In Fahrenheit, the range is from 77 to 89.6. Since the showpiece of my current tank is the gigas... 85 it is..

In looking at the pics posted, you will notice that I push the envelope.. you will see 3 yellow tangs, 6 purple tangs a naso and a sohal and other fish all living peacefully. I take the hobby seriously, and converse with the most knowledgeable before making any choices/changes that I would consider risky.

Also, in looking at the pictures I am posting with this thread, you will notice that only a few of the corals are still growing in my current tank. That is because I shifted from softies to monties and acro, to my craving of the day... giant clams, dendro and favia.... All of the other corals were traded in to Marine Fish in Marietta as my vision of what I wanted to keep changed. The purple tangs went to Nemo Fish... Thanks Aaron for finding them a good home.. I appreciate it.

In my current setup I only keep 5 fish, two false percs, a vlamingii, a sohal and a purple tang.

Anyway.. for everyone who showed concern.. thanks.. I appreciate it, but no worries... everything is calculated. Some of the security measures I have in place are temperature influenced timers that shut down internal pumps, half of the lighting system, and activation of fans if the chiller fails. On top of that the tank is in my basement so the temp is pretty stable without the use of the chiller.

NOTE: Pics to follow... the site is saying that I exceeded my allowable attachments.. Please see my other posts listed above for pics of my current tank.. I'll post the other pics once I figure out how to delete some of the pics from my saved profile.

 

[coral_hog]

Here are the links to my pics...
Still working on getting the other pics



http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=24097">http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=24097</a>
[IMG]http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=32179">http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=32179</a>

 

[ralph atl]

ares;381443 wrote:

are natural reefs really up in that range?

ever been to the tropics? The majority of all major tropic reefs are at 82-84. A lot of reefers keep there tank in that range, however, the lower temp "school of thought" says that keepng your tanks at the lower mid to high 70's keeps the metabalism rate of all organisms in check in a closed system like your tank. Oxegen depletion is also lower. It also is more forgiving when issues in temp arise. I don't think any school has any more proof than the other, however.

 

[coral_hog]

i lived in Jamaica for a year back in 2000... I spent countless hours on many reefs throughout the whole caribbean. In fact, my first reef was comprised of frags from many of them.

 

[chibils]

I keep mine at 82 because back when I had halides I couldn't keep the temp below 85. I couldn't afford a chiller, nor could I fit one under my tank, so I switched to T5s. Not only was it the best decision I've ever made for my tank, but I had to go buy more heaters to get my temp above 77. 82 just "feels" right ime.

 

[coral_hog]

This is a good read for anyone who doesn't mind investing the time...
I posted a response added by Eric Borneman below...

The Great Temperature Debate
http://www.reefs.org/library/article/reef_temperature.html">http://www.reefs.org/library/article/reef_temperature.html</a>

I was not following this thread, until I saw esteemed James post a summary which piqued my interest. I take it this had to do with the fabled "ideal" once again. Without having having the full thread, but knowing from experience what these things entail and some views of some of the participants, allow me to put forth my ecological/biological viewpoint, if I may.

I suspect Ron was stating the positive attributes and tolerance of animals to higher and varying temperatures. I think it amazing enough that in five years, hobbyists have gone from believing 76 was ideal to about 80. I personally run my tanks even higher - 84. But as James stated, no one has done any real measurements, to my knowledge. However, what good what it do? The assumption of this is that animals, collected from various locales, various depths, various reef zones, all have some ideal temperature. This is lunacy. Our animals are collected from areas where 76 and 90 can both be "ideal", so to speak.

Now, Ron's general view of increased metabolism and greater growth is biologically sound to a certain limit. There is an upper and lower limit, and it is based on an almost case by case basis. Furthermore, temperature interacts with a number of other variables, including irradiance, UV, nutrient loading, degrees of competition, etc. There is are many excellent studies discussing the interactions and effects of temperature on coral reefs and coral reef biota. I'd be happy to provide some to those interested.

Be all that as it may, coral reefs are one of the most temperature sensitive biomes on Earth. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to read headlines about increased sea surface temperatures and all the bleaching (which, btw, caused 75-90% mortality over many reefs last year, even in the "bleaching proof" Pacific reefs). The bleaching has been linked almost entirely to the warm waters which, fwiw, were in many cases significantly below what would be considered an upper thermal limit for others and in some cases lower than what we keep our quaria set. The thing is, corals live within a few degres C of their upper limits even under "ideal" conditions. This is long term, not short term. There are many which live in areas which are exposed to sometimes huge hourly or seasonal variances in T - the Gulf of Oman is especially studied in this regard. Some of the Red Sea areas get blasts of cold air that can chill exposed corals down to 50F and then later on, they are regularly bathed in 90F + water. There have been studies to examine this phenomena, and transplanted corals usually do not live. It appears that corals from these areas (and lagoons, tide pools, etc.) are specifically suited and tolerant of such temperatures. Same with some of the high latitude reefs where water temperatures get quite low. This should be obvious as the diversity of species in such areas is always less.

OK, that said, where does that leave us with our tanks? Once again, we don't know the location where animals were collected. Likely, most are coming from easy-to-collect areas where it is shallow and probably subject to some degree of temperature variation on a daily or hourly basis. Thus, our animals are probably quite suited to a variation in temps, all of which may be seen as the range of "ideal." Certainly we know that deep water animals will not be exposed to as much variation, and likely less upper thermal stress, although cool upwellings may make them more tolerant tolower thermal levels.

Our tanks are not ideal in many ways, and therefore pushing the upper limit is, imo, a little risky, given the interaction of variables. However, the repurcussions of keeping tansk at lower temps that are probably near the lower limits of collected animals, and also in terms of the productivity and reproduction of the community, is probably equally detrimental. I don't think 84 is pushing the upper limit for most reef corals, although 86-88 might be. Heliopora, otoh, will love it. In terms of those who see problems at 76 or 86, then address it. To say that a tank runs better at 82 v 80 or 82 v 84 is pretty much ridiculous. There is rarely, if ever, that kind of thermal stability anywhere and effects of 1C or less, if it exists, is probably being primarily caused by conditions other than temperature.

Anyway, that's my posturing, fwiw.

 

[schwaggs]

I run seasonal variable temps between 76 and 81. Its amazing how much faster everything grows (including algae) at the higher range...

 

[coral_hog]

I've never had a true algae bloom or outbreak.. but then again, I have a ten inch sandbed, I use ozone, I have a ton of cheato. Coraline algae grows fast, but that may be the affect of running two calcium reactors and a kalk reactor 24/7.

 

[coral_hog]

I agree with you.. As I stated in my previous posts... It was well debated, studied and slowly implemented.. many years later.. I still have no issues. I found that sweet spot.. It worked, and 7 years later, it still works for me.., lucky me! I never recommended, nor will I recommend that anyone elevate temps to save a buck or for whatever other reason. Each of us have different variables influencing our systems.. so what works for me might be a total disaster for the next person, and vice versa. Believe me, with the amount of money I have invested in my system..., I wouldn't make blind decisions.

 

[coral_hog]

Hopefully this works... the pics I couldn't post last night.
/Users/marcmadison/Desktop/untitled folder 2/IMG_7362.JPG/Users/marcmadison/Desktop/untitled folder 2/IMG_7326.JPG/Users/marcmadison/Desktop/untitled folder 2/IMG_0315.JPG/Users/marcmadison/Desktop/untitled folder 2/IMG_0245.JPG/Users/marcmadison/Desktop/untitled folder 2/IMG_0186.JPG

 

[jcusmarine]

78 degrees 24/7/365.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

 

[livingroomocean]

77.5 to 78 hasn't fallen outside this range since I have had the system up ...

 

[gregoryleonard]

I try to keep mine between 78-80,not always successful. the coralswilllet you know when things are getting too hot!:up:

 

[grouper therapy]

I keep mine at around 80-81 in the summer and may go to 82-84. Some say that is ill advised pushing the upper limits but I say taking the temp down to 76- 74 is ill advised to the lower limit in the winter.

 

[enderg60]

mine is running at 72-74 right now, and 80-82 in the summer and everything is doing great.

 

[elfloyd]

I love it when an old thread is resurrected... especially one of mine!

I got rid of my MH and installed LEDs last June. Now I am using the Apex Seasonal Table to control temperature. My temps range from a low of 75.0 on February 3rd to a high of 80.5 on August 2nd.

 

[phil47952]

Keep mine at 77, 78

 

[carpenter981]

mine hangs steady around 80

 

[sharkbait]

Try and keep mine as close to 80 as possible. The system tends to be at 80 +/- 1 though through the day.

 

[snowmansnow]

to stick with the OP question.. my IDEAL t3mp is 77. I generally RUN at about 79-80... But I like 77 more It MAY BE JUST ME, but I feel like I get better color, and less algae at a little cooler temp

b