Will my corals be OK with this?

[cr500_af]

First, the corals: mostly softies, with a trachyphyllia brain, a green slimer frag, a couple of digi frags. Other than fish I'm thinking of my RBTA also.

I'm leaving town tomorrow. Even though my house is kept at 78F, when I got home today the tank was 82.9. I run 4x54w T5s, 2 actinic and two 10K. Tank (90g) is open top, as is sump.

I wouldn't have thought heat would be a problem, but apparently it is. I was thinking of running only the actinics while I'm gone (tomorrow evening until Wednesday night). Would that be OK?

My other option is to reduce the photoperiod a bunch, but I'm not too confident about the temp staying down.

Obviously I have to act on something tonight (since I'm leaving from work tomorrow).

What's the feeling on this?

 

[tgray3]

While your gone you might want to place a box or floor fan in front or to the side of the tank. Make sure you clean all the lint off it..lol. You could run it on the same timer as your lights. Might help

 

[sailfish]

You can also turn you house AC down but a fan of some sort blowing across the top is your best bet.

Joe

 

[cr500_af]

I'll see if I can figure out a way to get a fan that high (I don't have a clip-on type and I'm kinda out of time).

So, not counting the fan, is actinic only for a few days a problem?

I have already figured out through trial and error that if I the temp gets about 81 and I turn off the whites, the temp starts dropping.

I'd go ahead and raise the white fixture higher, but I'd have to make something to do it (the tank trim is too wide for the legs to fit over, so the fixtures are right on top).

 

[tgray3]

I was thinking something like this:

 

[cr500_af]

tgray3;341379 wrote: I was thinking something like this:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5893256">http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5893256</a>[/QUOTE]

I actually have one of those, but it won't get high enough to get above tank level. I can put in on a small table or something. Good idea.

 

[tgray3]

Sorry, hit submit too soon:

I would think the actinic lights for that long would be OK. The coral is in complete darkness for a couple days when ordered, But i will defer to someone with more experience than me on that.

 

[coolsurf]

IMO, A temp of 82.9 should not hurt anything. The fluctuation is what you really need to be concerned about. As already mentioned, a fan is your best option, I don't think actinics only for 3 days will allow anything to die off but when you return you will need to get the fan running.

 

[bobz]

I've run with lights out for a few days at a time to knock down nuisance algaes so I think you would be fine with running just your actinic lights while you are gone.

 

[dakota9]

Well, IMO, that RBTA might go wandering looking for light while you're gone, and might burn a few corals. I think you should run to wally world and buy a clip on fan or two. Oh, and BTW, my nano recently got up to 87 when I neglected to turn on the fan when I left for work. 82 aint nothing (OOHH OOHH Double Negative Police intervention needed!) to really sweat......

Have a great trip.

 

[cr500_af]

OK, thanks everybody. I'm going to reduce the photoperiod on the whites, and put a fan on the same timer as the actinics so it runs longer.