What's the best temperature - Is 84 too high?

[texman]

I keep my reef between 77 and 79 degrees(as per almost all the literature I have read and advice I have received). This requires my chiller to work overtime occasionally (4 X 400W halides + 4 X Iwaki 55 pumps + living in South Texas). The corals seem to be doing OK, but I recently stumbled into this article ( www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1997/nov/features/1/default.asp ) by Ron Shimek in which he states that it might be advisable to go as high as 84 degrees. I realize that the article is 5 years old, but I also understand that this author is well written and knowledgable(he may even be a memeber of this bulletin board). Please give me your thoughts on this, as I would be thrilled to allow my temp to climb into the low 80's.

 

[MattM]

We keep all of our tanks at 80-85 degrees. If you look carefully at the tables in the article you referenced you'll see that average reef temperatures around the world are in the low-mid 80's with some getting as warm as 87+. We start to see coral stress whwn the temp approaches 90. No coral reef anywhere gets much below 80.

I beleive the 75-78 recommedation you see in almost all older books, and too many recent ones, originated with the temperatures for keeping tropical freshwater fishes.

[ January 23, 2002: Message edited by: MattM ]</p>

 

[Super Len]

The coral reefs of South Japan (Okinawae) have beautiful stands of very colorful Acropora. Temps there are below 80, sometimes as low as 70.

 

[Super Len]

FWIW, I keep my tanks at 79-83, depending on the season. Anytime my tank exceeds 85, things noticably decline in health. Organisms in captiviy don't seem as tolerant as their wild cousins, presumbably because of all the other shortcomings of a closed system.

 

[MattM]

Or, more likely, they have become acclimatized to lower temperatures, so 85 is abnormal for them.

 

[Psyduck]

I keep my tanks between 75-79 if possible going as high as 82 in the summer. I dont like it getting much higher than that reguardless of what all these new articles say. You may want to try giving your chiller a break for a week or 2 and letting your temp go to 82. The best measure is the condition of your livestock and if they seem happy I say go with that.

 

[pez]

Genetically speaking, I don't think a short period in a closed aquarium will allow corals to become acclimatized to lower temps. Chances are the coral originated in a reef where the temps never reached the higher temps. Isn't anything over 83-85 abnormal for 90% of the world's reefs? At least for more than a few weeks in the summer?

-Tom

 

[MattM]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by pez:
<strong>...Isn't anything over 83-85 abnormal for 90% of the world's reefs? At least for more than a few weeks in the summer?...</strong><hr></blockquote>

Based on what I've read, I'd say yes.

But I would add: "anything under 80 is abnormal for 90% of the world's reefs, at least for more than a few weeks in the winter."

BTW, Leonard - I lived in Okinawa for 2-1/2 years and agree there is a healthy coral reef there. I don't recall or have acccess to the average water temp, but that's not the main point anyway. What you need to look at is the diversity of species. There is a strong direct corellation between number of coral species and water temperature. The number of species falls off rapidly with temp, and the most diverse sections of reef are in the mid-80 degree range. I don't claim that corals can't survive under 80 degrees, just that as a taxonomic order, they seem best suited to 80+ since that is the temperature range where the most species live.

[ January 25, 2002: Message edited by: MattM ]</p>

 

[texman]

Thanks guys. I am going to let my temp climb to 80/81 and see what happens. My chiller will breath a sigh of relief!