Summer tank temps how high??????????

[drywallguy29]

Alright let me throw this out there and see what we get.I purchased a used set up 3 months ago(72/24/20 120glns) love the look. However I have quite a few upgrades to make stand canopy circulation chiller I have metal halides for this set up but do not use them because of heat issues. Currently the tank is very lightly stocked by choice, the animals I have came with the setup.To my point, as you can see I live in Phoenix therefore the ac is running for the summer(78*) even with that my tank runs in the 81.5-84 dgr range how many of you keep consistant temps in this range anyone? Truthfully the animals are happy, a lot better than the previous owner. From my observations it seems to be the temp swings that are the most devistating not neccesarily being on the higher end of the temp scale. I say this from experience having my first tank in Colorado through the summer with no ac and 90* days big swings 3-4 degrees. I would love lots of personal input.
Thanks

 

[Len]

84 is about the highest I'd want to keep my tank, but things do fine with this temperature. A lot of natural reefs mid 80's now, but IMO it's better to run captive reefs in the high 70's to low 80's. If you can keep it about 82, you're in good shape. 3-4 degree shifts is okay, but less obviously is better Yep, I agree temp swings are more of a stressor then high, consistent temps.

 

[drywallguy29]

I have seen so much in the news lately about coral bleaching I just wondered. So you think 84 the high end?I shoot for 81 as a norm but summers are brutal.

 

[Len]

IME, 84-85 is at the limit of what I'd want for my tanks, with 81-82 being ideal. Sadly, bleaching happens a lot nowadays in the wild due to dramatic temp spikes in the ocean.

 

[down&dirty]

Mine just peaked at 92, and now I have 75 gallons of reef gumbo. Anyone hungry?

 

[ChrisRD]

Sorry to hear that...

 

[Blazin__]

my tank hit 87 the other day... it had cooled off and everyting seems to be ok.. so far... the corals looked stressed for a bit and i lost a few snails that i thought were about to die anyways . but no serious losses. after that day i went and invested in a central air

 

[iphy]

In my previous house I had not A/C, and the summers have been having weeks of above 90 Faranheit temperatures of late. The house was terribly situation with regards to sun and shade, so when it was 90 outside it was often closer to 100 inside. But this is "northern" California so at night it would often swing down into the mid 70s outside; and we'd have the windows open trying to cool off. So, the delta on the temperatures in the house was about 20 degrees or so.

My tank was a 55 gallon (long) and the temperatures in there were getting up into the high 80s. I put a heater in to keep the water from getting below 82 during the nights (oh, the irony of heating my tank due to the heat) on the theory that a lot of temperature variation was worse than the high temperatures. I also stuck to mostly to hardy, forgiving, soft corals. Basically, knowing my tank conditions would not be ideal, I stuck to "beginner" stuff.

I noticed I lost button polyps and a fair number of mushrooms. A lot of the rest kept themselves a lot more reserved and small than their usual selves. However, a plate coral (fungia), the long-tentacle leather (a gift), some sand polyps, red mushrooms, a candy cane (another gift) and some other random hitch-hiker stuff pulled through.

On the other hand, those little white hitch-hiker seastars went crazy. They really loved the heat and they were reproducing through fission quite enthusiastically. Also, the 'pods in my refugium seemed to dig on the heat and I had great hoards of them swarming around, much to my mandarin dragonettes pleasure. And, several of my macroalgaes seemed happy enough -- I was pulling out a double handful of plants every week.

 

[Paradoxed]

I take 1 liter and 2 liter plastic coke bottles, fill them with water and keep them in the freezer for just this occasion, when temp starts to get too high.

I put a couple of these in my sump

 

[Mouse51180]

I had the same issue with temp. I had my apt at like 65-70 degrees and couldnt ever get my tank below the 84 degree mark at the very lowest.

I tried everything...putting ice in the sump, looked into purchasing fans, looked into buying coolers...dropped the temp in the apt....couldnt get anything to work.

Turns out it was my glass tops that were covering the top of my tank. They were causing a greenhouse effect in my tank. As soon as I took the tops off and left them off for about 24 hours my tanks temp dropped to 78-80 degrees now.

If you have any type of cover ontop of your aquarium...you might try taking that off for a day or two and see if that helps.

 

[Anonymous]

I take 1 liter and 2 liter plastic coke bottles, fill them with water and keep them in the freezer for just this occasion, when temp starts to get too high.

I put a couple of these in my sump

Yep, I have done the same thing. Great just to have on hand too even if your tank temp tends to be stable, just because you never know when the power can cut out or your AC goes on the fritz.

 

[SpicyBalls]

had the same problem with my tank recently hitting 86.. i took my personal desk fan from work home and now the temp is back near 82.. i just need to add more water more frequently but i'd rather do that than fry the fish or invest in a chiller at this moment.... no money.. i've read that even though 84-86 is high, corals can flourish in this temp... however, with high growth comes higher maintenance to ensure that all key ingredients are quickly replaced as they are depleted by the corals.. i have to find the article but i believe it was by randy holmes-farley
_________________
global warming

 

[Anonymous]

I take 1 liter and 2 liter plastic coke bottles, fill them with water and keep them in the freezer for just this occasion, when temp starts to get too high.

I put a couple of these in my sump

Yep, I have done the same thing. Great just to have on hand too even if your tank temp tends to be stable, just because you never know when the power can cut out or your AC goes on the fritz.

That is a great idea! :idea: Thanks for the tip!
~wings~

 

[Dubge]

My tank goes from about 79 deg to 82-83 deg when the lights go out. It did go up to 86 a couple times when my AC was acting up and not turning on while I was at work, I was lucky and had no problems! I am running 2x400 MHs and 2x 110 VHOs in a canopy with a 2" gap along the back of my 75G I also have an 8 inch fan I got at walmart in the canopy that has fallen into the tank 2X and is still kicking