i got the chills!

[reefer]

I just picked up an arctica 200 1/4hp chiller brand new for $550! what made the deal even sweeter, was the $200 in store credit i used, which then ended in costing me $350 out of pocket! not bad for a $750 chiller!
thanks austin aquariums!
:cool:

[dan]

any more good deals like that?

[kaiser]

Joshua has a 1/4hp chiller for sale for $250

[reefer]

there is something about my reef tank that's completely different. i remember starting off with a 25gl saltwater tank with a fluval canister filter, and 8lb liverock round boulder with some cool coraline and a 18w bulb.......


but anyhow, since dropping the tempurature of my reef tank to 75'f, my reef eco has changed. the montiporas digitatas that i have in my tank actually extend their polyps to feed, the acro's are starting to regain some coloring in thier tips with feeder also! everything's got that vibe about it now!

8)

[Dyncaus]

What temperature is it best to keep reef tanks at? I have seen stuff that recommends 78-80 degrees and other stuff that says 75-78 degrees. I am just wondering, because without a heater my tank used to stay around 75-78 and now with my heater I keep it up at 80. Thanks

[adamRS80]

I think the range is from 75 to 86. I wouldn't think that a tank would improve by lowering the temp unless is was dangerously high. If I remember correctly Jim Norris's tank is around 85, and I think we'd all agree that his tank is doing well. Mine is about 83 and all is well.

[reefer]

In truth, that depends on where your corals are collected, and what your collection consists of also. tempurature on the great barrier reef has a season range 77 to 84'F, the red sea tempurature varies from 60 to 104'F. indonesia is also quite warm getting into the 100's as well since its located on the equatorial region, and hawaii where the water boils. tempurature is also a factor at how much trapped gases it can hold. warmer waters hold less dissolved oxygen than cooler waters, meaning fish might get stress at 80'F easier due to lower o2 levels and would have to breath harder, where at 75'F the water would hold 2x the amount of dissolved o2 it did at 80'F.
8)

[Dyncaus]

Very interesting reefer, gives me a lot to think about, as if there weren't enough decisions to make in reefkeeping. :confused:

[GaryP]

Reefer,

I don't think 2X is quite accurate. I have an O2 saturation curve somewhere. I will look it up. Temperature does make a difference in oxygen content. As does salinity. Fresh water has twice as much oxygen as salt water. That doesn't mean you need to go drop your salinity level to get a hight O2 saturation. I'll see if I can scan the O2 sat. curve from my reference books, or find it online, and post it here.

Gary

[Tim Marvin]

Reefer, you must have changed something else on the tank. A few degrees cooler is not likely to get better color and polyp extention. All my digi's, LPS, SPS, cap's and just corals in general are FUZZED out. They live in 78-84 degrees. There is usually a difference after feeding and after a water change.

[reefer]

tim, i know that for as long as they were in my 75, i had no polyp extentions except when they were first introduced into my tank. but then they retracted after a week or 2 and began to fade they were like that for months. they were in the same state when i set this tank up, then i connected up my chiller and everything opened up. the only thing that i can explian as a direct result is the chiller that dropped and stabilized the temp from 74-76. these stickon temp gauges aren't the most accurate either, there was a difference from what the chiller was reading versus the stick-on temp gauge reading. so maybe its the stable tempurature that has helped out more, but other than that, the only other change is the addition of another tunze turbelle powerhead.

gary, that was suppose to be 1.2x, my bad, thanks for pointing that out, i missed it before i hit submit. but still 02 saturation should be 95~110% at an average of 6.5 mg/l, at the current tank conditions , i think i'm at 7.3mg/l. looking for to seeing the graph.
8)

[Tim Marvin]

I wonder if the extra current from the turbelle did it? Do you want to try turning off the chiller for a week? Just to see if it really made the difference? Don't get me wrong, the chiller is a good thing, I am just surprised that it would make such a huge difference so fast. My tanks can swing from 78-84 in the same day and I still have good polyp extension surprisingly.