Long-term effects of a temp drop?

[d3rryc]

Hey, there!

I woke up this morning to discover that my Mag9 return pump had seized up in the middle of the night. Like most folks, my heater is in my sump, so no return pump = no heat. The tank was 73 degrees when I found it, and I've temporarily moved the heater up into the main tank until I get the Mag9 cleaned up and running again. My koralias are moving the surface around just fine, so I'm not worried about gas exchange.

Given that the tank temp normally swings between 78 and 81, do I need to worry too much about a short-term drop of 5 degrees?

[brewercm]

I had a controller on my chiller lock up once with both plugs (heater and chiller) in the on position constantly. Needless to say on a 1/3 hp chiller with two 200 watt heaters running the chiller won the battle. I woke up to a tank that had condensation on the outside and the temp was down to 56 to 58 degrees depending on which thermometer was more accurate.

Slowly bring the temp back up to normal over the day and you should be fine. At 72 you really aren't in too bad of shape. I only had one casualty on that deal and it was my maroon clown.

[Bill S]

You should be fine with the low 70s and the short period.

[marshall.read]

the slow drop down to 73 should not cause much problems, i wouldn't do anything immediate or drastic to raise the temp, i would just resolve your pump problem and let it return to normal temperature on its own.

[d3rryc]

A quick update on this. Putting the heater into the main tank yesterday raised the temp up to about 76 over the course of a couple of hours. I got the return pump cleaned up and reinstalled, then moved the heater back to the sump. As of this morning, things are back to normal, and my livestock seems no worse for wear.

Thanks for the reassurances, everyone!

[marshall.read]

glad to hear it all worked out for you. my experiance with temperature changes is that if it gradually goes from 'normal' to anywhere above 70 and below 86 all you need to do is 1: not panic and 2: gradually get it back to where the temperature is stable. as long as the temperature is stable then most livestock will survive indefinately at temps between 72 and 85. the shock of quickly adjusting the temperature back to 'normal' will almost certainly make your situation worse.