how cold is your tank getting ?

[Gseclipse02]

in the morning mine normally runs about 78-79 right now im at 74 i think i might put in a heater in the tank if this cold weather keeps up

[Europhyllia]

First off: LOL at the 'cold' weather.

I have a heater but I think 74 is still acceptable. Mine tends to go from 80 during the day down to 77 at night.

[Gseclipse02]

First off: LOL at the 'cold' weather.

I have a heater but I think 74 is still acceptable. Mine tends to go from 80 during the day down to 77 at night.


thats about normally what my water does with normal weather lol


last winter i had MH's and never had to worry about a heater (the light put off so much heat) but now i have t5's and i don't have a heat issue ... hmmm

[Beverly]

Ditto on the cold weather!!! :)

Mine was at 74 this morning as well and I did put the heater in the tank just to keep the swing minimal. It goes up to about 78 in the afternoon when all the equipment turns on.

[Paul28]

79 to 81 always :) i use http://www.marinedepot.com/Aqua_Logic_Digital_Temperature_Controller_Dual_Sta ge_Temperature_Controllers_for_Saltwater_Aquariums-Aqua_Logic-AL1711-FITETC-AL1713-vi.html with 2 heaters on 1 end and fans in sump on other works great i could probley get it down to temp never moving at all

[txav8r]

Fans and heaters. 78 to 81.5.

It was 78.3 at 8 this morning.

[Big_Pun]

open top, sump is also open i havent skinned my stand, i run a halide, and a 96w pc on sump. lately during the day it gets up to 79, and 73 at night

[z28pwr]

Mine got down to 80 this morning causing my fans to actually turn off for the first time since I installed them.

[Jarob]

Mine got down to 76 yesterday and i didnt really like that

[corruption]

73-74 is too low for tropicals to swing -- you should have enough heating to keep that within 2-3 degrees max per day... This heavy of a temperature shift is real rough on tank inhabitants -- 5-6 degrees should be beyond the preferred maximum.

None of my tanks have gone below 77.5 yet -- my 5 gallon cichlid tank included :)

-Corruption

[ErikH]

My heaters were not heating the water enough and I was getting down to 74. I bumped them up a few degrees to help compensate. I still keep my fans on during the day, I am hoping that the evaporation rate will slow down a touch.

Keeping your parameters stable, with little to no swing on anything, is what you should strive for.

[Big_Pun]

I need to work on that see what happens when I skin the stand

[corruption]

Aren't you supposed to be hunting, Chris?

-Justin

[dmweise]

I keep a heater in mine. The tank stays about 78 with only a ±2 swing.

[corydrysdale]

Apparently, this has been my biggest hurtle in dealing with saltwater. Most times my tank falls around 78. BUT, thats with the air conditioning set to 73 in my house. Now that the cooler weather is here, no A/C and the tank wants to run hot. I picked up a used Chiller and set it to 77 and allow a 2 degree difference. I had a 200 watt heater (all this on a 120 gallon +30 Gallon sump) which didnt seem to ever shut off. A closer inspection showed water inside the heater so i guess it's kaput. I was told by a couple people that my water temp had too much of a drastic change from morning to night. More then 5-6 degrees and that was one of the main reasons I cant keep LPS. Most of them tend to turn brown or bleach and become a very expensive clump of hard calcium.

I need more heating in my tank to actually heat 150 gallons so thats my next purchase.

But if there is anyone who can confirm the temp difference let me know.
Ive put up a couple of pictures showing whats happening in my tank.
My setup.
coralife 72 inch 150 MH with 4 96W pc's all actinic
Ph=8.2
Nitrites =undetectable
Nitrates=10
Amonia=0
Phosphates=0
Calcium= 300...trying to get it up, slacked off adding at top offs for a few weeks since it was over 900
Magnesium=1100...adding Tech M to get this up

Again water temperature was fluctuating 5+- degrees.

[corruption]

I'd say temperature swings that big are definitely going to be a problem -- look into Hydor Theo heaters or one of the many titanium-body heaters -- both are quality.. I like the Hydor line, the glass is both shatter resistant, its submersible, and they have a waterline detection protection built in -- detects if the water level goes too low to run and shuts off..

If you recently had accurate calcium readings in the 900 range, I wouldn't dose anything at least for a few weeks -- keep up on water changes, do a few in the 15-20 gal range and it should come back into balance pretty quickly.. that should help things look up quite a bit :)

-Corruption

[Big_Pun]

Aren't you supposed to be hunting, Chris?

-Justin

Ian I get signal out here, plus have a nice setup, electricty sat tv running water like I never left home

[Europhyllia]

73-74 is too low for tropicals to swing

-Corruption
Justin do you say this because of the swing or because of the temp?

[fs40reef]

78 in the morning, 80 rest of the day.

[corruption]

Karin -- both... the temp is in a range that won't likely cause long term damage, but is far from optimal... the hard swing is the biggest issue, but the cold snap could certainly be enough for detriment as well..

-Corruption

[Europhyllia]

That's interesting since I figured you'd be a big Bob Fenner fan. ;)
The Conscientious Aquarist says:
Most tropical systems and organisms do best between 74 and 80 degrees F, optimally around 75 degrees for most. The real key in terms of temperature is stability.

Based on that to me the 74 degrees would have looked pretty good (without the swing). I am keeping mine 77-80 mostly because I know I wouldn't be able to keep it below 77 consistently

[corruption]

But -- the book is written as a very generalist summary.... its dependent on the fish we keep, and the vast majority of marine species available are used to warmer temperatures... that also encompasses 'cold water tropicals' in Bob's statement -- things like the Catalina Goby :)

Like I stated as well -- the key IS stability... keeping swings within a point or 2 per day is prime, if you can balance this, then most else is simple :)

-Justin

[corruption]

Another thing that Bob will readily state is that the book was written many moons ago, and things have changed since even it was written -- based on my time on WWM, his recommendation tends to hover in the 76-80 range depending on species for marines.. :)

-Corruption

[Europhyllia]

based on my time on WWM, his recommendation tends to hover in the 76-80 range depending on species for marines.. :)

-Corruption

Excellent. I am right there then - maybe I'll add a heater to the fuge for a smaller swing :)

[jlh81]

yeah that much of a drop is too much mine was going from 74 at night to 78 durring the day so i put a heater in about 76 seems to be working great