Reef Tank Temperatures

[phisher]

Like most people in our area, my tank runs hot in the summer. My current set up uses 24hr temp monitoring equipped with an alarm to warn me if I get above a predetermined temp. To my surprise, I was seeing temps of 83.5-84 degrees and I have good ventilation and T5 lighting. Doing some research I came across the following article.

http://www.ronshimek.com/salinity_temperature.html

Very enlightening information I just wanted to share with everyone. Studies seem to show most corals need temps in the 80-84 range for ideal growth and health. Temperatures I have personally maintained in the past (75-76 degrees) dramatically slow metabolic rates in corals to the point that they can't fight off disease or process food much less grow and thrive (see article).

I can personally see the difference in my current crop of frags (other parameters contribute as well), the new growth and coloration is amazing. Frags I received freshly cut and mounted less than 3 weeks ago are already encrusting and sprouting new growth.

[C-21 USAF]

Personally I split the difference and keep mine about 80 degrees...

[Archie]

Temperatures I have personally maintained in the past (75-76 degrees) dramatically slow metabolic rates in corals to the point that they can't fight off disease or process food much less grow and thrive (see article).

how are you able to ascertain this?????

[guitarest]

I don't have coral but my tanks are right at 76 degrees due to the AC in the house. When it gets near 80 the tank starts to fog and my chemical levels spike due to the temperature in the tank.

[phisher]

Temperatures I have personally maintained in the past (75-76 degrees) dramatically slow metabolic rates in corals to the point that they can't fight off disease or process food much less grow and thrive (see article).

how are you able to ascertain this?????

I don't have a way to ascertain this, I am paraphrasing from the article...

"if a given coral species has a temperature optimum of 84 ° F, but can tolerate temperatures from 75 ° F to 93 ° F, that species will spread through out the contiguous environment to occupy all survivable habitats within that temperature range. It is worth remembering that organisms near the edges of their distributional ranges are generally stressed and the conditions near the edges of distributions are not going to be even near to optimal. Instead, near the edges of their species' range organisms generally just “hanging on.” These sorts of conditions are not what you want to use in trying to keep organism in the best of health. In contrast to the lack of growth and reproduction at the edges of the distribution, in the center of the range there is a surplus of energy. Because they are not counteracting the problems of low or high temperatures, the organisms in these areas can expend more energy in other biological processes such as competition, defense, and reproduction.


In fact, most organisms will die if maintained for extended periods under conditions that constrain their metabolic rate to one half of normal. Even metabolic rate reductions to about 75% of optimal may cause significant problems or death (Withers, 1992). A reduction of this magnitude will be caused by keeping an animal with an optimum of about 82 ° F at a temperature of about 77 ° F.

The most rapid growth of most corals is generally around 27°C to 29°C (80.6°F to 84.2°F) (Barnes et al., 1995; Clausen and Roth, 1975; Weber and White 1976; Coles and Jokiel, 1977, 1978; Highsmith, 1979a, b; Highsmith, et al., 1983). Subtracting 10°C from this range gives a temperature range of 17°C to 19°C (62.6°F to 66.2°F). The lower temperature that is typically considered to be acceptable for coral reef formation is 20°C or 68°F, which is close to the value that would be expected by using the Q 10 value. In essence, the Q 10 value may be used to approximate the lower limit of most coral reef distributions; however, in reality relatively few coral species persist at temperatures much below 24°C (75.2°F). Certainly, there are coral reefs found at these cooler temperatures, but they contain a much reduced array of cold tolerant (for a coral reef) animals compared to warmer reefs."

[phisher]

Temperatures I have personally maintained in the past (75-76 degrees) dramatically slow metabolic rates in corals to the point that they can't fight off disease or process food much less grow and thrive (see article).

how are you able to ascertain this?????

I don't have a way to ascertain this, I am paraphrasing from the article...

"if a given coral species has a temperature optimum of 84 ° F, but can tolerate temperatures from 75 ° F to 93 ° F, that species will spread through out the contiguous environment to occupy all survivable habitats within that temperature range. It is worth remembering that organisms near the edges of their distributional ranges are generally stressed and the conditions near the edges of distributions are not going to be even near to optimal. Instead, near the edges of their species' range organisms generally just “hanging on.” These sorts of conditions are not what you want to use in trying to keep organism in the best of health. In contrast to the lack of growth and reproduction at the edges of the distribution, in the center of the range there is a surplus of energy. Because they are not counteracting the problems of low or high temperatures, the organisms in these areas can expend more energy in other biological processes such as competition, defense, and reproduction.


In fact, most organisms will die if maintained for extended periods under conditions that constrain their metabolic rate to one half of normal. Even metabolic rate reductions to about 75% of optimal may cause significant problems or death (Withers, 1992). A reduction of this magnitude will be caused by keeping an animal with an optimum of about 82 ° F at a temperature of about 77 ° F.

The most rapid growth of most corals is generally around 27°C to 29°C (80.6°F to 84.2°F) (Barnes et al., 1995; Clausen and Roth, 1975; Weber and White 1976; Coles and Jokiel, 1977, 1978; Highsmith, 1979a, b; Highsmith, et al., 1983). Subtracting 10°C from this range gives a temperature range of 17°C to 19°C (62.6°F to 66.2°F). The lower temperature that is typically considered to be acceptable for coral reef formation is 20°C or 68°F, which is close to the value that would be expected by using the Q 10 value. In essence, the Q 10 value may be used to approximate the lower limit of most coral reef distributions; however, in reality relatively few coral species persist at temperatures much below 24°C (75.2°F). Certainly, there are coral reefs found at these cooler temperatures, but they contain a much reduced array of cold tolerant (for a coral reef) animals compared to warmer reefs."

...sources are well sited and Dr. Shimek is pretty well accepted as a credible expert in the field.

[Gerwin]

I don't have coral but my tanks are right at 76 degrees due to the AC in the house. When it gets near 80 the tank starts to fog and my chemical levels spike due to the temperature in the tank.

in your case as a heavily loaded fish tank, that is to be expected.

[guitarest]

Hey now hold on a bit there Lil Buddy ( ); that was weeks ago. I am down to 3 Blues (going to new tank to try breeding them), all the molly's and guppies except for a few lucky ones ( read as fast and smarter than I am with a net) are in that 40gal tank you saw (with same level of salt in it), and croakers have been let go also except for a few lucky ones. The tank looks bare now, and the Saltwater Angels have decided to grow to take up the extra room..... lol

OBTW any idea how big these guys are going to get?

[phisher]

Those angels are what we call Spade Fish. People catch them off the pier at Ship Island pretty regularly. I've seen them roughly dinner plated sized but not sure where they max out.

[guitarest]

Those angels are what we call Spade Fish. People catch them off the pier at Ship Island pretty regularly. I've seen them roughly dinner plated sized but not sure where they max out.

Really oh crap............... I know I have a jack in my tank also who is going to get huge also.

Did a quick google and the difference between the Angel Fish and Spadefish is the Spade had 2 dorsal fins, my little ones have 2 fins also. Looks like I might have to move with all the tanks I have to buy with all these rescued baby but soon to be large fish...

Thank you