Advice Needed On Raising Tank Temperature

aarbutina · Jan 25, 2021

So, long story short.... while in the process of grabbing my algae clip yesterday afternoon, I thought to myself geez this water feels a little cooler that I would think it should given the 78 degrees that my probe on my Apex is reading. So I grabbed my calibrated thermometer and stuck it in the water and I come to find the Apex probe is way out of calibration and the water is actually at 73.5 degrees. Not wanting to believe that I grab a coralife thermometer and find it is also reading around the same temperature. What do I do then... grab a meat thermometer.. same thing. So now I am pretty sure my temperature is slightly below the lower end of the recommended range.

Now that I have re calibrated my Apex probe I am wondering how gradually I should start to bring my temperature back up?

I am also starting to wondering if this lower temperature could have been playing some part into the recent SPS mortalities that I have been experiencing and just the general slow growth that I have been experiencing in other SPS. Does any one have any experience with this?

HB AL · Jan 25, 2021

My tank deviates a couple degrees a day especially in the warmer months, with no ill effects to any corals or fish. Temps on coral reefs can change suddenly with the right strong currents or upwelling 5 degrees or more. So if you raise it a degree or 2 a day you will be fine.

lemonade · Jan 26, 2021

73 is definitely a bit low, and border lining where you might see some negative effects or TN on some acros. I lost a bunch of frags when my heater went out and tank got down to around 70. I plugged a new heater in and let the water come back up to 78-79 in a day. Like stated above, upwellings and thermoclines can drastically change temps on a reef with just the change of tide.

OnPointCorals · Jan 27, 2021

Curious is your tank full of coral? I assume if it gradually dropped over a long period of time they could have adjusted.

The advice Of raising it slowly over time would be sound. I would think you would want to raise pretty slowly over a week or so.