Do you allow your reef tank to run COLDER during the winter months?

Do you allow your reef tank to run COLDER during the winter months?

  • Yes (please tell us what in the thread)

    Votes: 88 20.8%
  • NO

    Votes: 325 76.7%
  • Other (please explain)

    Votes: 11 2.6%

  • Total voters
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Nimitz87

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yes, I live in south Florida and the coldest it's been this year ( last week) the house got down to 68. my main 90 gallon w/ 2x gyre and black box lights + a fan hooked to t-stat didn't get under 76, I have no heaters. ambient temp in the house is normally 75-76. in the summer the tank will get up 78 before I have the fan kick on and it'll maintain 78.
 

saturn13

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Most of us live in places where the temperatures are considerably colder in the winter time. No matter what season it is though, the goal is to keep your water temp consistent year round. That being said it can be a bit more difficult to maintain warmer water in your reef aquarium depending on certain variables. I noticed yesterday that my tank temperature shot up beyond acceptable levels just because I raised the temp on the thermostat by 2 degrees! Let's talk about it!

Do you allow your reef tank to run COLDER during the winter months? How many degrees if any?

image via @sfgabe
ha_bali.png
I think that the cold seeping in simply runs down the temp, heaters in sump, i've up'd mine because i didn't like dropping below 74-75 or lower so now tank is constant at 77.5 when my woodstove is not running, when that's going I can get close to 80, up & down during the day, I have't noticed any bad effects from this, I think because it's gradual change.
 

Ashish Patel

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This is about where I'm at with it all too.
Wife has some thing with the temps in the house. All summer she likes to set temp at 80 in 110 degree weather. All winter its set at 70.
Constant battle here and not really sure why lol.
My reef stays around 76 but will drop to 73 degrees with 3x300 watts heaters.
In the summer its going to be different story this year as I need to figure out a way to exchange air.
Do have a chiller I haven't used yet but have a feeling ill be breaking it out this summer.

Nice, I thought i was the only one with these outrageous numbers. On my new setup with basement sump I plan on using no heaters for few months to see what the ambient room temperature is before making any heating decision. I will insulate all pipes and sump to save on heat so hoping I only need to heat few degrees. Back in the day my MH would bake my tank to 84degrees if my fan decided to stop working and did lose some corals in those swings. - i recall getting corals maybe in 60degree temp and they survived. When they arrive in heated water they where melting away. I think going of ones ambient temp is probably the safest and best temp i will stick with is 76-78degree.
 

ReeferMaddne$$

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My tank is in a stuffy room on the 2nd floor of my house in texas. For the past decade, I only ran heaters in the winter months and I would purchase a new one every season. Even then, I didnt really needed the heater as my tank rarely dropped below 76 for years. With my elderly mother in the house now, we run the heat more in the cold months for her and it has actually been a problem for me because the temp got to 82 a few weeks ago due to the ambient heat in the room.

I now crack the windows to the tank room during the cold months to help keep the room from overheating and I added an IM Helio PTC heat system to my tank to help keep it from ever dropping. I will eventually have to add a chiller.
 

MightyMO

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Am currently at 5 degrees below my set point on my new piece of crap I bought a couple months ago... So today I pulled the trigger on an inkbird and 2 600 watt titanium heater package comno from @Bulk Reef Supply ... I thought about getting the IM Helios package deal, but, I'm getting more bang for my buck out of the brs deal... And it is really cold in my basement right now here in Missouri, so I need that heater with the quickness!!!
 

mattdg

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Yes. I use ink bird controllers for the heaters, like many here, with in line Auto Aqua smart temp security . The inkbirds have a built in 1 degree swing up and down, so my tanks are varying by 1 degree all day long. I typically lower the controllers by 1 degree in the cold months, with no perceived issues. I have this somewhat shared theory that the 1 degree daily swing and one degree temp variations in the cold/hot season have made for more resilient coral in my systems, especially the more sensitive SPS. When I was regulating the temperature within .1 degree, which I used to strive for, I'd experience regular RTN if the temp varied too far on occasion, meaning up or down 1.5 in hot/cold months. I have not experienced the same setbacks, since allowing the swing. Perhaps the coral have adapted and become a bit more resilient, or it is the fact that I am just making better over all decisions as I progress in the hobby? Can't say for certain. All said, I don't see a problem lowering / raising temp in the hot / cold months, so long as your coral are not accustomed to a narrow temp variance.
 

Paul B

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My fish have to live with me, I don't live with them so they live at the same temperature I do. About 78 degrees. :cool:
 

mucky1957

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Here in Manchester (UK) the winters can get very cold. Just this morning I came downstairs to see the hall temp was as low as 12.6c..but my tank was holding steady at 25c. It just means the heater is on for far longer. In the summer even if the temp outside tops 30c and it doesn't happen often my tank is far enough away from the windows for it never to go much about 26/27c and even then its only for a few hours at a time.
 

12pack

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I am in NY, I keep my house at 65 degrees in winter.
I have a 400 gallon tank and sump is in the basement, Basement has no real heat except for Oil Burner.
I put 2" ridgid foam insulation under sump and on all 4 sides. Haven't cut one for the top yet. Oh and i put 2" ridgid foam under the tank on all sides of the finished wood stand
I have 2 300w titanium heaters and they keep the tank at about 75-76 degrees. I only have fish and a couple softies at the moment. (started tank in August).

Everything is just fine
 

ReeferLou

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With the cold snap this year in Michigan I was wondering how much swing would be OK. Here is my daily swing graph. House heat goes to about 68 at night and tank shows a drop too. Not sure if this is causing issues. 76.66 to 78.8 so over 2 degrees.

1612997407840.png
 

Doctorgori

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I went for years without heaters ...I figure my home doesn’t go below 70F so why bother.
It’s been just recently that I’ve given it to the status quo and heated to 78f ... another tank of mine has no heater and averages 71-72f without issue,,,

iIMHO if any single piece of equipment is gonna kill your fish its a heater
 

Alistairn1

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Most of us live in places where the temperatures are considerably colder in the winter time. No matter what season it is though, the goal is to keep your water temp consistent year round. That being said it can be a bit more difficult to maintain warmer water in your reef aquarium depending on certain variables. I noticed yesterday that my tank temperature shot up beyond acceptable levels just because I raised the temp on the thermostat by 2 degrees! Let's talk about it!

Do you allow your reef tank to run COLDER during the winter months? How many degrees if any?

image via @sfgabe
ha_bali.png
Living in the UK it’s hard enough keeping up at 25•c let alone dropping temps for winter !
 

HD_Reefer

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Most of us live in places where the temperatures are considerably colder in the winter time. No matter what season it is though, the goal is to keep your water temp consistent year round. That being said it can be a bit more difficult to maintain warmer water in your reef aquarium depending on certain variables. I noticed yesterday that my tank temperature shot up beyond acceptable levels just because I raised the temp on the thermostat by 2 degrees! Let's talk about it!

Do you allow your reef tank to run COLDER during the winter months? How many degrees if any?

image via @sfgabe
ha_bali.png
Nope, consistent year round. The wife keeps the house freezing all year, so all I have to do in the winter is put more clothes on!
 

Cory

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I run heaterless because i dont trust them. So in the winter my tank runs at 77f and i keep my house at 76f, and in the summer it gets to 86f in direct window sunlight!
 

SteveMM62Reef

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My Tank is in the Basement, it runs at 80 F during the Summer, if it goes above that a fan kicks on. In the Winter 78 F, I like that temperature better, as less nuisance algae. BTW, during the Winter I double sided tape this Reflective Bubble Wrap on the Back and Bottom of my Tank and on the Sump Sides to help the heater out.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

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