How cold is too cold?

Michael43 · Sep 17, 2016

my tank is sps dominant and doing very well. My temp cycle right now is 75-76. I was thinking of lowering it a degree or so if everyone thinks it will be ok. It seems all the different fish I have accumulated are either deep water or cooler temp fish and I'd like to keep them happy and long lived. Is 74 at some points of the day too cold?

Sabellafella · Sep 17, 2016

I dont think it would be a big deal, just try not to go lower then that if you could.

Michael43 · Sep 17, 2016

I don't necessarily need to lower it. Just curious

Tahoe61 · Sep 17, 2016

Personally I would shoot for 76-78 and use a heater.

A respected vendor once told me that cooler temps are fine but it's slows down the coral's metabolism, so if you want optimal growth I would try to stay within that range. See link below for NSW parameters.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

Some sps might not do as well a cooler temps since sps come from vastly different geographical locations.