Keeping corals at 72-75 degrees

[CaptainKiwi]

I am setting up a tank that will run slightly cooler and I aim to have a daily temp fluctuation of around 72-75 degrees. What corals would be happy living in these conditions? I am looking to go more soft and lps heavy, and I especially like the euphyllia and leather corals, but I would like a couple of sps as well.

Also, would it be ok to put macroalgea in the main display with them? Coming from freshwater, I really love the look of some of them!

 

[redfishbluefish]

I can't comment on LPS, but what I've seen is that soft corals can survive at the lower temperatures. I'd just tighten up your temperature variation a bit to keep them happy, say plus or minus a degree.

 

[Boehmtown]

I've kept, hammers, leoptoseris, toadstools, mushrooms, blastos, GSP, bubble corals, all at that temp. They did fine.

 

[Boehmtown]

They were small no heater tanks. I keep my house at 70. Pumps and lids kept the water more towards 72-74. I did my sps dominated tank (large tank) no heat for a while. Everything was fine but I chickened out

 

[CaptainKiwi]

I've kept, hammers, leoptoseris, toadstools, mushrooms, blastos, GSP, bubble corals, all at that temp. They did fine.

Sounds like all the corals I want to keep! I want to see if I can keep torches at the temp too, I will try both an Indo and Aussie species as I'm interested to see what will grow better at that temperature. Were you doing any special dosing with them as well?

 

[CaptainKiwi]

I can't comment on LPS, but what I've seen is that soft corals can survive at the lower temperatures. I'd just tighten up your temperature variation a bit to keep them happy, say plus or minus a degree.

so more like 72-74?

 

[Boehmtown]

Sounds like all the corals I want to keep! I want to see if I can keep torches at the temp too, I will try both an Indo and Aussie species as I'm interested to see what will grow better at that temperature. Were you doing any special dosing with them as well?

No. These were low light and flow tanks. So water changes were enough. My main tank I did it for 3 months with dosing. Was all fine. But I stopped when the winter started coming, because the main tank has some real money put into it and I wanted a little buffer in case the power went out

 

[CaptainKiwi]

No. These were low light and flow tanks. So water changes were enough. My main tank I did it for 3 months with dosing. Was all fine. But I stopped when the winter started coming, because the main tank has some real money put into it and I wanted a little buffer in case the power went out

Ive got 2 orphek atlantiks and the tank is 6 foot so lighting wont be an issue at all and flow I will have to see when I setup the tank. Did you notice a big difference in growth between dosing and not dosing? For softies I know it doesn't make too much of a difference but Ive been reading mixed things about how important it is for LPS, especially euphyllia

 

[afboundguy]

75 would probably be better than 72 but consistency is more important IMO with a fluctuation of +/- 1 degree. My tank is set to 75-76 and I am growing SPS, LPS, clams and various softies without issues.

 

[FUNGI]

I am setting up a tank that will run slightly cooler and I aim to have a daily temp fluctuation of around 72-75 degrees. What corals would be happy living in these conditions? I am looking to go more soft and lps heavy, and I especially like the euphyllia and leather corals, but I would like a couple of sps as well.

Also, would it be ok to put macroalgea in the main display with them? Coming from freshwater, I really love the look of some of them!

Why such a big swing in temp?

 

[arcwaveaquatics]

I am setting up a tank that will run slightly cooler and I aim to have a daily temp fluctuation of around 72-75 degrees. What corals would be happy living in these conditions? I am looking to go more soft and lps heavy, and I especially like the euphyllia and leather corals, but I would like a couple of sps as well.

Also, would it be ok to put macroalgea in the main display with them? Coming from freshwater, I really love the look of some of them!

That temp range is totally workable, especially for a soft/LPS-leaning tank. Many reefs see daily swings in nature, and stability matters more than chasing a single number.

Soft corals and leathers will be very comfortable in the low-to-mid 70s, and most Euphyllia do just fine there as long as alk and nutrients are stable. For SPS, stick with hardier, more forgiving ones like Montipora, Pavona, Stylophora, or birdsnest rather than high-end Acros, and keep the swings predictable.

Macroalgae in the display is absolutely fine and can look great. Just choose slower-growing, decorative types like dragon’s breath, gracilaria, or halimeda, and avoid invasive ones like caulerpa unless you’re prepared to manage it. Plenty of people run macro and corals together successfully, especially in more natural-style tanks.

 

[CaptainKiwi]

Why such a big swing in temp?

My room temperature fluctuates so I'm going to have to keep the heater and chiller running all day and I read that the chiller especially, should have some sort of run up time as turning it off and on for one degree could cause it to break quicker.

 

[CaptainKiwi]

That temp range is totally workable, especially for a soft/LPS-leaning tank. Many reefs see daily swings in nature, and stability matters more than chasing a single number.

Soft corals and leathers will be very comfortable in the low-to-mid 70s, and most Euphyllia do just fine there as long as alk and nutrients are stable. For SPS, stick with hardier, more forgiving ones like Montipora, Pavona, Stylophora, or birdsnest rather than high-end Acros, and keep the swings predictable.

Macroalgae in the display is absolutely fine and can look great. Just choose slower-growing, decorative types like dragon’s breath, gracilaria, or halimeda, and avoid invasive ones like caulerpa unless you’re prepared to manage it. Plenty of people run macro and corals together successfully, especially in more natural-style tanks.

Thank you so much for the info, it's alleviated a lot of my worries! My idea is to have a tide pool section of the tank for about a 1/3 of it and have it blend into a full reef for the other 2/3.

Do I need to worry about fish eating macro or are reef safe fish, safe for macro?

 

[Subsea]

Captain,
I run low temperature of 72-75 on purpose. Mostly softies with mixed filter feeders and ornamental seaweeds.

“Do I need to worry about fish eating macro or are reef safe fish, safe for macro?“

That depends on the fish. If you desire ornamental seaweeds in your display, then leave: Tangs, Rabbits and Foxes out of the reef. Lawn mowers are OK.

Most fish and CUC graze on biofilms located on seaweed surfaces:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/chapter/bookseries/abs/pii/S0065229619301156

“seaweed biofilm is a complex microbial community (bacteria, diatoms, fungi) living on the seaweed's surface, forming a protective layer (extracellular matrix) that's vital for the algae's health, defense against pathogens, nutrient exchange, and even influencing the surrounding marine ecosystem”

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

My seahorse tank runs at 72 and corals have been fine. I keep all my reef tanks at 75

 

[CaptainKiwi]

Captain,
I run low temperature of 72-75 on purpose. Mostly softies with mixed filter feeders and ornamental seaweeds.

“Do I need to worry about fish eating macro or are reef safe fish, safe for macro?“

That depends on the fish. If you desire ornamental seaweeds in your display, then leave: Tangs, Rabbits and Foxes out of the reef. Lawn mowers are OK.

Most fish and CUC graze on biofilms located on seaweed surfaces:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/chapter/bookseries/abs/pii/S0065229619301156

“seaweed biofilm is a complex microbial community (bacteria, diatoms, fungi) living on the seaweed's surface, forming a protective layer (extracellular matrix) that's vital for the algae's health, defense against pathogens, nutrient exchange, and even influencing the surrounding marine ecosystem”

Are there any algae eaters I can have in the tank? Or does having macro sacrifice my ability to have them?

 

[Subsea]

Depends on the macro algae and the fish. Most all film algae eating herbivores like snails are fine. Hermit & emerald crabs are fine. Urchins are more aggressive toward seaweed and Tangs are to be avoided. Using seaweed like Gracilaria Hayi (Pom Pom )which is somewhat brittle with calcium uptake will resist grazing. Lawn mower Bennie’s are fine also.