Running without a heater

[Mattrg02]

Hello,

I am looking into going a bit more minimalist with my tank and am looking at removing equipment. I tried to pull my skimmer, but found that nitrates began to climb and ph was going down, so back in it goes.

Now I am looking at pulling the heater. My house is set for 76f during the day and 72f during the night. The tank gets up to 78f during the day due to lights and whatnot. Would my sps take issue with a 6 degree swing like that?

 

[Lindserfish]

It would be best to keep your heater. However if you wanted to try to remove it, I would suggest lowering the temperature by dialing back the heater a little every day until they (hopefully) acclimate to the swing with out a heater.

 

[Mattrg02]

One thing that I thought about was winter time. There will be much larger swings since I am frugal with utilities. So, it may be better to keep the heater.

 

[Fudsey]

I unplug my heater in the summer as my house is usually between 74-78 all the time. It takes a lot of time to sway the temp of the tank and although the temp inside may fluctuate, the tank will not go up and down that quickly. Once the temp start dropping, I will plug it in again.

 

[silva218]

If you have a controller I would lower the on when above and also raise the Hysteresis... If you do not have a controller than simply lower the temperature on it.

 

[watdachuck]

I run my tank without a heater. It's only 40 gallons so if anything I tend to worry about over heating versus the temperature falling. The temperature swing during the summer is 78-82. The SPS have never minded, and in the winter it will dip to 75 without problems.

 

[rovster]

Interestingly enough I had w conversation today with a very well respected SPS keeper and he prefers temperature lower for SPS in the 74-75 range. He acknowledged that they grow faster at higher temp but grow denser and are overall healthier at lower temps. Interesting thought nonetheless I just lowered the kick on temp of my heater I guess we'll see....