Tank Temps: How warm is too warm for your saltwater reef aquarium?

[FishTruck]

I forget people deal with these temperature issues in other places. Here in Colorado, my water is always just right. My heater works year round and I've never needed a chiller. Some people with MH do I suppose.

Right... in the Midwest, I like my warm humid tank in the winter - but it's an HVAC hassle in the summer. The outside air is hot and humid too - which limits options.

 

[JustJoan]

Hi all. I just started reefing in March of 2020. I inherited a saltwater tank from my daughter with some fish and a few corals. I have been struggling to learn as quickly as possible, as i know nothing about saltwater. I kept a freshwater discus tank for close to 12 years. I am fighting high nitrates, as the tank was neglected when i got it. I am now seeing red cyano. I didn't even think about temperature for the summer yet..... I am trying to learn by joining reef2reef and watching videos and looking to see how you all deal with issues. Last week i wanted to pour clorox in the tank and just quit! I got over that quickly! LOL thanks for helping me out with the videos and discussion threads.

 

[BZOFIQ]

Interestingly, (high light) sps actually usually grow near the top of the water, while most (low light) lps grows much deeper, therefore, much colder.

That is indeed the case with some even being exposed to air and sliming over during high noon and low tide conditions.

Somehow things quickly go downhill in our interpretation of nature when you crest 82 degrees.

 

[ThePurple12]

That is indeed the case with some even being exposed to air and sliming over during high noon and low tide conditions.

Somehow things quickly go downhill in our interpretation of nature when you crest 82 degrees.

All SPS are thriving in my tank. Temps reach 84 max.

 

[BZOFIQ]

79-80 year round basement tank.

My tanks are in the basement but I'm in the middle of A/C replacement and between parts that are impossible to get or take time because of distribution problem due to COVID I'm dealing with this. Normally things look pretty stable. Here is my April/May report sample, notice the range.

 

[BZOFIQ]

All SPS are thriving in my tank. Temps reach 84 max.

84 wow!

 

[Montiman]

One of my worst tank crashes came from an AC failure when I had my first 55 gallon reef tank. The entire AC died and it took 3 days to fully replace. It was in the peak of the Arizona summer with temperatures outside of 120. In side it got even hotter because the block home retained heat. I was measuring between 120-130. All my coral died despite all the fans and ice I could muster. On my newest tank I have a chiller. I don’t need it as long as the ac works but I won’t go through that again. It gives me peace of mind and lets me save on my electric bill because I can turn the air off when I’m not home. I try to keep the tank at 80-81.

 

[reefydude360]

Well im not gonna advice anyone to follow what im up to but here in Puerto Rico the climate is pretty hot and most hobbyists depend on chillers and central air conditioning. Me however, on a college budget and just starting out on reefing don't really have the budget to run either. As we have reefs all around the island I decided to set up my 20g long nano in the coolest spot in the house and just see what corals I could grow with the natural temperature around the house and a clip on fan for extremely hot days. Im happy to say that the softies and Lps I've tried until now have adjusted well and I have not really lost a single coral. The tank is currently running between 82-86 degrees. Not only corals are not dying but otherwise seem really healthy, puffy and growing. Had a hammer go from one head to four and an acan lord from two heads to twelve in about a year. Temperatures are hot but usually consistent. The tank has currently been at 84f for the past four days. As Ive had success with mushrooms, chalices, fungia, acans and euphyllias ive currently decided to get into some sps. Yesterday I got my hands on some nice frags of red dragon acro, forest fire digitata, mystic sunset monti and a nice green thin branch birdsnest. Im not having extremely high hopes but so far they seem to be doing good. I’ll make a tank build and update later on how the sps handle the higher temps.

 

[Reesj]

At one point my tank was running at 84 degrees because of a faulty heater. Everything besides my euphillya did ok. I believe they are more susceptible to high temps. Currently run at 80 degrees

Thats strage.. My hammer is the coral thats been doign best and sources from local waters here. My uper limit in chiller is at 84F and the reef waters in SRi LAnka get around 84F-85F during summer times.

 

[saul831]

Follow up question. Do you re-calibrate your heaters, if so how often?

 

[blasterman]

Surface temps of middle equatorial reefs can easily hit 90f during the day. If you live in florida go ahead and measure water temps during the outgoing tide during the summer, and all that shallow water going out to sea is well over 80F.

One of the local reef stores has a massive 500gal tank that gets as high as 88F in the summer. Store ain't air conditioned. Massive SPS growth.

My own SPS tanks get up to 85F or so during the summer because I have better things to spend money on than donations to utility share holders while I'm at work. I've actually let them climb higher to see the effect and the only thing that flinches are some LPS like Acans above 85F.

 

[Arabyps]

I have an Active Aqua 1/10 HP chiller installed and the Inkbird ITC-308S Aquarium Heating and Cooling Dual Stage Temperature Controller. The Ink Bird is set to 78 which keeps the aquarium (Waterbox 5526 Peninsula) within +/- 1 deg. Picture shows chiller alongside the tank. We are 3 months into the BRS 4-month cycle with lights off, fish in - thus the bare rock-scape.

 

[AcroCrush]

My 500g system can run as high as 82F before I run a stainless steel chiller coil in my garage sump to cool it down in the summer. The coil is part of a closed loop of antifreeze with 100’ of tubing frozen in a 2-3 gallon block of ice in my deep freezer. A small in-line pump moves the antifreeze. It takes the edge off by 1-2 degrees. I turn it off at night.

 

[ReefHomieJon]

My tank stays consistently at 77, 78 when it’s a SUPER hot day and the jbj Arctica chiller(bottom right) has to work extra hard.

 

[Oliver d]

In summer my outside temps get to the high 90s /low 100s [45'c] average.when my tank gets to 30'c[86] I start worrying.Cooling consists of a chiller unit set to kick in at 28'c[82.4] and switch of at 26[78.8] the rest of the year I use fans mounted above my sump.

 

[Bradley C]

A 180 1st floor with (2) 30-gal in/out tubs in (cooler) basement. I start to panic once the temp breaks 81.5. I use a portable room air; I figured, why get a chiller when I can cool off 2 rooms to boot? Did drop to 76 the other day, the other spectrum of panic.

 

[Mann_Cave_Corals]

I’ve always kept my tanks @ 77.5 degrees. Mainly Sps and had no problems. My tanks have always been in the basement, So I never had to use a chiller.. Thank god!

 

[jeffww]

I have no ac but if i know the house is going tonget hot i will keep the lights off until evening.

 

[725196]

I take action at 80°. I don’t want it going any higher

 

[Bradley Creek Reefer]

I live in the Southern U.S.A. so it gets hot in the summers... It’s pretty difficult to keep the aquarium at 77° so I always have a box fan on high facing my tank and in extreme cases if it ever gets up to 79° I put ice in a ziplock bag and float it next to the return. Then monitor the water temperature and remove the ice when it’s lowered to my liking. I like keeping my reef tank cooler because then it takes more to get it overheated. But in the winter I try and take it up a bit warmer in case there’s any power outages so it’ll retain heat.

I’ll remember the ice in a bag trick if my house power goes out. Hurricane season in NC can be a nuisance.