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

[Casket_Case]

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

Yeah I used to live in Florida and I got into aquariums since I’ve moved to Georgia... the ice bag I definitely recommend. It works fast, just gotta monitor it to make sure it doesn’t cool too much... cause even though you have a heater it can create cold spots... last thing you want is arctic water blowing on your expensive anemone

 

[Billdogg]

I chose 81, but that would be if we lost electricity or the went AC died. I keep mine at 78 otherwise.

 

[vetteguy53081]

1. How high will you allow your tank temperature to rise before you take action? What's the MAX?

My desire is to not exceed 80 degrees but the last few weeks, it has been hovering at 83.7 and for me Unacceptable.

2. What do you do to keep temps down or help keep them lower during the warmer months?

Last saturday, I broke down and bought a chiller unit and happy to see a constant 78.3

 

[steve meyers]

Those tank temps keeping rising as the summer gets closer and closer! When should you take action to reduce the heat and when is higher temps too high?

Let's talk about it today!

1. How high will you allow your tank temperature to rise before you take action? What's the MAX?

2. What do you do to keep temps down or help keep them lower during the warmer months?


Photo via @cedwards04

79, or 80, my sump is in the basement and it stays around 65 degrees so I generally don’t have a problem. When the nano in the bedroom gets hot I turn of ato and float ice.

 

[Brendank]

My SPS dominant reef stays around 84 year round. I use two underpowered heaters so if a heater fails on, the maximum possible temperature is about 86. The house is AC temperature controlled.

 

[Thomashtom]

Hi I originally posted about this because my A/C went in my fishroom and the water temp was at 83 for about a week till i can replace the wall unit. I normally keep it around 80 to 81 degrees. Thanks

 

[Oldsalt]

Being in Perth Western Australia it gets HOT but very dry. I use °C so I like my tank to run at 25°C (25 x 1.8 = 45 + 32 = 77°F). I have a bank of 4 x 12V DIY fans that turn on when it reaches 27°C or 80.6°F. They cool it down very effectively. My LPS don't like it any warmer than that.

 

[Rudefish]

Keep tank between 78-79 using a chiller to keep this temp during the summer months.

 

[ThRoewer]

27 °C (I don't do Funny numbers) for my reef tank.
My Bluespot Jawfish tank is most of the time on ambient temperature and goes as low as 18 °C in the winter and up to 28 °C in the summer/fall. When it gets really hot I add a fan as an evaporation chiller.

 

[Don Lidtke]

How do you people with central AC afford the electricity?

7Kw solar system makes AC affordable here in Utah.

 

[Fishyfish22]

I try to keep it around 80. I find that insulation helps a lot with the accuracy though, and evaporation. Foam underneath or around the tank go a long way

 

[Chrille26]

Sweden is starting to get really hot, its 8:30 a.m. and my tank is 84,4 right now! I want to keep it at 82 as a max so I am about to crank my AC and I also put my emergency protocol into action, which is a 2 litre frozen bottle in front of a powerhead in the sump, I have a backup bottle ready to go when the first is thawed.

 

[robert teseo]

invested in a chiller, no more issues.

 

[Oz_Puffy]

I run a chiller all year round in northern Australia. It is set to kick in at 26 degrees (78.8 in the funny numbers you guys use). The tank is also now placed almost directly under the a/c which runs a lot during the Wet season (summer) and ceiling fans generally run all year round.

 

[Nick Barbier]

I keep my tank at a constant 77.5°, thanks to a Trane dual stage compressor AC unit for my house. You have to have a good AC unit in Florida. Fortunately, my AI Hydra 26s HD put out very little heat.

 

[adobo]

7Kw solar system makes AC affordable here in Utah.

All you did was pre-pay for energy up front.

Not that I am criticizing. I have solar also and its great to get electricity for cheap.

 

[adobo]

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

I am thinking of freezing ro/di water and using the resulting blocks of ice as top off on hot days. The size of the ice blocks would depend of course on the container I use to freeze the water.

 

[Nhjmc]

78-79 degrees. Was a weird coincidence this article was posted yesterday because when I got home from work I almost died when I saw my tank was at 82° (note: we’re having a wave in New Hampshire was 95° out yesterday) tank in my living room which has a brand new 12,000 btu a/c running but apparently didn’t keep it cool enough. It’s pretty rare it’s this hot here and I really don’t wanna have to buy a chiller I hear they’re very expensive to run plus having a small 34 gallon tank to get one plumbed in would be a nightmare if I had to guess. Def ordering one of those clip on aquarium fans ASAP.

 

[Sonor]

I have an approximate 200 gallon system. The display temp is maintained between 76 and 77 degrees F. I have 2 fans over my sump which are controlled by my apex, along with my heaters. Living in the desert ( Las Vegas). I do have central a/c which I keep the house set at 77 degrees. In the 4 years that the tank has been running I don't think it has ever gotten over 78 degrees. If things did go nuts, I do have a chiller that I could connect to the system to supplement cooling. That need just hasn't occurred.

 

[Ento-Reefer]

My tank is always between 77.5-79. I keep my AC set at 72 all summer. Electricity is cheap in Delaware and my winter bills hover between $140-$175 and summer is usually $160-$200. There is no need for fans or a chiller on my 180.