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

[Evanbardiel]

I bought an a/c just for my tank room. I keep my tank at 78.4

It was at 81-82 prior to that.

 

[Jax15]

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.

Creative solution.

 

[Jax15]

I only have to deal with hot temps 2 months out of the year, and I really don't want a chiller. It is a stressful time of year...

Currently I run fans via Apex, but they're not enough on their own. I also keep 4 frozen water bottles in the freezer, and throw them in the sump when water temps hit 82. It's not a great solution.. my zoanthids seem to be especially venerable at 82+.

One idea I just thought of... I have an external ATO reservoir. Maybe I'll put it in a mini fridge, so it trickles cold RODI in the system throughout the day. Or just keep throwing RODI ice in the reservoir all day. Interesting idea.

 

[Deezill]

I purchased a Portable AC for 300 bucks. it's cheaper than a chiller now my basement is really cool and my tank sits at 78.5. I am ok with this.

 

[jd371]

Last year I put a small 20g tank in my workshop behind the house. It's a small workshop that only has one window and it gets pretty hot in there during the summer months. Last summer the hottest it got was 84.5 degrees in the tank with no ill effects to anything in the tank. I did have a fan over the top of the tank that kicks on when it reaches 82 degrees.
This year in addition to the fan that's over the tank, if I know it's going to be a hot and muggy day I clip a desk fan over the sump and it helps quite a bit. Now the hottest it's gotten in the tank has been 80 degrees.

 

[lefkonj]

I only have to deal with hot temps 2 months out of the year, and I really don't want a chiller. It is a stressful time of year...

Currently I run fans via Apex, but they're not enough on their own. I also keep 4 frozen water bottles in the freezer, and throw them in the sump when water temps hit 82. It's not a great solution.. my zoanthids seem to be especially venerable at 82+.

One idea I just thought of... I have an external ATO reservoir. Maybe I'll put it in a mini fridge, so it trickles cold RODI in the system throughout the day. Or just keep throwing RODI ice in the reservoir all day. Interesting idea.

Which pumps are you running? When I switched from AC to DC for my pumps I saw a drastic drop in my temperature changes. Additionally I removed the glass lids and put in mess tops.

 

[JR Bodyman]

My tank never gets above 80. I always keep the house cool with the A/C. I also have a thermostat on the tank that is set to alarm at 82 just as a back up although I'm always in the habit of checking temps throughout the day.

 

[dungdatinh]

To me everything below 74 is low and over 86 is high

 

[Paulwizal23]

81 is the highest I’ve ever let mine get! But I’ve heard normal is between 75-78! So I stay between that

 

[dimmak]

i dont let my tank get over 82.

 

[Kevin Hayward]

In my reef 74 is to low and 86 is to high

 

[Melanie Fish]

Anything over 84 and my tank starts crashing

 

[thabo]

If I see mine go over 80 it's lid off and fans on

 

[PTXReef]

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

I like my tank to stay at 78F, max 82F before I look for chillers/fans/AC, etc.

Luckily temp has never gone higher than 80F even during hot summer days

 

[Bacon505]

My sps tank run between 78-80F. Temp fluctuations of 2 degree through out the day since my $13 fan turns on at 80 and off at 78. Weather temp here in the desert average out at 100F.

 

[marcos4780]

I’ve been dealing with high temperatures and bought a cheap aquarium fan and temperature controller off of Amazon. Keeps my tank under 81 degrees. Hopefully these hot weeks will end soon!