Temperature Param's

[EricTheRed]

The temps in nature are typically warmer than most people keep their tanks and can go up to 84 safely. Some very respected reefers say 82 is the best for a reef tank and don't even turn their chillers on until 84. Take a look at these ocean temps from various places where our coral is collected. Keep in mind that the Indo-Pacific is where most of our coral comes from. I keep my reef tank at ~ 80 (79-81, same as you) and my fowlr at 77.

Temperatures From Selected Coral Reefs

Caribbean
Belize 79.2 - 87.1

Indo-Pacific
Arno Atoll 82.7 - 87.2
Bikini Atoll 81.5 - 84.5
Enewetok 80.6 - 86.0
Great Barrier Reef 77.0 - 82.4
Guam 83.3
Johnston Atoll 82.0
Kapingamarangi 84.2 - 87.8
Pt. Moresby 83.1
Rabaul 84.7
Saipan 83.3
Tuamotu Archipelago 85.1
Ontoa Atoll 73.0 - 93.0

 

[KeishaKornbread]

That's fine. The temps in nature are typically warmer than most people keep their tanks and can go up to 84 safely. Some very respected reefers say 82 is the best for a reef tank and don't even turn their chillers on until 84. Take a look at these ocean temps from various places where our coral is collected. Keep in mind that the Indo-Pacific is where most of our coral comes from. I keep my reef tank at ~ 80 (79-81, same as you) and my fowlr at 77.

Temperatures From Selected Coral Reefs

Caribbean
Belize 79.2 - 87.1

Indo-Pacific
Arno Atoll 82.7 - 87.2
Bikini Atoll 81.5 - 84.5
Enewetok 80.6 - 86.0
Great Barrier Reef 77.0 - 82.4
Guam 83.3
Johnston Atoll 82.0
Kapingamarangi 84.2 - 87.8
Pt. Moresby 83.1
Rabaul 84.7
Saipan 83.3
Tuamotu Archipelago 85.1
Ontoa Atoll 73.0 - 93.0

+1

I keep mine around 82-83. My goal is to recreate a little bit of nature in my tank, so I keep the water the same temps as the natural reefs.

 

[anicemess]

That's fine. The temps in nature are typically warmer than most people keep their tanks and can go up to 84 safely. Some very respected reefers say 82 is the best for a reef tank and don't even turn their chillers on until 84. Take a look at these ocean temps from various places where our coral is collected. Keep in mind that the Indo-Pacific is where most of our coral comes from. I keep my reef tank at ~ 80 (79-81, same as you) and my fowlr at 77.

Temperatures From Selected Coral Reefs

Caribbean
Belize 79.2 - 87.1

Indo-Pacific
Arno Atoll 82.7 - 87.2
Bikini Atoll 81.5 - 84.5
Enewetok 80.6 - 86.0
Great Barrier Reef 77.0 - 82.4
Guam 83.3
Johnston Atoll 82.0
Kapingamarangi 84.2 - 87.8
Pt. Moresby 83.1
Rabaul 84.7
Saipan 83.3
Tuamotu Archipelago 85.1
Ontoa Atoll 73.0 - 93.0

Hey, thanks for this, this is excellent knowledge. I want to keep my tank Indo-Pacific but I didn't realize I can really narrow the region down.

Anyway, I just have basic corals and fish and a couple nems but when my temp gets up to 78, 79, I see a big change in the corals and the fish. My guys want the temp no higher than 77. BTA, carpet, clowns, damsels, blennys, even my kenya.

Just my two cents.

 

[EricTheRed]

Hey, thanks for this, this is excellent knowledge. I want to keep my tank Indo-Pacific but I didn't realize I can really narrow the region down.

Anyway, I just have basic corals and fish and a couple nems but when my temp gets up to 78, 79, I see a big change in the corals and the fish. My guys want the temp no higher than 77. BTA, carpet, clowns, damsels, blennys, even my kenya.

Just my two cents.

You should expect fish to become slightly more active in warmer waters since they are cold-blooded. If you are seeing adverse reaction from your coral it might be due to the "swing" in temp. If your coral were acclimatd to 82, then you might also notice something if you swung down to 79 or up to 84, as an example. However, a 2 degree swing up to 79as you mentioned should not be significant enough to adversely impact anything.

One thing to know is that the higher the temp, the higher the metabolism of all your life-forms. The higher the metabolism, the higher the O2 consumtption. It is for this reason that it is recommended to keep a reef between 76-83 even though it is documented that the greatest variety of corals are found in water whose average temperature is about 83-86° F.

Reef tanks have limitations that make their optimal temperature lower. Normally, the oxygen level and metabolic rate of your fish and coral are not important. However, as an example, during a power failure the oxygen can be rapidly used up. Lower temperatures allow a higher oxygen level before an emergency, but will also slow the consumption of that oxygen by slowing the metabolism of the aquarium's inhabitants.

Personally, I shoot to keep my temp below 81 in case there is a power failure on a hot summer day. If my temp rasied from there I'd still have a buffer before fish-soup

 

[poidog]

I have to ask when these temps were taken. Although high temps like this can be quite common around atolls of the S. Pacific, as of recently these areas have had increase in temperature (even by just a degree) and have had wide spread coral bleaching, particularly in the Indo-Pac region.

Here information on coral bleaching forecasts
http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/bleachingoutlook/

 

[EricTheRed]

Looks like these temps were taken in 97-98 assuming they were current when the paper was written.