How concerned with temp swing

[Cjtabares]

I am away, and noticed a temp swing yesterday morning, thought I fixed it, then the swing happened again this morning. Set the house temp to 65 not thinking about the heater having a hard time keeping the tank at temp at the cooler ambient temp. Seems to be doing ok, so hopefully it stays this way. What are the chances my coral survive these swings?

 

[afboundguy]

While not ideal swings like this happen on the reef so personally I wouldn't be too concerned if it happens here and there. Not sure I'd like that long term. For reference I go down to around 74.8'ish at night and hit 76.2'ish during day.

 

[Cooper2]

Depends on the corals, but I'd be surprised if anything really bad comes from it, they might pout for a day or two, but I bet you're ok

Seems like a large drop in temp Just for lower ambient near tank. How many gallons, watts, age of heater. I'm assuming the Apex is in control. If it is and you log stuff, see if the output for heat came on but amps didn't increase. If this the case, I'd think about changing out the heater. It looks like the heater is capable when on and the temp rise is quick, but doesn't explain why it went so low before coming on.

 

[Cooper2]

Curious now what others run for temp after seeing above post. My Apex comes on at 77.5 and off at 78. Everything seems happy....(except the elec bill!).

 

[Cjtabares]

While not ideal swings like this happen on the reef so personally I wouldn't be too concerned if it happens here and there. Not sure I'd like that long term. For reference I go down to around 74.8'ish at night and hit 76.2'ish during day.

Yeah, that’s kind of what I was thinking, so hopefully all is well.

Depends on the corals, but I'd be surprised if anything really bad comes from it, they might pout for a day or two, but I bet you're ok

Seems like a large drop in temp Just for lower ambient near tank. How many gallons, watts, age of heater. I'm assuming the Apex is in control. If it is and you log stuff, see if the output for heat came on but amps didn't increase. If this the case, I'd think about changing out the heater. It looks like the heater is capable when on and the temp rise is quick, but doesn't explain why it went so low before coming on.

It’s an inkbird connected to the apex. I’m not sure, but seems to not be turning on, the amps were down both times until I switched it on and off. The heater is old, I have 2 in the closet that I ment to change before I left but forgot until a day before and didn’t want to change since this was working, and I was worried it would be more risky to change the day before I left. Still seems to not being able to keep up.

 

[afboundguy]

Curious now what others run for temp after seeing above post. My Apex comes on at 77.5 and off at 78. Everything seems happy....(except the elec bill!).

My basement stays super cool especially in the winter. Gets down to upper 50's and then stays around 65 in summer. I have a bunch of preset heaters so I can't set them higher but I do have some new heaters I plan to swap out so I can bump up the temp a little higher.

Still might keep it around 76 and then raise it every once in a while to help trigger mating/spawning events.

 

[Cjtabares]

Curious now what others run for temp after seeing above post. My Apex comes on at 77.5 and off at 78. Everything seems happy....(except the elec bill!).

I have it set to go off at 78 and on at 77.

 

[Cooper2]

First thing I'd do is throw the Inkbird in the trash. Use port 4 or 8 on your Apex. Having an Inkbird with an Apex is not a good idea in my opinion. The temp sensor and control relay in the Apex (those ports specifically) are way better quality. I'm in Foxboro and have more heaters than I need, so if you want a loaner or something PM me.

 

[Cooper2]

Never thought about tendencies for reproduction. I have a spiny urchin the climbs on the overflow and rubs one out pretty often. Actually, rubs five out at a time. Got a poor quality video of it. This might the only place for fish porn.....lol

 

[Cjtabares]

First thing I'd do is throw the Inkbird in the trash. Use port 4 or 8 on your Apex. Having an Inkbird with an Apex is not a good idea in my opinion. The temp sensor and control relay in the Apex (those ports specifically) are way better quality. I'm in Foxboro and have more heaters than I need, so if you want a loaner or something PM me.

I bought 2 heaters, I was going to use the inkbird to have two heaters just in case 1 stops working so hopefully 1 would still work. Maybe it is causing the issue. I have the apex set to a max to stop if the inkbird gets stuck on.

 

[Cooper2]

It sounds more like your inkbird sticks off now and then....

 

[Reefried]

I don’t have an apex. However I thought I have always read that it is not advisable to use your apex to control/cycle the heater. I would definitely use it to control the outlet the inkbird is plugged into to cut power in the event of inkbird failure. But I would not let the apex handle hundreds of on off cycles a week if I could avoid it.


OP. I think your corals should be fine. A cooler swing is much better than an increase temp swing. I am a little curious how you have not run into this issue before. So you keep the house temp at 70 all year round?? This is the time of year, and mid fall when I notice things like this. There is usually a 2 month period of the year where the heat is off and AC not on yet, or the AC off and heat not on yet when sometimes my low temp alarm goes off.

It is also well documented and more recently applied more often to have lower reef tank temps. There are a few members here who keep their tanks at 76. Mine is set to 77 currently and I am about to change it to 76. SPS are perfectly happy at lower temps, most fish actually prefer it, and it definitely can help with nuisance algae, Cyano, and possibly Dino’s.

 

[Cjtabares]

I don’t have an apex. However I thought I have always read that it is not advisable to use your apex to control/cycle the heater. I would definitely use it to control the outlet the inkbird is plugged into to cut power in the event of inkbird failure. But I would not let the apex handle hundreds of on off cycles a week if I could avoid it.


OP. I think your corals should be fine. A cooler swing is much better than an increase temp swing. I am a little curious how you have not run into this issue before. So you keep the house temp at 70 all year round?? This is the time of year, and mid fall when I notice things like this. There is usually a 2 month period of the year where the heat is off and AC not on yet, or the AC off and heat not on yet when sometimes my low temp alarm goes off.

It is also well documented and more recently applied more often to have lower reef tank temps. There are a few members here who keep their tanks at 76. Mine is set to 77 currently and I am about to change it to 76. SPS are perfectly happy at lower temps, most fish actually prefer it, and it definitely can help with nuisance algae, Cyano, and possibly Dino’s.

Ok, thanks, I know natural reefs can change temps pretty quickly. I was slightly concerned, especially since I was not around, but got home and everything seems fine.

I also have my house around 70 all year, but usually turn off the heat/ac during the day in fall and spring, but usually turn it back on at night.

With the way I had the temp set I think the Apex was turning on and off around 12 times a day so it was not too bad, but a lot more comfortable with the inkbird doing the heavy lifting, with the Apex as a fail safe.