Tank Temp Question

[sail195]

Hey guys, I am pretty new here and to reefing. I have a 36g bow at my house that is still in its infancy (5weeks) and I just started a 12g aquapod in my office i bought it fully running from nick on here so with all the rock and water so no worries about a cycle even got a few frags with it! But my question is temperature. The ac is off over the weekend in my office and when I came in on Monday it was about 85 in the tank, but when the ac is on during the week it will come back down 78-80... is this fluctuation bad? would it be better to just put a heater in and keep it on the warm side say at like 82 that way it only fluctuates a little on the weekend?

I am going to put a second fan in the open slot on the qaquapod which should help cool it down on the weekends a little and maybe rewire the fans so i can keep them on all the time on the weekend even when the lights are off which should help out too i think. But what are your ideas

 

[The Ng Thing]

The more temperature fluctuations the more stress on corals/fish. If it is 1-2 degree difference over a long period of time I wouldn't worry but if it is drastic and quick sensitive organisms will not do so well.

It is always good to have a heater in your tank that way your prepared for any drastic environment changes.

I forgot .... WELCOME! =D

 

[sail195]

so keeping the tep around 82ish and having it go up to 84-85 on the weeknd wont be too bad when i put a coupe fish and corals in here?

I think those numbers are a worse case as if i add the second fan and have them run 24/7 in the heat shold drop the temp a lil too

And thanks I have learned a ton on here already!!

 

[The Ng Thing]

Ultimately you want to strive for consistency. 78-82 is a comfortable range. The only reason 84-85 might become a problem is if the temperature gets just a little higher (lets say heater malfunction or ambient temp rises) then your going into +85 which can be a bad range.

If your original temp. is 78 and it gets 4-5 degrees warmer, your only at 83 max which is still in a comfortable range. Everyone will have their own target temp. Just keep the comfortable range in mind and always think consistency.

Now that I read above a little closer, keeping the temp. at 82 is fine. Your fish/corals will adjust. Sensitive things however may not be happy if it reaches 85. The only problem is if the office gets warmer than 85 degrees and there is no way to cool the tank. Then the tank will basically cook.

 

[jimrawr]

I think 85 is really on the high range and starting to ask for trouble. It seems like just one really hot weekend and you will come to a tank thats been nuked.