Temperature Problems

During the winter, my tank runs fine, with a temperature around 78. But in the summer, it has been running at about 81-82. I already have all my powerheads pointing at the surface of the water, which keeps it a little bit cooler, but I can't get it down below 80 where I want it. I really don't want to invest in a chiller to cool my tank down 2-3 degrees for only 5 months a year. Anyone have ideas on how to keep it cool?

 

Why are you concerned about that. That is well within a normal recommended operating range.

From here:
Reef Aquarium Water Parameters by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

recommended temp range [FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=-1]Temperature[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=-1]76-83° F[/SIZE][/FONT]


For more info see:

This series
Part I
Reefs Magazine - The Great Temperature Debate (Part 1) by Chris Jury

Part II
Reefs Magazine - The Great Temperature Debate Part II

Part III
Reefs Magazine - The Great Temperature Debate, Part III

Part IV
Reefs Magazine - The Great Temperature Debate, Part IV

 

Some clip on fans aimed at the surface will do wonders. And much cheaper then a chiller just be aware you will evaporate water faster.

 

Hm. I always thought that the ideal operating range was about 75-79.

 

I was under the impression that the actual temperature wasn't nearly as important as the swing of the temp during a short period of time. If you are at 77 in the morning and 83 in the afternoon that is a bigger problem than just being consistently in the 80's. I use a window AC in my room and that prevents me from getting above 81 or 82.

 

The metabolic thermal optima for most corals we keep is typically around 82-84. A few may be slightly higher, or slightly lower. However, higher is also getting close to the thermal tolerance limits of many. So, most people agree a little cooler is better, as it gives you a buffer against the temperature rising too much. Which gets you to Randy's recommended range....

Deeper water gets cooler, but most collectors aren't diving hundreds of feet down to collect corals and fish. Most reef fish will also accustomed too and happy in these ranges. We do occasionally keep some fish, that are not actually reef fish, and come from deeper water. However, for the most part, even if that is the case, most fish are quite adaptable compared to inverts. So, it generally isn't an issue. There are a few exceptions, for example, say a Catalina Goby, but not many. Also, some macro algae is sensitive to higher temperatures, although, not the typical macros we keep such as chaeto or culupera.

If you do have sensitive species and need to keep the tank cooler, evaporative cooling is limited by the amount of evaporation possible. So, to cool more with fans, adding fans may help, but it's also possible that you may need to get rid of some humidity from your house. perhaps opening a window would help, but then you may let in hot air ect... Personally, I keep my heater set between about 78-82 so, it's not something I'd be particularly worried about anyways, as long as it doesn't get too much warmer.

 

Not really. Chris's articles discusess swings a bit, in nature, they can be quite substantial in some cases. As long as the swings are within the acclimated temperature range, they are not an issue as the coral has adapted it's metabolic function to that range. Also, there is even some evidence swings help set the corals thermal tolerance ranges.

Abstract
Do fluctuating temperature environments elevate coral thermal
tolerance?
T. A. Oliver • S. R. Palumbi
Received: 11 March 2010 / Accepted: 3 January 2011
Springer-Verlag 2011
Abstract In reef corals, much research has focused on the
capacity of corals to acclimatize and/or adapt to different
thermal environments, but the majority of work has focused
on distinctions in mean temperature. Across small spatial
scales, distinctions in daily temperature variation are common,
but the role of such environmental variation in setting
coral thermal tolerances has received little attention. Here,
we take advantage of back-reef pools in American Samoa
that differ in thermal variation to investigate the effects of
thermally fluctuating environments on coral thermal tolerance.
We experimentally heat-stressed Acropora hyacinthus
from a thermally moderate lagoon pool (temp range
26.5–33.3C) and from a more thermally variable pool that
naturally experiences 2–3 h high temperature events during
summer low tides (temp range 25.0–35C). We compared
mortality and photosystem II photochemical efficiency of
colony fragments exposed to ambient temperatures (median:
28.0C) or elevated temperatures (median: 31.5C). In the
heated treatment, moderate pool corals showed nearly 50%
mortality whether they hosted heat-sensitive (49.2 ± 6.5%
SE; C2) or heat-resistant (47.0 ± 11.2% SE; D) symbionts.
However, variable pool corals, all of which hosted heatresistant
symbionts, survived well, showing low mortalities
(16.6 ± 8.8% SE) statistically indistinguishable from controls
held at ambient temperatures (5.1–8.3 ± 3.3–8.3%
SE). Similarly, moderate pool corals hosting heat-sensitive
algae showed rapid rates of decline in algal photosystem II
photochemical efficiency in the elevated temperature treatment
(slope = -0.04 day-1 ± 0.007 SE); moderate pool
corals hosting heat-resistant algae showed intermediate
levels of decline (slope = -0.039 day-1 ± 0.007 SE); and
variable pool corals hosting heat-resistant algae showed the
least decline (slope = -0.028 day-1 ± 0.004 SE). High
gene flow among pools suggests that these differences
probably reflect coral acclimatization not local genetic
adaptation. Our results suggest that previous exposure to
an environmentally variable microhabitat adds substantially
to coral–algal thermal tolerance, beyond that provided by
heat-resistant symbionts alone.

 

A $10 clip on fan from WalMart will easily lower a tanks temperature 3-5 degrees or more just by blowing across the surface of the display or sump.
I keep my systems at 78-80 year round with fans only in Phoenix AZ so they really do work and work well. The only drawback is increased evaporation so an ATO system is a good idea.

 

Whoops, sorry. For some reason I read that as you where already pointing fans at the surface, but you actually said poweheads... Yeah fans can work wonders. Just a personal preference then on temp vs evaporation. I still tend to prefer a bit warmer for growth, but really the difference isn't much so probably doesn't matter...


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I never really knew how much until I pointed a fan at my fuge in my current setup. The temp easily dropped 4 degrees.