Heating Question

Hello everyone I am new to this site and have a question about my new saltwater tank. It is a 29 Gal biocube and I currently have 20lb live rock, 20lb live sand, 2 clowns, 2 turbo snails, and a candy cane coral. Also the live rock has what looks to be a few polyps on it as well. Anyhow I just hooked up a digital thermo to it and it currently reads at 68.5 degrees, would it be a good idea to get a heater going in the tank? Alot of things I read are that the temp should be around 72-78. Is this crucial at this point to get a heater? Any suggestions would be great, awesome site by the way.
Thanks

 

Im no expert, but I would say a def. good idea. I know inverts (snails) cant handle copper and other treatments so IMO they probably like warmer water. Clowns are hardy fish (damsels) but I would def. get a heater in there (what maybe $20?)

Now ill step back and let an expert take it

 

welcome to 3reef ,yes get a heater in mate . too much heat fluctuation will cause some issues with your critters..im in australia which we use celsuis so i keep mine between 24- 26 degrees all the time , its the summer at the moment it goes up to 27.5 - 28 . degrees . hope this helps

cheers
matt

 

Hi Nando7...first of all welcome to 3reef and best of luck with your tank!
As far as temperature is concerned, YES, you want to have a heater as you want to keep your water as close to 76-80degrees IMO! You want to avoid fluxuations as well as mentioned above to reduce the sresses associated with it and the possibility of ich developing in fish, and bleaching in coral!
You want to avoid a high temperature of over 87degrees which is the natural thermal tolerance for corals. Higher temps will cause an increase of CO2 and a reduction in DO(dissolved Oxygen)! A constant temperature kept in your tank will offer you a greater amount of success over the long run!

 

Thanks guys for the quick replys, I will definitely go and get a heater tom. My LFS seemed to think that I wouldn't need one being that I am in so. calif. but I guess maybe where the tank is located in my house may be in a cold area. I surely want to make sure before I start adding anything else in the tank that I get the temp. stabilized. Thanks

 

yeah im in new south wales in australia (east coast ) my heater is off for 8-9 months of the year . probably a similiar climate to california ?

youll still need a heater to get your temp in to water change + top off water..