tank temperature!

Hello,

I was just wondering how much a reef tank's temperature should be allowed to fluctuate in a 24 hour period, and if fluctuations of plus minus 1 degree can be damaging to some coral.

 

I purposly let my fluctuate from 78 to 80 on a daily basis. My sps tank seems to like this and it's a fairly common temp swing on some of the more shallow reefs

 

italia reef
fluctuations of 1 degree are no problem at all IME
I use a chiller due to the climate I live in and it comes on at 27 and goes off at 25.9

there are some corals in the wild, again depending on location that experience far greater fluctuations than this on a daily basis , it happens slowly over a period of hours rather than quickly and that makes a big difference

why do you ask?

Steve

 

thanks for the responses, and i ask because now that i bought a more accurate thermometer i noticed that my tank temperature swings back and forth from 77 to 76 degrees within about an hour and continues to do so all day, and i wanted to know if this type of continuous swinging can be damaging to my corals

 

your welcome on the responces
and great explanation

you dont have a problem with that temp swing IMHO

Steve

 

I think you are fine. don't worry too much about it=)

 

alright thank you very much

 

You are definitely ok. Most heaters allow the tank to drop 1 degree below what there set at before bringing it back up.

 

My tank goes from 77-81 every day and its been like this for year with NO problems so to answer ur question again yup your good to go

 

Good response. The same is the case with chillers. They're set to come on at a certain temp, go off when a certain temp is reached. In most cases the spread b/w the two is about 1 degree.