Low temperature for tank?

[lanman]

I finally hooked up my Ranco controller to the heaters in my display tank system. But it got COLD in there last night - by my normal standards. The controller runs in 1-degree increments. If I set it to 77, it should drop to 76 before turning on the heaters, and then warm to 78 before shutting them off. Low temp in my tank before Ranco was usually 78-78.5. Last night it dropped to 76.1 before the lights came on and started warming it up. Should I set it one degree warmer? Do the fish and corals mind 76 degrees? Prefer it?

 

Thanks,

bob

[Sikryd]

I run mine on the cooler side like that and haven't had any issues before. 76-78 was standard. Now that I have 4 250w over the tank, it jumps it up 1.5f so I adjusted my temperature to 78 normal - 79.5 and have only noticed a little more growth. That could be from a lot of things though.

I never noticed anything negative from the lower temps before though.

[Boret]

I prefer to run it lower that way you have more of upper limit buffer in case of a heat disaster.

[OUsnakebyte]

In general, lower temps will be tolerated much more than higher temps. I actually don't mind temps around 74-75, which I sometimes get in the winter. And, this is consistent with different habitats all over the world.

 

However, I believe Heliopora is one coral that does better in the warmer seas, actually preferring the low 80s.

 

So, you should be fine with 76.

 

Cheers

Mike

[lanman]

In general, lower temps will be tolerated much more than higher temps. I actually don't mind temps around 74-75, which I sometimes get in the winter. And, this is consistent with different habitats all over the world.

 

However, I believe Heliopora is one coral that does better in the warmer seas, actually preferring the low 80s.

 

So, you should be fine with 76.

 

Cheers

Mike

 

Wah!! I love my heliopora! But - it is fine if it just doesn't grow as fast. I can see that it is currently poised to take over the world.

 

Thanks for the suggestions - I found that my AC-III and the Ranco disagree by about a half a degree on the temperature. I moved it up to a low of '77' for the Ranco - which should be about 76.5 by my AC-III. Will watch it for a few days.

 

bob

[OUsnakebyte]

Yeah, definitely keep your eye on the heliopora and watch for any tissue recession.