Cooler weather is coming and it may just get cold enough in some homes to cool a tank enough to bother your animals if your not using a heater. For those of you who for some reason remove your heaters during the summer, you may want to put them back in.
mine got down to 76 last nite, whats acceptable?
78 is my personal preference for a low.
Massively debated question Rosti. Personally I would be upset if mine got below 78F. If you always keep them at 78F then 76 isn’t a big deal. If you always keep them at 82*F then 76 would significantly stress things. It really depends. It is never a good idea to let it swing too much on a daily basis, but monthly or seasonal changes can be a good thing.
I have data from DA RKL, highest tank temp in sept was on 9/13, 82.1 day and 79 nite. Oct 2 was coldest to date, 79.5 day and 75.3 nite. I am reading RC threads now.
[quote=“Rosti, post:5, topic:3367”]
I am reading RC threads now.[/quote]
Oh boy, you know that’s the forum the books warn you about without coming out and saying it, lol. If you had a high of 82.1F and a low of 75.3 in a single day I would be worried. The temps you had in early September seemed ok and often what mine run at. 4F is a bit much and I personally wouldn’t keep it cool then ~77.5*F.
You really need to look at your corals and your fish and get an idea of what they look like when they are “happy”. If you are continuously seeing these temps and you are seeing happy animals then I wouldn’t worry about it too much. It doesn’t hurt at all to read a bit more and get more opinions. I wouldn’t let it get below 77.
This week my tank has been going from 79-high 80. Last week it would go from 80 to 82. Never much more then 2F swing in a day and I prefer 1F swings per day, but don’t obsess over them.
My tank is somewhere between 83-85 in the hottest summer days with the normal low 82, cooler seasons hit 80 and I watch it from there but since I work outside all summer keeping my heat at 78-80 in the house doesn’t bother me at all all winter long.
Especially when your not the one footing the heating bill. 