Water Temp

[Phischy]

Got a question, what is ideal water temp?

I live in San Diego and do not have AC, my place so far is varying and I've seen my watertemps vary from 75.6 to 80 within a day. Is this too much of a swing for a reef tank? I was thinking I could just set my heater to 80d and leave it constant for the winter, next summer would be different as my place would get up to 87 during the day.

 

[djconn]

Sounds good to me. None of my tanks have heaters and I see about 2-3 degrees temperature fluctuations daily with no problems. Without AC though, next summer you will have to do something right?

 

[Phischy]

Yeah, not sure exactly what I'm going to do, I'm thinking I could run a closed loop through a very small ice chest to chill the water temp down, but that'll be a pain to do for 4 months. I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I was just curious to know what sorts of fluxuations these things can handle. I do not have any fans yet on the system, although that can defintely change.

 

[Hillbilly]

For a reef tank, it's best to have as stable parameters as possible. IMO, a 5 degree daily swing is a bit much, I guess as long as you don't have any SPS, you could get away with it.

 

[djconn]

Agreed. The more stable the temps are, the better. I think 2-3 degree temp swings are prob. okay but any more and you're risking it. I would def. start looking into a couple of fans.

 

[Phischy]

Is there a rule of thumb as to the diameter of fan to equal a degree temperature range or are there to many variables in themix? I think I could mount 2 4" fans easily. I'll have to check this out...more crap to buy!

 

[incysor]

I haven't heard of a decent way to calculate how much a particular sized fan will cool things off. I think it's going to vary a great deal based on the types and makers of fans. I'd try sending someone here an email asking if they have any rough ideas.
Or maybe try to find some over-clocking boards.

http://www.xoxide.com/allcases.html