Is It Ok Without A Chiller

[lennon929]

I am new to Reef Aquariums,i have a new tank for 3 mon hope to get some info here. Is it ok without a chiller of a reef tank.my tank is at 28c to 29.5c. i was think of keeping corals and anenomes?

[BubbaWPB]

28-29.5°C (...about 82-86°F) is the temperature of most reefs... however I think there are studies that show that animals live longer when the temp is a little cooler - around 25-26.5°C. So it's optional at this point, but I wouldn't let it get much warmer without adding a chiller. Good luck!

[dougc]

It depends on what you want to keep, what kind of lights you will be using, and how well-ventilated your tank is. With an open-top canopy or suspended light fixture, and a fan blowing on the tank or the sump, you can probably keep the temperature under control most of the time. If the tank is in an air-conditioned room, you may be ok year-round.

Some organisms are more tolerant of temperature variations than others. As long as the water is oxygenated, fish will handle warmer temperatures. Some corals will handle high temperatures better than others. Small-polyped corals are usually more finicky in this regard. When I had a stuck heater take the temperature my tank up to 89 F, I lost all of my montiporas and a couple of staghorn corals. Everything else, including several LPS and soft corals, survived the incident.

I control my heaters with an AquaController, which adjusts the temperature seasonally. I let my tank get up to about 81.5 F in the summer and 78 F in the winter. I have a chiller, but by letting the temperature rise a bit in the summer, the chiller doesn't run as much, saving electricity and wear on the chiller.

[Ninong]

Yes, 28-29.5 C (82.4-85.1 F) would be acceptable for corals and anemones. Anything higher than 30 C (86 F) would be tricky.

Is the tank indoors or outdoors?

In spite of the fact that corals adapt to higher temperature spikes in the wild and to wide diurnal fluctuations in temperature in some lagoonal areas, it is difficult to avoid a disaster in an aquarium if the temperature rises above 30 C.

It is always better to have a chiller because that way you can control the temperature and avoid wide fluctuations. Stability is a very important consideration in a home aquarium. A steady temperature of 28-28.5 C would be much better than a daily range of 28-30 C. And a chiller would prevent the occasional spike above 30 C that you might experience without the benefit of a chiller.

Good luck!

[lennon929]

My tank is indoors,i live at malaysia so it get very hot out side some time 34c but indoor is ok never go up above 30c and never have wide fluctuations here. all the reef keeper here say need to have a chiller,they keep the tank at 26c.The chiller cost around US $500 here,is very costly for me.

Is adding more fan to the tank will help to lower the temperature?

[Ninong]

My tank is indoors,i live at malaysia so it get very hot out side some time 34c but indoor is ok never go up above 30c and never have wide fluctuations here. all the reef keeper here say need to have a chiller,they keep the tank at 26c.The chiller cost around US $500 here,is very costly for me.

You can safely run it at 29 C.

Is adding more fan to the tank will help to lower the temperature?

Yes, absolutely! Adding fans will help lower the temperature. The temperature of the water is influenced by the water pumps and by the lights. Water pumps that are submerged (such as powerheads) act as heaters. Even in-line water pumps that are not submerged add heat to the water. You want to try to reduce the combined total wattage of your water pumps.

Some types of lighting add more heat than others. Metal halide lights in particular will add heat to the water, especially is they are mounted closer than 10" above the surface. If you want to try to get by without a chiller, you may want to avoid metal halide lighting in favor of T5 HO fluorescents.

A lot depends on the size of your tank and the depth of the water column. A larger tank (larger body of water) will be more stable than a smaller tank when it comes to temperature fluctuations caused by ambient room temperature and by lighting.

Your friends may be correct in saying that a chiller is required but you may still be able to get by without one if you add fans, avoid metal halides and avoid too many heat producing pumps.

Good luck!

[saltjunkie]

i keep and have kept my reef tank.... lps, sps, clams, and polyps and such....


at 86 degrees... dont know the celcius .. i have 2, 300 watt heaters on my tank ... 4x55 pc, 1x175 watt mh... 1 fan...