Temporary high phosphates for SPS?

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by daniella3d

It depends, you could have a lack of oxygen from this high temperature, depending on your bioload. You could have RTN due to high temperature depending of you have some bacterias present in your tank that may become more virulent at higher temperature and attack corals.

going from 78 to 81 is quite a bit. How about AC or a chiller?

As for the corals browning, I have about 10ppm of nitrates now and I don't even check my phosphates any longer, yet my corals have beautiful coloration. They do not go brown automatically because a bit of nitrates or phosphates and if they would do it, they would probably return to pastel color when the water return to low nutrient again...

Here is what my corals look like with 10ppm nitrates and .25 phosphates. Not pastel color but surely not dull in color either.

Well, your corals are beautiful, no question about that. And that is with some nitrates and quite a bit of phosphate. So that is encouraging. But like I said, the SPS is used to zero nitrates and phosphates right now.

I too am worried about the high temps. But with only 1 chiller, I would have to combine the tanks, and live with the higher phosphates.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[H2o2]

Grab a good used chiller at a reasonalbe price on here and plug in if weather gets hot unplug if it doesnt

[marie]

My tank goes from 78 to 84 degrees every day.......I don't recommend that big of a daily temp swing but the corals in my tank seem ok with it

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by H2o2

Grab a good used chiller at a reasonalbe price on here and plug in if weather gets hot unplug if it doesnt

Well, I was hoping my phosphates would come down faster, so I can combine the tanks, like last year, to use a single sump and chiller. I thought of getting another chiller, even just as a back up, so I do have my eyes open for one. But I want another good one, like I have now.

Originally Posted by marie

My tank goes from 78 to 84 degrees every day.......I don't recommend that big of a daily temp swing but the corals in my tank seem ok with it

Wow, that is a pretty high temp, and a large swing. I am surprised your fish are OK with that. Did you notice their gills breathing faster? Even at 81, I thought some of my fish were breathing quite fast, and I became a little concerned.

[marie]

Non of my fish are bothered. Even when my bowfront hit 86 a few years ago the fish were fine.... I did turn the lights off though, I wasn't comfortable with 86 temp even if the fish coped with it

[fishytime]

put a fan on the basement tank on a timer(to coincide with your lights).....this will drop the tank probably three degrees.....personally I wouldnt waste money on a chiller....if your thinking about going that route then consider a portable AC unit for that room, then both you and the tank are comfortable

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by fishytime

put a fan on the basement tank on a timer(to coincide with your lights).....this will drop the tank probably three degrees.....personally I wouldnt waste money on a chiller....if your thinking about going that route then consider a portable AC unit for that room, then both you and the tank are comfortable

Yeah, I do have some further options to keep my tank temp down. We actually have central AC, so the room temp isn't a problem. But I do have canopies and covers on my tanks, so that is really what keeps them on the warm side. I can open the door on the canopy and remove the tank cover. I am sure those will help.

My real question, though, had to do with the effect of higher phosphates on SPS that are used to zero in my main tank, and also how high heat my fish and corals can handle in my downstairs tank.

I am still hoping my phosphates will continue to fall in my downstairs tank with the GFO, and would like to hold off having to combine the tanks as long as possible. I know once summer hits, I will need the chiller for the downstairs tank too, as I don't want to make the temporary aids (like canopy open and tank cover off) permanent.

[daniella3d]

wow, what type of corals do you keep at 84 and 86? because many sensitive acroporas and SPS would surely RTN at this high temperature, especially the deep water.

Originally Posted by marie

Non of my fish are bothered. Even when my bowfront hit 86 a few years ago the fish were fine.... I did turn the lights off though, I wasn't comfortable with 86 temp even if the fish coped with it

[marie]

Originally Posted by daniella3d

wow, what type of corals do you keep at 84 and 86? because many sensitive acroporas and SPS would surely RTN at this high temperature, especially the deep water.

This is the tank that went up to 86 a few years ago


The tank I have now has a mix of sps, lps and softies

[kien]

From about mid June to September my temps go from 77 at night to 81 (or 82 on a really hot day). And this is with central AC. Without central AC the temp will go beyond 83 which is too high for my comfort level :-) At any rate, my tank seems to do fine at 81/82. As already suggested, do make sure your tank is well oxygenated (which most tanks are anyway, with skimmers, etc) if your tank is trending to the 80s.