How much do you let your tank temp swing?

[richiev]

My frag tank I'm using a reef pi to control an outlet; it stays within around 0.1°F. My peninsula I'm using an inkbird; since installing a bigger 3rd heater it is cycling from 77.2 to 79.2 over 2 hours then another 2 hours back to 77.2. Measured by a reef pi on that tank

That swing makes me uncomfortable, but I'm not sure it matters. I don't understand why the Inkbird is doing that. The min switching threshold is 1°F so I'm using that. The Inkbird wifi app UI chart is only showing a point every 15 minutes, and is saying around
77°F. When I actually do point in time comparisons, they seem to align.

Should I care about this?

 

[RandyC]

My frag tank I'm using a reef pi to control an outlet; it stays within around 0.1°F. My peninsula I'm using an inkbird; since installing a bigger 3rd heater it is cycling from 77.2 to 79.2 over 2 hours then another 2 hours back to 77.2. Measured by a reef pi on that tank

That swing makes me uncomfortable, but I'm not sure it matters. I don't understand why the Inkbird is doing that. The min switching threshold is 1°F so I'm using that. The Inkbird wifi app UI chart is only showing a point every 15 minutes, and is saying around
77°F. When I actually do point in time comparisons, they seem to align.

Should I care about this?

Meh…..I probably wouldn’t worry about a degree. Two is a little annoying, but it’s likely not to cause any problems. I’m around a one degree swing.

 

[tankguy]

mine will go from 78 to 77 on most nights. Every once in awhile it will hit 76. Tank still does fine

 

[richiev]

I think there's something janky with this Inkbird. My temp went down to below 76 before I reset everything last night.

I also learned that if you switch it to Celsius you get 0.1° temp settings and can set a min trigger threshold of 0.3°. I reset all my settings to C and am going to keep an eye on it.

Luckily it has an alarm that's working, and I have my reef pi also reading temps. Though yesterday that also freaked out.......

 

[Marcus H]

I never worry about small swings. Snorkeling on the reef you can feel cold pockets or upwellings often which are a much bigger shift than a degree or two.

There are studies that suggest corals grow better and display better metabolic plasticity with some temperature variation.

I'm not going to go cycle my tank temps based on this, bit I'm also not going to fret over keeping it within 0.5.

 

[newfly]

Do you have a build in thermostat on the heater? If yes, you could try using the heater thermostat as the primary control and inkbird as fail safe.

I don’t think 1 degree swing matters.

 

[richiev]

Do you have a build in thermostat on the heater? If yes, you could try using the heater thermostat as the primary control and inkbird as fail safe.

I don’t think 1 degree swing matters.

I have a mix of titanium (no temp) and glass (temp) on this tank. Currently using the Inkbird as the primary.

I never worry about small swings. Snorkeling on the reef you can feel cold pockets or upwellings often which are a much bigger shift than a degree or two.

There are studies that suggest corals grow better and display better metabolic plasticity with some temperature variation.

I'm not going to go cycle my tank temps based on this, bit I'm also not going to fret over keeping it within 0.5.

Any chance you have a citation for that?

I'm also curious what @Thales does in his spawning tanks.

 

[Marcus H]

I have a mix of titanium (no temp) and glass (temp) on this tank. Currently using the Inkbird as the primary.


Any chance you have a citation for that?

I'm also curious what @Thales does in his spawning tanks.

Temporal variation in daily temperature minima in coral reefs of Nanwan Bay, Southern Taiwan - Scientific Reports

Temporal variation in seawater temperature plays a crucial role in coral reef ecology. Nanwan Bay, Southern Taiwan is home to well-developed coral reefs, which frequently experience cold-water intrusions caused by internal wave-induced upwelling, that manifest in distinct daily temperature...

www.nature.com

 

[richiev]

Temporal variation in daily temperature minima in coral reefs of Nanwan Bay, Southern Taiwan - Scientific Reports

Temporal variation in seawater temperature plays a crucial role in coral reef ecology. Nanwan Bay, Southern Taiwan is home to well-developed coral reefs, which frequently experience cold-water intrusions caused by internal wave-induced upwelling, that manifest in distinct daily temperature...

www.nature.com

Thanks! When I skim through that it seems to be saying the opposite of what we're discussing here. That cold water is helping buffer against hot water events, where those hot water events would've otherwise caused bleaching. Effectively that the cold water helped avoid temp variations, at least when I read it.

What's your read?

 

[Srt4eric]

My garage frag system swings from 76 to 79 almost daily.

 

[Marcus H]

Thanks! When I skim through that it seems to be saying the opposite of what we're discussing here. That cold water is helping buffer against hot water events, where those hot water events would've otherwise caused bleaching. Effectively that the cold water helped avoid temp variations, at least when I read it.

What's your read?

As I understood the hot events still happened. It's not like the cold water balanced it out. Corals in areas of periodic cold are not as affected by hot events as those that are held more constant.

The corals which are accustomed to fluctuating temperatures have more vigor. Whether that's nature vs nurture I don't see addressed.

 

[Flagg37]

I never worry about small swings. Snorkeling on the reef you can feel cold pockets or upwellings often which are a much bigger shift than a degree or two.

There are studies that suggest corals grow better and display better metabolic plasticity with some temperature variation.

I'm not going to go cycle my tank temps based on this, bit I'm also not going to fret over keeping it within 0.5.

This was a surprise to me since we try to keep our temps so consistent. Last time I was snorkeling in Kauai, there were noticeable fluctuations in the water temperature.

 

[PjFish]

78 plus or minus during winter summer high gets to 82 no AC

 

[rdriggett]

My inkbird turns on my heater from 77 to 78 and runs my fan from 79 to 78. A slow 1 degree swing usually.