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Your reef aquarium temperature affects the inhabitants of your reef in a number of different ways. You will need to monitor and control the temperature fairly close to avoid problems. Basically, you will need heaters to raise the temp and a thermometer to know what the temperature is.

You cannot rely that the temp setting on the heater will be the actual temp in your tank. It may be close but you need to be sure. Digital thermometers are accurate and pretty cheep now so I suggest you purchase one. That’s what I use.

Most reef tank owners have two heaters. Simply put, two heaters are safer than one. Having two heaters will help to reduce any temperature fluctuations.

What to look for when purchasing a heater? You should try to choose heaters that are not powerful enough to cook the tank if the thermostat should stick on, but still large enough to temporarily keep the water reasonably warm if one of them stops working or fails.

Heaters are available in many different sizes and are measured in watts. You will need about 4 watts per gallon total.

Here are some of the ways the reef aquarium temperature impacts your reef.

As temperature rises, the metabolic rate will increase in all your animals. They will use more oxygen and carbon dioxide. Their intake of nutrients goes up and alkalinity and calcium are used up faster. Oxygen is less soluble at higher temperatures. This means there will be less oxygen but more demand for it with higher temperatures.

I remember reading an article by Ron Shimek that says the greatest variety of corals are located in areas where the average temp is between 83 and 86 F degrees. For your closed reef system that is simply too high and would end up giving you problems.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you had a power failure. The life giving oxygen in your water will be rapidly used up. Having a lower temperature would mean there is more oxygen in your water to start with, and the inhabitants with slower metabolic rates would take longer to use it up.

Most people agree that the reef aquarium temperature should be maintained between 76 and 82 F degrees. I keep mine pretty close to 80 F degrees, but I have mine a bit cooler in the summer just in case the air conditioner craps out.

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