First of all the correct temperature for a marine tank is between 24 and 26°C. The reason for this is all coral reefs are at around these temperatures.

One of our global problems the moment is global warming which is having a profound effect on our coral reefs as the temperatures are starting to rise. What actually happens is when the water gets to around 28°C the algae cell that grows in the Coral which gives it its colour starts to die. In our fish tanks, you notice they start to look white or if they are coloured their colours start to fade. Once they have lost their algae cells then start to shrink and eventually die. Fortunately, if the temperature is addressed these corals can regenerate their algae cells very quickly and get back to looking normal within a very short space of time. There are other factors involved but as we are discussing the problems of temperature I will not elaborate on other possibilities.

As discussed above these are all problems related to corals. There are other very important factors such as oxygen levels being depleted which also becomes a major problem as your livestock starts competing against the bacteria for oxygen. The bacteria we’re talking about here is the bacteria that supports the whole system. Obviously, bacteria then starts to die which in turn causes ammonia, nitrite and then nitrate ending in a water problem. One of the other problems is in the event of a power failure longer than two hours when water temperature is more than 28°C you can end up losing your whole tank as the tank becomes oxygen deprived very quickly.

Preventing problems.

If one is fortunate enough to have a chiller on their tank the most important thing is to get it serviced every six months, ideally in winter.

One of the other solutions is to put in power heads with good circulation. This helps to increase the oxygen level, which reduces stress on the fish. The other thing that one can do is to put a fan blowing across the surface of the water; this generally reduces the water temperature by 2°. You will get more evaporation by using the fan but this is an easy enough solution to solve by just being inconvenienced by adding more top up water.

Things not to do.

Please DO NOT add blocks of ice or even bottles of frozen water into the tank to bring the temperature down, as this is only a short-term solution. What happens is the temperature drops for only a few hours, which then creates temperature fluctuation which induces disease into the tank for your fish.

We hope you enjoyed this little article on temperature and your tank, we can’t wait to bring you our next article!