lduncan Posted September 24, 2004 Report Share Posted September 24, 2004 in a closed aquarium, IMO, I dont believe simulating seasonal changes is that important. especially when most fish are bred in captivity and corals, well, they're too stupid to know otherwise Wrong. Fish are very sensitive small seasonal changes it temperature. Raising my tank temp by 2 degrees is enough to trigger my bangaii's to produce eggs. They stop when the temperature drops again. Corals again are subject to seasonal changes, spawning is linked to the phases of the moon. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted September 24, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2004 so what makes me wrong and you right? i realise temp changes can trigger spawning, but i dont believe it is absolutely necessary to do - same goes with fresh water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted September 24, 2004 Report Share Posted September 24, 2004 You're wrong because they are NOT too stupid to notice otherwise. They obviously do notice. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted September 24, 2004 Report Share Posted September 24, 2004 My temp is about 25-26 in the winter and 26-29c, in the summer. Does not seem a problem, when the temp gets to 29c the coral look fantastic. The other day I must have accidentally bumped the controller in the quarantine and the temp went to 28c ,normally 25c. The corals looked fantastic, overseas some hobbyist keep the temp at 29-30c. AT higher temp corals do grow quicker. I think it is a good idea to keep tanks at about 26c, so in summer the variance will not be as much when the temp goes to 29c. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted September 24, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2004 Layton - that doesnt explain why. How does a coral notice the difference between winter and summer? I dont believe a coral is "happier" in winter or "happier" in summer and as such will keep the temperature the same all year round. I was referring to corals as stupid, not fish :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted September 24, 2004 Report Share Posted September 24, 2004 Pies - just because it's a natural occurrence, doesn't mean that it's in anyway beneficial, or in fact that corals (or any other animal) has evolved to cope well in situations such as this. Coral reefs do bleach. Maybe these water temp swings are relatively recent occurrences in the wild, and corals are still in evolutionary catch up. I suspect the corals have been around as long as the concept of 'summer' & 'winter'. Think about it. Not sure what bleeching has to do with anything. Corals bleech in the summer (when the water is warmer) as well as in the summer (when the water is warmer). This is no doubt that you can cause coral to bleech by raising the temrature or keeping the temprature to hight for to long. Global warming, if you indeed belive in it as a non-natural occurance, may have had an effect, but from what i've read its not 100% proven, and many belive their are other reasons (plages of COTS for example). Like it or not, the temprature in the ocean changes according to the season. They swings are not 'new', they have been around as long as the corals have. I've seen fish swim through water that is at least 3 degrees different in one place than another (say from the fore reef to the reef crest). Only a few meters apart yet 3 degrees in difference. What a surprise, water at the top is warmer than the water underneath. Water is the shallows where the rocks heat the water is warmer than in larger 'volumes' of water etc. I've also dived at one end of an island where the temprature is different than the other end of the island by a degree or 2 in the same day. I am not endorseing simulating temprature fluctuations in your tank, and there is no doubt the stability is very import, however this stability doesn't reflect what happens in nature. It would be good advice to say to keep it as stable as possible, just not particulary realistic. Corals on the GBR spawn in november, 60 days after the full moon. The winter is just ended and its the first full moon of the summer, the water is starting to warm again. The corals know all about water temprature changes. Reef - Many coral farmers in the US run their grow tanks at 29 degrees as they know this makes the coral grow faster. Perhapps its liken to metabolisiom (sp?) you know like how fish swim slower when its cooler. Here is a question. Does the temprature have an effect of SPS colour? Wouldn't be unresonable to think it does. Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted September 24, 2004 Report Share Posted September 24, 2004 Reef - Many coral farmers in the US run their grow tanks at 29 degrees as they know this makes the coral grow faster. Perhapps its liken to metabolisiom (sp?) you know like how fish swim slower when its cooler no doubt they do grow faster, however keeping the water warm also has a down side as bactarial problems can happen quicker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted September 24, 2004 Report Share Posted September 24, 2004 Seasonal variation is not limited to the four "Seasons" as we know them. It is a much broader term applied to many things with a regular cycle... Like the phases of the moon, weather patterns (El nino, La nina)etc. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted September 24, 2004 Report Share Posted September 24, 2004 I think the colour of corals would change with temperature. As pies said, their metabolism is increased at higher temperature, so their energy demands would be higher. So maybe in high nutrient water they would increase their zooxanth... populations to make additional food for them, turning them brown. In low nutrient, the xooxanth... growth is limited by the nutrients in the water, and can't grow to the same density? Just a thought. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted September 26, 2004 Report Share Posted September 26, 2004 Ira - Remember that the SG changes with the temprature, so read the water change water after you have heated it. 029/028 is a little high. Yeah, I know it changes with temperature. But, the temperature of the water would change almost instantly when put ont the refractometer anyway, I don't know how you want me to heat up the water straight from the tank. Or do you mean the change water? And it's stupposed to be an auto temperature compensating refratomoter...But, I don't have a clue how that would work, I just let it sit for a minute and then keep the tank reading the same as the change water IRA - What did you use to calibrate the refracto? Distilled water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anal fin Posted September 27, 2004 Report Share Posted September 27, 2004 Ph = 8.1 Ammonia = 0 ppm Salinity = 1.024 Nitrate = 0.15ppm Nitrite = 0 ppm Phosphates = 0.1ppm Calcium = 420 Changed to bi monthly water chages of 10% to try and bring down nitrate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted September 27, 2004 Report Share Posted September 27, 2004 changed to bimonthly from what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_from_nz Posted September 27, 2004 Report Share Posted September 27, 2004 Dont think so. Temperature swings in tropical areas wont happen within 3 minutes. Imagine pouring 200 litres of 15 degree NSW into a 1,000 litre tank of 25 degree water. That would pull down the temperature pretty damn quick and stress the fish/corals. IMO, In theory the change in water temp would be down to about 22 - 23 deg just putting my 2 cents worth in for the fun of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anal fin Posted September 27, 2004 Report Share Posted September 27, 2004 I used to do a water change of 20% a month Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fins Posted September 27, 2004 Report Share Posted September 27, 2004 On the topic of tempreture changes. When I used to scuba dive there were always cold patches of water that kind of moved along. Kind of like a stream of cool water running through warm water. The fish and corals seemed fine in these cool spots. The difference in temp was atleast 5 degrees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.