Temp, Salinity, Ron Shimek and his advice

[Matt]

About every two days, I read where someone, somewhere points out one of Ron Shimek's articles, particularly the one on Temperature and Salinity (http://web.archive.org/web/20020610144845/www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1997/nov/features/1/default.asp) and various other articles (http://rshimek.com/reef/OnlineArticles.htm) that he has authored.

He seems credible, well-credentialed, and - unlike many others - seems to back up his opinions with data and references, but his advice runs counter to the bulk of the 'conventional wisdom' on temperature and salinity, particularly.

As a personal example, I have grown to trust Bob Fenner (wetwebmedia), but he indirectly disagres with Shimek about temperature and salinity and this causes some confusion for me.

Any comments?

Matthew

[Beverly]

Shimek's article on temp and salinity is an interesting read. Is there a comparable article by Fenner to compare the differences?

[StirCrazy]

Keep in mind when reading Dr. Shimek's articles all his experiance comes from cold water zones (mostly off the coast of Vancouver Island) He does know alot but most of his other research is just interpalation of data and not his own reasearch, which is quite common.

when it comes down to the good Dr. Ron or Mr Fenner, I would go with the laiter.

Steve

[trilinearmipmap]

I understand Ron Shimek advises salinity of 1.025 to 1.026 and temperatures in the low 80's. I have been following his advice.

Overall I have been very surprised and pleased with the success of my reef tank to date and this has been despite my neglecting routine maintainence such as water changes.

[Matt]

Shimek's article on temp and salinity is an interesting read. Is there a comparable article by Fenner to compare the differences?On Fenner's website (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/heatingf.htm) he doesn't come right out and say "do this, don't do that", but he does validate people who are keeping their aquaria in the 75 range. In his book "The Conscientious Marine Aqaurist", he states "Temperature: 72 to 80 degrees Fareneit" is the target range -- he also states that stability is more important than an absolute number. The Shimek article and related followup both state that variation is normal, and temps above 80 are basically necessary to avoid stressing the animals.

[Beverly]

Personally, I keep my tanks at 78-80F, salinity 1.024 to 1.026 - the target SG being 1.025.

We get our various animals from so many different places that I don't think we can satisfy the demands Shimek suggests for different SGs and temps in one tank. That being said, it seems to make the most sense to keep temps and SG fairly constant, at least to me.

Thanks for bringing up this topic. I will keep these links in mind.

[rickjames]

Those of us with MH and no chiller run our temperature at whatever we can keep it at! :mrgreen:

Mine usually ranges from 80 to 84 daily, but did hit 88 today. :eek:

IMO anything under say 78-79 is on the low side....

[Willow]

i think it's more important that whatever tempeture you do decide on that you keep it stable and within the smallest swing possible.

[StirCrazy]

Those of us with MH and no chiller run our temperature at whatever we can keep it at! :mrgreen:

Mine usually ranges from 80 to 84 daily, but did hit 88 today. :eek:

IMO anything under say 78-79 is on the low side....

time for a chiller Rick, mine used to go up to about 92 on a day like yesterday but held a balmy 78.6 yesterday. I am adding chiller to one of the best investments I have made yet :mrgreen:

Steve

[rickjames]

Yeah I hear ya, its that dang island weather.... hopefully my new setup with the sump in the basement will even things out, but if my temp is unstable on the new tank, I will be getting a chiller. :cool:

[reefhawk]

ihave had great success with a mean average temperature of 80 degrees. I never let it vary more than 2 degrees either way. so 78 - 82. Living in the okanagan, temps swing wildly and i run three 250 m/h's (space light style) so i was expecting problems. Use a 250w heater in the sump and one in the tank all winter it is very stable. during the hot months i mount a fan between the lighting and waters surface. Only drawback is about 4 or 5 gals of top up every night