Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

i would say that you need to get it a bit lower i keep mine at 78.6 night and when the vho and mh come on it slowly gets to 80.7. when mh go of it starts slow decline back to 78.6...
you need to watch and see what it does over the next day or two

81 is acceptable, contrary to what is often stated. The average of reefs run around 82, while reefs with the highest diversity and density occur at temps of ~84, so I'd consider that the upper limit. Anything within that range is fine, IME.