# I Will NEVER EVER Trust a Digital Thermometer Again!!!



## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

This past Sunday I purchased 8 new coral frags, a purple firefish and an ocellaris. I brought them to work with me today and dripped them for roughly an hour. Shortly after releasing the fish into the tank, the firefish died and the ocellaris was breathing rapidly.

I panicked, checked all my parameters then noticed that the water was significantly warmer than 80 degreed F by touch even though my digital thermometer said 78F!

I turned off all the lights, lifted the lid, mixed up a fresh batch of SW and did a 20% water change. I put in a Maxi-Jet 404 to add air and circulation. The temperature quickly came down to normal. I really hope my Ocellaris makes it! 

This digital thermometer is going in the garbage, I'm going to buy an old fashioned thermometer!

Be warned, batteries die quickly!


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

aargh! that sounds infuriating.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

twoheadedfish said:


> aargh! that sounds infuriating.


It was devastating! None of the thermometers we have are more than 7 months old!!! I was so freaked out and panicked trying to lower the temperature in the tank! I was wondering why I could never get it up to 78-80!


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Too bad Tabatha, sorry to hear of the loss. Hopefully with the new correct temperature the BC8 does much better!

I think the digital thermos are ok, but nothing beats a plain old thermometer powered by nothing more than expansion and contraction. I'm a believer that the more controls steps there are along the way, something will screw up eventually. Hopefully everything comes around for you!!!


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Thanks, the Ocellaris took a beating, his breathing isn't as labored, temp is down to 78F.

Any thoughts for names? Maybe I'll wait till next week to choose one providing s/he lives... Here's a preemptive *NO* to "_Nemo_"!


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

i'm partial to naming any fish with "clown" in it's common name after creepy-ass clowns like John Wayne Gacy or It. Mind you, i'm not entirely sane.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Ew, no, no, no!

"_Crusty_" maybe... 

I'll be getting him/her a boy/girlfriend too...


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

sorry to hear about that. I am unsure about my "mood ring" thermomoter that I will be buying a glass one at the end of the week. Where technology fails, tried and true come through.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Tabatha said:


> I'll be getting him/her a boy/girlfriend too...[/FONT]


haha, either way, you'll have a pair. Hooray for hermaphrodites.


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

Hmmm

A name for clowns?

how about IT


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

C'mon you guys, nothing from horror movies or serial killers.

Ocellaris are the sweetest, most non-aggressive of all clown fish. This little dude has been through too much already, s/he needs a sweet name (not Care Bears sweet).


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

As the others have said I am sorry to hear about losing the firefish. I use the glass thermometers on all my aquariums as I don't trust the other types. They are a PITA though as they are always facing the wrong way, out of reach and if you put a suction cup on them they come off after a while and float to the nether regions.


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

Tabatha said:


> C'mon you guys, nothing from horror movies or serial killers.
> 
> Ocellaris are the sweetest, most non-aggressive of all clown fish. This little dude has been through too much already, s/he needs a sweet name (not Care Bears sweet).


how bout Marge LeBarge and Dangerous Dan McGrew? (I love Robert Service poems).


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

I think horror movie names would be the perfect irony for a sweet little fish. But I happen to be sort of evil that way. Heck I had a rabbit named Stew once. 

My shrimp is named Claude (play on the word Clawed.) the evil shrimp.
My Thai Flying fox is named Tsunami

My pet pigeon is named Chase or turkeyturd.

I had a pigeon for about 8 years named Braindead and a hamster named Trillium Tribbles. (she had babies after we bought her and she was a teddy bear.

A sweet name. Taffy, Sweep, Wiggles, Fantoots, candystripe. 

Ocean names: Current, Swift, Wake, Tidal, Shore, Bobble, Bubble, Shimmer

That's it. I am all named out unless you want to go with names like...

Seaspray, Sunset, stormy...


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

Fever.........


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Sunstar said:


> I think horror movie names would be the perfect irony for a sweet little fish. But I happen to be sort of evil that way. Heck I had a rabbit named Stew once.
> 
> My shrimp is named Claude (play on the word Clawed.) the evil shrimp.
> My Thai Flying fox is named Tsunami
> ...


Sunstar, I love the names you've come up with! Especially *Swift* and *Wake*!


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## Katalyst (Jul 29, 2007)

Don't ask me for good names then, I have a betta named Birdie. He's always flaring like such a lunatic its like his fishy version of flipping the bird lol. Hence the Bird man name.


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## XbrandonX (Nov 22, 2007)

I name all my fish 'That One'

oh look at 'That One' it's doing that thing again..

Although I had a Gold Nugget Pleco named George.. no reason, he just looked like a george.

I like Fever though.. Sucks about the thermometer.. I prefer the old fashioned ones cause their $3.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

XbrandonX said:


> I name all my fish 'That One'
> 
> oh look at 'That One' it's doing that thing again..
> 
> ...


Stick with the old fashioned ones Brandon, they're more reliable!!!


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

Heh, I forgot the goldfish names. 

I had two a couple years ago that passed on. Broke my spark. One was a female. Her name was Orca, she was gold and orange and basically the size of a whale. The other one was male and his name was Spaz.

The fish that died of dropsy this year, and that was horrible to see and I failed at treatment, was named "the unnamed one"

My platies are named right now in a collective manner

Fry: microfiche
medium fry: Macrofiche
Other fish: Ever hungry things.


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

my fish fall into two categories. _Little blighters_ are the ones that piss me off and _cute little f*ck*rs_ fill the rest of the bunch.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Tabatha said:


> Stick with the old fashioned ones Brandon, they're more reliable!!!


My personal favs are the suction cup kind. I just stick them at a convenient but out of sight place, and they're always there. And if they malfunction, I'm sure I have a much bigger problem than a simple digital failure.

The only fish that has a name in any of my tanks is gimpy. He is a leopard frog pleco (L134) that has a kink in his spine about 2/3 of the way to his tail, probably from an injury when he was a fry, but he's grown up big and strong and is now about 2 - 2.5 inches. Besides that, everybody else looks too similar to get names, besides "fatty", but that usually is my fault for keeping my pleccies well fed


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## jewel-stavroula (Jan 11, 2008)

did you check the parameters before dripping? Was the water in the bags close to the parameters in your tank?

I doubt it was the temperature.. A couple of degrees wouldn't have killed the fish...


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## jewel-stavroula (Jan 11, 2008)

Also, the salt should've been mixed for 24hrs before it was added to the tank.. Not too safe to do otherwise..


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

jewel-stavroula said:


> did you check the parameters before dripping? Was the water in the bags close to the parameters in your tank?
> 
> I doubt it was the temperature.. A couple of degrees wouldn't have killed the fish...


Jewel, trust me, it was the temperature, like a bath tub I would get into. All parameters were fine, if you read from the beginning of the post, I mention that.

Nitrate = 20 (An acceptable level for salt water, not perfect, of course.)
Nitrites = 0
Ammonia = 0

FYI, increased heat = decreased oxygen. The Ocellaris was gasping.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

jewel-stavroula said:


> Also, the salt should've been mixed for 24hrs before it was added to the tank.. Not too safe to do otherwise..


The risk of leaving the tank as it was, was greater than adding freshly mixed water. I've never had problems with fresh water. I don't make it a habit but in a pinch, it's not going to kill the fish.

BTW, I've read from many, many sources, that 2 hours is fine.


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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

Tabatha said:


> The risk of leaving the tank as it was, was greater than adding freshly mixed water. I've never had problems with fresh water. I don't make it a habit but in a pinch, it's not going to kill the fish.
> 
> BTW, I've read from many, many sources, that 2 hours is fine.


You are correct Tabatha, you should be fine. I've mixed mine in an emergency as well but mixed the salt with a power head for 2 hrs then airstone for 2 hrs, have never had an issue. One other way is a ziplock baggie of ice which can start to bring down the temps immediately.

One the fish names my 3 year old named our fish

clowns - Krusty & Nemo
yellow tang - Big Bird
Chromis - Cookie Monster
Clown Goby - Tweety
Sailfin Tang - Big Guy


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## Guest (Aug 13, 2008)

Why would you do a water change to lower the temperature? Once the damage is done trying to rectify by adding more stress is far worse than leaving in the situation. I don't think I've ever seen a fish die suddenly going into water temps warmer (up to 12 deg f). 10+ deg f cooler yes but warmer never.
Changing water would just add to the stress. Fish can take a radical change to warmer water much better than going to a cooler situation. The human touch is quite good at sensing subtle changes in temperature and touching between the two different waters should have tipped off a wide variance present. Nitrate and Ammonia would be irrelevant as a parameter for acclimation. The more important variables, which I didn't see you mention, are specific gravity and pH. . Variances of these would have more likely lead to the sudden demise of the fish. Checking the conditions in the water in the bag contra the conditions in your tank would have been more important. Floating the bag usually equalizes temperatures. Unless the SG and pH are in wide variance dripping for such a long time is more detrimental than being conducive to a happy transition to the new aquarium. The whole idea of acclimation is to get them in the tank as soon as possible. The biggest mistake many "newbies" make is drip their fish for extended periods exposing their new fish to not only the fish's own excess of excreta in the bag (ammonia, CO2) but to a rapid drop in temperature. The little bit of water in a bucket etc holds temperature like a sieve and thinking dripping is going to hold the temp is a common mistake. 
The only need to drip fish for extended periods (greater than 1/2 hour) would be if the parameters varied greatly. Ask the store what the SG and pH are when you buy the fish. If they are greatly different from your tank then reconsider purchasing until you can bring yours close. More fish die from poor acclimation than from disease.

Read the recommended mixing times for salt from the manufacturers. Most will say until fully dissolved... that's when it's crystal clear. Look at newly mixed salt water and you will see a slight haze, this indicates the salt isn't fully dissolved. 12 to 24 hours is far safer than 2 to 4 hours. I don't think a temperature emergency would be considered a water change emergency. Have you considered using a vat of pre-mixed water for possible emergencies? It pays to have a clean container of pre-mixed, aerated and heated water available for emergencies.

learning is painful....

from Quality Marine (MAC certified wholesaler)

_We recommend that boxes should be opened and fish be acclimated in low light to reduce fish stress. For most species, bags should be floated for 20 -30 minutes in the tanks that will house them to compensate for water temperature differences. However, if there is any indication that the water has fouled, it is recommended that the bag is floated for no more than 15 minutes and the inhabitant should immediately be released to clean water. It is always recommended that you have an idea of the Salinity and pH of the water used for shipping. This will allow you to adjust your system as necessary. Drastic changes in water quality greatly reduce survivability. For sensitive species, such as starfish and ornamental shrimp we recommend drip acclimation; a process in which water from the system is slowly dripped into the bag. This precaution allows the organism to slowly adjust to the change in water conditions._


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi h_s, thanks for your recommendations.

I should realize by now that I should always be specific with problems. 

I purchased the fish on Sunday; one from the lfs (we've bought fish from them before without any parameter problems) and one from our local coral supplier who's also supplied us with water to top up a new, larger tank. I brought them home and kept them in a rubbermaid bin by themselves till Tuesday (using water from our tank).

Tuesday morning, at the last minute, I put the fish in bags then we drove to work which took approx. an hour. The fish bag was BIG and I added a lot of water. The first thing I did when I got to work was remove some of the water from the bag and start a drip.

My tank at work has been running since June 17th without any parameter fluctuations and which are the same as the tank at home (with the exception of calcium which seems to be a battle but I've since changed salts). There have been no fish in this tank since early July (yellow clown goby). Bad choice for an office tank, I know now. Unfortunately, he didn't survive and disappeared. 

I didn't have any extra buckets till yesterday so yes, I now have a bucket with a heater and powerhead running 24/7.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

"_Swift_" is still with us, YIPEEE!

Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 10
PH = 8
Calcium = 440
SG = 1.023
Temp. = 78F


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## XbrandonX (Nov 22, 2007)

(You could name him Danny Ocean)


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

XbrandonX said:


> (You could name him Danny Ocean)


Ooooo, I like! Or "11" for short.


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## XbrandonX (Nov 22, 2007)

Or 11 for short.


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

Tabatha said:


> This digital thermometer is going in the garbage, I'm going to buy an old fashioned thermometer!
> 
> Be warned, batteries die quickly!


I had a similar problem (no fish loss thankfully, sorry about yours) with a digital thermometer a year or two ago. I thought it was the battery - even though the unit was only 1 month old for me, who knows how long it was on the shelf?

So, I replaced the battery and it still continued to tell me that my water was 71-72, when I was sure it was 77-79. Neither Coralife/ESU nor BA's felt compelled to replace it - so I bought an oldie and won't go back to digital again. With the wasted $$ on the unit and the replacement battery, I could have bought 8-10 of the old red alcohol types!

BTW: I like "11" as the name. Great conversation starter, people are sure to ask why.

NOTE: I just looked and BA's has stopped selling the offending unit online since that time - they may still have it in stores though.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Sorry to hear of that tabatha!

You know i stink at naming things lol.

Yea i broke my digital 4 days after i bought it. I must have crimped the cord or somthing because it got stuck too after i closed the lid on it by accident. 

Happy with the old glass guys.


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