broken thermometer

[Sarah Navarro]

Hi all,

I just went to feed the fishies and noticed that the glass thermometer in
the tank was broken. Will this cause any damage to the fish? I got all the
glass out, but I don't know if the red stuff that tells the temp will harm
them? Any ideas? Thanks, Sarah

[Billy]

"Sarah Navarro" > wrote in message
hlink.net...
> Hi all,
>
> I just went to feed the fishies and noticed that the glass
> thermometer in the tank was broken. Will this cause any damage to
> the fish? I got all the glass out, but I don't know if the red
> stuff that tells the temp will harm them? Any ideas? Thanks,
> Sarah

It's water with red food coloring, in most cases. Did it have lead
pellets in the bottom? Some believe this could pose a hazard. I am
not among them, however. I think you'll be fine. I've busted about 10
of those blasted things.

[Scott]

"Billy" > wrote in message
...
>
>
>
> "Sarah Navarro" > wrote in message
> hlink.net...
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I just went to feed the fishies and noticed that the glass thermometer in
>> the tank was broken. Will this cause any damage to the fish? I got all
>> the glass out, but I don't know if the red stuff that tells the temp will
>> harm them? Any ideas? Thanks, Sarah
>
> It's water with red food coloring, in most cases. Did it have lead pellets
> in the bottom? Some believe this could pose a hazard. I am not among them,
> however. I think you'll be fine. I've busted about 10 of those blasted
> things.
>

Actually, I believe it is alcohol. Mercury is not as common. And lead
pellets can pose a hazard to a point if swallowed. That is the reason why
some states have discouraged, or downright banned lead sinkers, although
they are more of a hazard to waterfowl than fish.

---scott

[Billy]

"Scott" <smaxell1{at}hotmail.com> wrote in message
...
>
> Actually, I believe it is alcohol. Mercury is not as common. And
> lead pellets can pose a hazard to a point if swallowed. That is the
> reason why some states have discouraged, or downright banned lead
> sinkers, although they are more of a hazard to waterfowl than fish.
>
> ---scott

Since water freezes at 32F, it won't work in most thermometers.
Aquarium thermometers don't generally get that cold, so I had been
led to believe that water was used in them. I did some Googleing and
every source I read says that very few, if any thermometers use
anything but alcohol, excepting those that use mercury, which is easy
to spot due to it's characteristic silver color.
Still, a tiny bit of alcohol shouldn't cause harm, I wouldn't
think. As I said, I've broken many of those things, and have never
seen any damage that I could directly link to the thermometer, though
I have no real information other than that to back up the belief.

billy

[HairyMcLeary]

"Billy" > wrote in message
...
>
>
>
> "Scott" <smaxell1{at}hotmail.com> wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> Actually, I believe it is alcohol. Mercury is not as common. And lead
>> pellets can pose a hazard to a point if swallowed. That is the reason why
>> some states have discouraged, or downright banned lead sinkers, although
>> they are more of a hazard to waterfowl than fish.
>>
>> ---scott
>
> Since water freezes at 32F, it won't work in most thermometers. Aquarium
> thermometers don't generally get that cold, so I had been led to believe
> that water was used in them. I did some Googleing and every source I read
> says that very few, if any thermometers use anything but alcohol,
> excepting those that use mercury, which is easy to spot due to it's
> characteristic silver color.
> Still, a tiny bit of alcohol shouldn't cause harm, I wouldn't think. As
> I said, I've broken many of those things, and have never seen any damage
> that I could directly link to the thermometer, though I have no real
> information other than that to back up the belief.
>
> billy
>
A bit of topic... if your thermometer was one of those with the single
suction cap on the top, save the old suction cap and slide it on to the
bottom of the new thermometer and stick both suction caps onto the glass. My
Kissing Gouramis were always breaking my thermometers until I tried this
trick, haven't broken one since. I had a friend who use to put his
thermometer inside one of those plastic heater guards. Looks ugly but it
works.

Tony

[Samuel Warren]

I use the fancy digital thermometers. They were 2 on clearance from at my
LFS. Original price $49.95 each, my price $13.95 each, I could not pass
that up. Now I have High and Low temp alarms too.

This message was written on 100% recycled spam. SAM >>

"HairyMcLeary" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Billy" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> >
> >
> > "Scott" <smaxell1{at}hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > ...
> >>
> >> Actually, I believe it is alcohol. Mercury is not as common. And lead
> >> pellets can pose a hazard to a point if swallowed. That is the reason
why
> >> some states have discouraged, or downright banned lead sinkers,
although
> >> they are more of a hazard to waterfowl than fish.
> >>
> >> ---scott
> >
> > Since water freezes at 32F, it won't work in most thermometers. Aquarium
> > thermometers don't generally get that cold, so I had been led to believe
> > that water was used in them. I did some Googleing and every source I
read
> > says that very few, if any thermometers use anything but alcohol,
> > excepting those that use mercury, which is easy to spot due to it's
> > characteristic silver color.
> > Still, a tiny bit of alcohol shouldn't cause harm, I wouldn't think.
As
> > I said, I've broken many of those things, and have never seen any damage
> > that I could directly link to the thermometer, though I have no real
> > information other than that to back up the belief.
> >
> > billy
> >
> A bit of topic... if your thermometer was one of those with the single
> suction cap on the top, save the old suction cap and slide it on to the
> bottom of the new thermometer and stick both suction caps onto the glass.
My
> Kissing Gouramis were always breaking my thermometers until I tried this
> trick, haven't broken one since. I had a friend who use to put his
> thermometer inside one of those plastic heater guards. Looks ugly but it
> works.
>
> Tony
>
>

[Sarah Navarro]

Thanks, I'll try that. They are all still well this morning so I guess
they will live.

Sarah


> A bit of topic... if your thermometer was one of those with the single
> suction cap on the top, save the old suction cap and slide it on to the
> bottom of the new thermometer and stick both suction caps onto the glass.
> My Kissing Gouramis were always breaking my thermometers until I tried
> this trick, haven't broken one since. I had a friend who use to put his
> thermometer inside one of those plastic heater guards. Looks ugly but it
> works.
>
> Tony
>

[Billy]

"Samuel Warren" > wrote in message
...
>I use the fancy digital thermometers. They were 2 on clearance from
>at my
> LFS. Original price $49.95 each, my price $13.95 each, I could not
> pass
> that up. Now I have High and Low temp alarms too.
>


I have purchased 3 or 4 electronic thermometers over the years and
never had one that was reliable despite the expense of a couple of
them. I gave up.

b

[NEIL SUESZ]

"Sarah Navarro" > wrote in message
hlink.net...
> Hi all,
>
> I just went to feed the fishies and noticed that the glass thermometer in
> the tank was broken. Will this cause any damage to the fish? I got all
the
> glass out, but I don't know if the red stuff that tells the temp will harm
> them? Any ideas? Thanks, Sarah
>
>

My loaches are hard on them too. I dont think there should be any problems.
If there were, my fish would have all died years ago.

Vicki S.

[Billy]

"HairyMcLeary" > wrote in message
...
>>
> A bit off topic... if your thermometer was one of those with the
> single suction cap on the top, save the old suction cap and slide
> it on to the bottom of the new thermometer and stick both suction
> caps onto the glass. My Kissing Gouramis were always breaking my
> thermometers until I tried this trick, haven't broken one since. I
> had a friend who use to put his thermometer inside one of those
> plastic heater guards. Looks ugly but it works.
>

Excellent idea, thanks.

billy

[Jennie Kermode]

On 2005-05-29, Billy > wrote:
> Still, a tiny bit of alcohol shouldn't cause harm, I wouldn't
> think.

Mixed in with that much water, it would seem highly unlikely
that it could cause a problem - and if it had done, the damage would
already be apparent.
My step-great-grandmother once gave brandy to a sick fish (she
was minding it for a holidaying friend and didn't know what else to do).
The fish went on to recover from its illness. Needless to say, this is not a
method I'd recommend!

Jennie

--
Jennie Kermode
http://www.triffid.demon.co.uk/jennie