Taking Tank Temperature

[jossswonk1]

Does anyone have an accurate way of finding the water temp? I have some cheap digital thermometers that all say different temps when they're in the same water. Has anyone had success with a temperature gun? Any help would be great!

 

[emeraldking4 55]

I'm using a temperature gun when I'm offering my fish at vivaristic events. That's the fastest way of checking the temperatures in each container on the table. For the events that I participate, a vet is always checking the exhibitors how they keep their live stock.
Well, the precision of digital thermometers that you can put in the water or against the glass can differ a lot. That's a given. After all, due to manufacturing costs, not all thermometers are accurately calibrated. But to honest, I'd always prefer an old school mercury thermometer over a digital one.

 

[GaryE24 139]

I use an infra red temperature gun. I heat few tanks, but with our current hot days and cool August nights full of crickets, the tank temperature is usually cooler than the room in the day. All 3 of the infra-red temp guns I've had over the years have been consistent.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford23 139]

IR Temp Gun fan as well. My IR Temp Gun and Inkbird are within tenths of a degree of each other, that's good enough for me.

 

[bgarthe25 42]

I use my Finnex HMX Titanium Heater Control, a glass tube mercury simulated fluid, not mercury thermometer, a temp gun once in a while and the digital probe unit. The probe is very accurate as is the glass tube unit. Those battery powered digital stick on units are a waste, short lived, and not accurate imo.

 

[Jennet3 61]

I use a temp gun (from when I kept reptiles) as well as an old glass thermometer that still works, plus a cheap leave the plastic bit in the tank that displays temp reading that has so far been consistently 1 degree higher than both of the others.

 

[TwoTankAmin18]

I rely om the cheaper thermometers with the knowledge they are somewhat inaccurate. But then as long as I know they are close to correct I am happy since fish do not need a single number but, rather they do fine within a temperature range. I have likely purchased 40 or 50 thermometers. I have them all still for the most part.

What I like todo is put the ones not in use out on a table and then about 30 minutes of so later I will arrange them in order from the lowest to the highest. The I pick the ones in the middle which are all with 1 dgree of each other to use. If I were buying them in a retail store I would looke at the ones they have out and see what temp, is in the same sort of position and choose one one the middle.

Last year I did uy a NIB cheap IR unit at my club auction. It is decent but only so-so in terms of being reliable. I tend to rely on my heater controllers for giving me an accurate reading. The problem with this is the brand I use is in C and I and an F person. In my pleco breeding space all the tanks had controllers on them. I had a chart on the wall in that area which displayed the C to F conversion in 1/2 C increments. The one thins I did memorize was that 30C=86F. Since, ultimately, all the plecos I worked with all came from the Big Bend or the Rio Xingu, they liked pretty warm water. When I had to simulate a dry rainy season for breeding purposes the top water temp. for the dry season was allowed to be in the lows 90sF when I did the onset of the rainy season.

However, over time I have learned to dip my right hand into a tank etc. to check the temp. I can tell if the water is likely too warm or too cool but not the exact temp. My left hand is less reliable than the right as the left feels the temp as being cooler than the right. The only problem is every now and then (but rarely) this flips for a short time- maybe a few hours or a day max. So, I still use thermometers.

I have used the same hang-on metal themometer (with the red liquid and not mercury) when I batch water from the faucet into my holding containers from where it is pumped into tanks.