Urgent Care :: thermometer broke - help!

[briannashea]

my r.e.s. is 3 years old and in perfect health, but today when I went to turn on his lamps I saw that his thermometer was broken and floating...yes, I did what everyone says not to do and purchased a glass weighted thermometer. I don't know what company made it though because I bought it about 2 years ago. anyway, today the base was broken off and some of the little silver beads fell out into the water. I can't find the beads or the glass, so I took my turtle out of the tank immediately. it's a 30 gallon tank and from what I'm reading online thermometers rarely use mercury anymore and the silver beads were most likely lead used to weight it. do I need to do a complete water change or will the 30 gallons of water dilute any metal enough to be safe for my turtle?

[vic021]

not sure but i know that there is conditioners like the ones you use to remove chlorine if you use tap water that also removes metals like copper and lead and things of that mater i would try to use that for a bit

[happycamper]

Does this help?

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f1 ... 15103.html

[marisa]

If you can't find the glass or beads and know pieces are missing, I would do a water change.

[jozzep]

I've read of turtles dieing from eating tiny pieces of glass that were missed after a bulb explosion or a broken glass thermometer.
Clean the tank and make sure you take ALL the broken glass out.

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

Do a complete water change clean tank gravel and anything else you have in there.
keep an eye on your turtle to see if he ate any of the glass.

[harleysmom]

My turtle breaks all his thermometers. I buy the cheap $3 ones that are glass with the little beads in the bottom.

they don't use mercury anymore, so you're safe there.

Last time he broke it, I just did a full water clean, emptied the tank, scooped out the beads, refilled the tank. bought a new thermometer. it's been a few months and he just started pulling this one apart today, so I'm off to buy a new one.

I worried alot to the first time he did it, but you should be fine. turtles destroy things, its normal.

[Spike 7.62]

My turtle breaks all his thermometers. I buy the cheap $3 ones that are glass with the little beads in the bottom.

they don't use mercury anymore, so you're safe there.

Last time he broke it, I just did a full water clean, emptied the tank, scooped out the beads, refilled the tank. bought a new thermometer. it's been a few months and he just started pulling this one apart today, so I'm off to buy a new one.

I worried alot to the first time he did it, but you should be fine. turtles destroy things, its normal.

If your turtle repeatedly breaks thermometers which spread glass throughout the tank causing a complete overhaul, may I ask why don't you get a different kind of thermometer? There are the digital ones with nodes, suction cups and wires, and there are the ones that stick on the outside glass; both are very cheap, reliable and won't cause harm to your turtle, or cause you to clean glass out of the tank.

-Spike

[harleysmom]

My turtle breaks all his thermometers. I buy the cheap $3 ones that are glass with the little beads in the bottom.

they don't use mercury anymore, so you're safe there.

Last time he broke it, I just did a full water clean, emptied the tank, scooped out the beads, refilled the tank. bought a new thermometer. it's been a few months and he just started pulling this one apart today, so I'm off to buy a new one.

I worried alot to the first time he did it, but you should be fine. turtles destroy things, its normal.

If your turtle repeatedly breaks thermometers which spread glass throughout the tank causing a complete overhaul, may I ask why don't you get a different kind of thermometer? There are the digital ones with nodes, suction cups and wires, and there are the ones that stick on the outside glass; both are very cheap, reliable and won't cause harm to your turtle, or cause you to clean glass out of the tank.

-Spike

The ones that stick on the outside of the tank I don't trust. wouldnt they measure the air temp outside the tank, not the water temp? the glass is thick, so the temp inside the tank is different than outside...also I don't know how to read them.

I had a digital one to measure the basking area temp and he wrecked that too. it had a sensor thing on the end of the wire with a suction cup, and then a digital piece that goes outside the tank, but he ate the sensor thing, like chewed right through the wire covering and wrecked it. I haven't been able to find a digital one that is submersible for a good price, just the ones that measure air temp.

I like the thermometers he has.

[steve]

harleysmom, I used to have the exact same reasoning as you did. I did notice that when properly applied, they are more consistent than the digital probe versions. They might be off 1 or 2 degrees, depending on room temperature... but stay relatively consistent. Some of the digital ones are off by several degrees. I also use a digital temp gun as my main thermometer, I can't think of anything more accurate.

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

Wow Harleysmom your turtle sure like's to destroy his thermometers.
My RES sometimes bangs his thermometrs on the glass but not hard enough for it to break (Hopefully).
Try putting the thermometer on the very bottom with something covering it like a plant or a big rock.