can someone recommend a good quality digital thermometer?

Skeptic_07

Skeptic_07

New member
i friggin' hate the coralife ones. I've broken 3 so far because the part with the lcd screen fell in the water. I'm looking for something a little more heavy duty that i can clip on to the sump. i friggin' hate suction cups!! i will never use anything with suction cups again! thank you!
 
i'm looking at this pinpoint one right now. its wireless and will need batteries. i wonder how fast it goes through them. anyone have one of these?
 
I have used my share of digital thermometers in my time and have found that the words quality and digital and thermometer do not go together. I have not found a decent one yet.
 
Well i would say dropping it in the water is the problem not the type. Been having the same one for 3 years now, working great. No plans of dropping in water.
 
I have a Lifeguard Little Time & Temp. It has worked well for a couple of years. I dropped it in the tank a few times, and dried it back out with my wife's hair dryer. Its still going. The last time I dropped it in the tank I thought it was dead for good so I went out and bought a Coralife. I now have the LifeGuard on one side of the tank and the Coralife on the other. They stay about 1 1/4 degrees apart. I figure this way if one starts reading wrong I should be able to tell before any damage is done. I also keep a regular thermometer for water changes and to check the accuracy of the digitals once in a while. If you drop the LifeGuard in the tank, just quickly remove the battery and let it dry out under a hair dryer or something, and it will usually come back on. Petco wanted 30 bucks for them, but I got it at Petsmart for 17. I wish someone would make one that you could dunk!
 
I bought a Tropic Marin thermometer ( http://www.aquariumguys.com/thermometer1.html ) to find out how far off my Reef Keeper2's temperature was reading and found it to be off by 1.5 degrees. I have a couple different digital thermometers including the Time/Temp and found them to be off also. I have a cool looking digital thermometer from Hellolights that was off by a degree.
 
well saltwaterdog, i applaud you for not breaking the this dinky piece of equipment but unfortuately for me i tend to keep breaking them. the wire on it is always getting caught on something when i go to do something. this last one was on the eggcrate on my sump because the suction cup is garbage. i lift the eggcrate to get at some rubble, not realizing... i shouldnt have to keep it up there in the first place!
 
so you guys use glass thermometers? huh. i always thought the easier it was to read the more likely i'll notice something when its wrong. maybe i'm just lazy..

oceanspray: i know the one you're talking about it seems basically the same as the coralife one. I've done that trick take the battery out and dry it out. i've even taken them apart to dry them out but they dont work right after that. it'll display like 88.8 all the time unless i hit the button like nuts.
 
I have three of the Coralife digital thermometers. If I put them all in the same tank, one says about 77, one says about 78, and one says about 79. So obviously they're not the most accurate, but close enough. One of them was dropped in the water and stopped working for a day or so, but after drying it out it started working again.

I think I might get one of those Tropic Marin thermometers that Jeff posted, just to see what the temperature of my tank really is.
 
I've had my coralife digital for 5 yrs. and it just stopped working yesterday. It registered my tank temp at 60.5. I immeadiately got another stealth heater. It still registered low. I ended up getting a glass themomater and my tank is 80*. Oh well, never hurts to have a backup heater :)
 
i dont need one thats accurate. if its off by 2-3 degrees thats fine as long as its always off by the same amount which i'm pretty sure those coralife ones are thats not my beef with them. i want one that i can just hang on the tank or sump with no dangling wires or faulty suction cups. useing suction cups to mount stuff is like using silly putty instead of a xerox machine. know what i mean?
 
I have a 5 year old Lifegard Big Digital.
After reading so many threads about inaccurate digital thermometers, I bought one of the Tropic Marin ones from aquariumguys 2 weeks ago.
Turns out the digital reads within one half degree of the Tropic Marin alcohol glass thermometer.
Oh well, $25 including shipping is worth some piece of mind.
 
We've got the TOM digital thermometer ($20 @ Petsmart) - worked ok for about 4 months then the temp display died. Still keeps good time... LOL... :)
Bought a HANNA instruments TDS meter from SpectraPure and its accurate when compared to a glass style..bad thing is, it is not for permanent installation into the tank...more a dip & check...May go back to those old LCD sticky's as they seemed to be reasonably accurate...
 
I haven't had any problems with this one. Twenty bucks at Radio Shack. The top reading is the tank, the bottom is room temperature.

13.jpg
 
I agree with the Rainbow Lifegard Little Time Or Temp. It's cheap and has been very reliable/accurate.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/198909/product.web

My first thermometer was the Coralife one--total piece of crap. Within 5 months, the thing was showing a temp that was 5 degrees lower than actual temp--I almost killed my whole tank before I realized it was the bad thermometer because I freaked out and jacked my heaters up.
 
the suction cup on the Coralife thermometer is for the wire and sensor, not for holding the LCD screen.

for $6.99, just buy three more. I find that if I have spares, the original lasts forever. sort of like a Murphy's Law insurance policy

When I've dropped these guys into water, I remove the battery and let it sit out for a couple days. Let it dry out completely and when i put the battery back in, it usually still works.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3744+12089&pcatid=12089
 
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