What kind of temperature gun us best?

[Kat_Rigel]

Hi all, been having some temperature issues in my tank and want to invest in some slightly nicer equipment. (After being a very poor college student for so many years, it's a hard habit to break lol) Right now I have those thermometers with the black LCD display that have a wire going to the waterproof temperature probe. I'd like to get a temperature gun instead. Those of you with experience with this tool, how difficult is it to get an accurate reading? It seems like it would be tricky to get a water temp because it uses a laser reflection; water is clear (to some degree) so it makes me think it would be hard to get an accurate temp. It would be easy enough to check with some ice water though. And how sensitive is it to distance? Do you have to hold it a certain distance from the tank, and how much does that affect your numbers?
Any preferred brand or type? Or do you think picking one up from the hardware store should work just as well?

[Mridul Singh]

Hi,

I prefer the Etekcity ones (the yellow kind). They have been reliable for me. All I do is point it at the water, not through the glass (I do see a difference if I point through the glass) Any reasonable distance is fine, just be sure not to be too far away. They're fairly accurate too!

Hope that helps, and let me know if I can help with anything else.

[Tanked]

Hi Kat,

I think the short answer is: unless you are doing something that is temperature critical, it won’t matter.

Your questions gave me a reason to play scientist for a few minutes. Within a few degrees, everything in the tank should be the same temperature as the water by default.  I used a Ryobi laser, a Taylor digital, and a Taylor analog dial thermometer. Using the laser through the aquarium glass and directly over the water produced nearly identical results.  +- 2 degrees.  Distance did not seem to make a difference unless I was more than 3 feet away. I use the Taylor digital for everything.

[Dawn T]

I LOVE this forum! I had the same question, remembered to do a search to see if the question had already been asked before asking it myself, and low and behold... 😉

[gardenman]

On 11/8/2020 at 1:44 PM, Mridul Singh said:

Hi,

I prefer the Etekcity ones (the yellow kind). They have been reliable for me. All I do is point it at the water, not through the glass (I do see a difference if I point through the glass) Any reasonable distance is fine, just be sure not to be too far away. They're fairly accurate too!

Hope that helps, and let me know if I can help with anything else.

I have the same one and it works great. I use it for a lot of stuff besides my fish. If I'm frying some food, it gives me a nearly instant read on the oil temperature. I also use the laser pointer on it to annoy my cats and also the fish who love to chase the red dot. It's a good tool.