Porcupine Puffer ate my glass Floating Thermometer!!!
 

I have a 9" Porcupine puffer (named Stewie..a.k.a Griffie) that decided to swallow my floating thermometer!!! (picture of one in the link below)! :shocked: I'm not sure why he decided to touch it after it has been there all along. I'm beating myself up that I even had it in there. Glad I heard the water splashing around, as I was trying to help Stewie spit it out, however the glass broke and tiny silver balls fell all over the sand bed! :shocked: I was in a panic to google what the tiny grey beads are, if they were Mercury or not. I removed all the fish (almost all), in case it contaminated the tank. Tried to remove as much tiny beads as possible, although impossible. Even though I removed a good chunk of sand bed.

I suspect the puffer swallowed some glass (pieces not found) and some tiny beads. He hasn't eaten for the last two days. Is my porcupine puffer poisoned himself?? If only I could pump his stomach, like humans can have done. Or have a drug to pass it out quickly, like a laxative.

The tiny beads... I'm reading are most likely are lead. Do you think Lead could poison a fish? How about.. what the ill effects would be to the tank if not all the lead balls could be removed???? Looking for any feedback.

Thanks a bunch


http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/s...D=ht-httfloats

I believe the metal balls are lead or another heavy metal, added simply for weight to keep the base down. They are certainly not mercury. As long as you got the majority out they shouldn't cause any problems in the tank.

As for the puffer the swallowed glass will certainly have an effect, the metal not so much. If the puffer continues not to eat it's likely dieing and you should consider doing the humane thing at that point.

Sorry for your luck.

The new thermometers are not mercury, I believe a alcohol of some sort. I have no idea of the side effects, the small metallic balls in the base, once again I do not know exactly what they are, but i have had a few break in my tank when my regal got angry with them. No ill effects in my tank, of course he didn't eat it though. Sorry i cannot be of more help.
Bob

I'm not entirely sure if the puffer ended up ingesting the broken glass; however I tried to piece most of it together to see and a small chuck is missing. I even re-aqua scaped this entire 230gal tank to look for the pieces, with no luck. I'm sure he must of swallowed some beads of lead (or whatever it is) though. I can't see how he couldn't. I will wait to see if the puffer continues to not eat. Although, he's still is swimming around like nothing happened. He is a big boy and a tough fish, wish me luck, cause I'll need it.

Thanks for the reply.

Your post is helpful. I wondered if anyone ever had one break in their tank and if it affected anything. Thanks for the reply. :biggrin:

My regal smashed them constantly, I ended up leaving the thermometer in the sump. I don't know why, but he hated them, as far as I know, i have had no ill effects, just gathered up what i could each time.

K.. that makes me feel a bit better. I will add the fish back to the setup. I was worried it would poison the whole setup, cause I can't get all the tiny silver beads. Although.....hopefully my blue boxfish, by blowing the sand to discover her food, doesn't find a silver bead and mistake it for food pellets. :shocked: *faint*

:jaw: Yikes! I had no idea that fish would break let alone eat a thermometer! I hope everything works out for you.

Told you he ate anything he could fit into his mouth:lol:

I forgot to mention give him forzen peas, it always worked when he ate snails and stuff he should not eat... good old Griffie, I see he has settled right in. He loves frozen peas too.

CRAP! I remember you telling me that, now that you mention it! Gawd, you gotta love him but what a little bugger!

Thats an excellent idea! I will try that. :biggrin:

Which in all honesty, is where stuff like that belongs.


Sorry to hear about this, hope he pulls through, but I would be worried about any glass shards be may have going through his digestive system. :sad:

You will also know if he has an upset belly if he starts inflating himself to realign his stomach folds. Does he have a cave in there for him to go under. He used to go into a cave in my tank so the powerheads didn't send him spinning off. He will be fine, just give him lots of peas for fibre... he ate so many snails and is still alive. He will inflate to throw up whatever is bothering him, and it does look pretty gross. When he threw up snail shells, he would often try to swallow them again.:wink:

He will be fine... he never ate glass at my place, but with the amounts of snails he would crush and eat, I would think he can take this. He will just inflate himself a lot to get rid of it... if he is not inflating, it is not posing a problem to him I am thinking.

Leeanne, has he been inflating himself at all? He does love frozen peas and whenever he was off his food due to indigestion he would readily eat them. He poops them out very quickly too... kind of reminds me of a cow.:lol:

Don't worry about him, he's fine.

TJDigital... Thank you CAPTAIN OBVIOUS! I do keep one in the sump; however I like to also monitor my tank above as the temperture is always different with the MH lights on. Perhaps in the near furture I will invest in a controller unit to monitor temp. :biggrin:

Thats a good point...he has not inflated since the incident. He will inflate after he has chocked on snails or mussel though. I never thought about that. I'm keeping my eye on him though. I would be crushed if anything happened to him. I tried peas with him once. He hasn't had them in a while. I will try that. Good idea! *superhugs*

Thanks Laurie! *superhugs*

I will keep everyone posted with the outcome. I've used these floating thermometers for YEARS with no problems. If anything this experiance may help others.

:lol: yeah, but you never had Griffie... I would have never thought he would try to eat that either though... he's a floating pair of eye balls and stomach. I know he will be fine and I am still so glad you adopted him Just don't get wrasses or gobies... mid you it would give him a hobby. He loves to hunt, but he can't catch Damsel fish of course, but maybe it might give him something more productive to do with himself.

I just skimmed through this thread.. are we talking about a fish here, or a monster??? What I read was, there's something swimming in your tank that likes to puff up and throw up glass shards to maim snails so that he can ingest them whole ?!?! :surprise:

He's a monster to anyone that can fit into his big mouth...:mrgreen:

What about one of those "thermometers" that sticks to the outside of the tank (its like a long rectangular sticker and the temperature turns green when it hits the right number)? I know they're pretty cheesy but they're also pretty accurate :biggrin:

hey dont worry!! mine broke in my tank too but the red stuff was still in the glass and didnt leak but the balls went everywhere and my tank is totally fine its been a month now and no problems!

Hope Griffie pulls through! He'll probably be fine. I dont think the lead in him will cause enough of a problem, since it will be only short-term exposure. The glass, not so sure. It is fairly sharp. But I guess they can regurgitate no problem so?

If your main tank temperature is that much different than your sump temperature, then I dont think you have enough water-flow going. + The 'floating thermometer' is not really accurate if the top is bobbing around sticking out of the water exposed to the lights and air just above the tank. A thermometer placed right where the tank's drain empties into the sump is the perfect spot for it. That will give you a reading pretty darn close (i'd bet less than half a degree) of your main tank provided you have correct circulation.

Sticky 'strip' thermometers are no good IMO. They measure the outside air temp/glass temp of the tank, not so much the water temp. Sorry to dissagree Christy? But tank's ive seen with those on, they always read differently than the in-tank thermometers.

Good luck with Griffie!

Chris

:lol: :lol: :lol: I guess to anyone without a 9 inch porcupine puffer this might sound weird. I gotta say they are cool fish though. Tons of fun character. Although they do get bored after time and can kill for fun, even if its a glass thermometer. :lol:

Guess you had better get a couple of Damsels for him to hunt... don't get Gobies, we know what happens to those already. He will never get damsels but maybe they will give him a hobby which he seems to be needing.

PHEW! Good to know. Glad to hear your tank suffered no ill effects as to todays date.

I'm glad Stewie (a.k.a Griffie) spit out the end of the red stick and ball, located in the glass that displayed the temp. Hmm... I don't think the red stuff can leak out, since I know my puffer broke it. I was right there and never seen red leak out. Hmm... now I wonder what the red tube is made of and if it leaks too? *scratching my head now* Never thought I would be researching every piece of a thermometer to see what its made of, after all these years of using one. :shocked:

Oh I was going to add:

Dont kill yourself over it, but, I would probably try to get as much of the lead balls out as you can. After all, it IS lead, lol. But definetly dont suck up all your sand over it.

Better safe than sorry though, I think? :)

Cheers,

Chris

I believe that the red "stuff" is just coloured alcohol commonly used in thermometers (no problem with such a small amount). The beads as everyone has said are lead shot. The lead shouldn't be a problem at the pH of your tank (i.e. won't leach over time). (If your pH dips low enough to cause leaching you have bigger problems to worrry about :) ). My biggest concern would be the fish ingesting glass and if its still ok then the worst has past. Have you posted of picture of this monster fish?

You have a good point, perhaps I don't have enough water-flow going, I will look at that. With the floating thermometer, if I think to get another one, I will put in tanks drain box. That would work. Thanks for your feedback!

I would like to see a picture of this eating machine.:biggrin:
Hope he pulls through swallowing glass is not a good thing not at all like a snail glass is razor sharp. Good chance he will be okay but swallowing glass is nasty stuff.

You should really be running a controller on your heaters or chiller (If you run one.) Heaters are know to fault out and stick in the heat position :twised: a controller will give you the correct temp and will prevent you from over heating. I am sure there are a few of us that have killed off our tanks because of a faulty heater. No need for a glass thermometer that way.:wink:

Agreed with Marlin. I run a digital thermometer in my tank, as well as a heater that is seperate from the control unit with it's own probe measuring the temperature. Redundant, and not that expensive.

Could you not just run a magnet along the bottom to collect all the lead balls? I still believe the glass would be more worriesome but if the lead balls bother you or they try to get eaten... don't know too much about salt water yet but I though this might help.

I thought of one of those. But I figured they arn't to accurate. :lol:

Very good point! Now that you mention it I did have this happen a few years back (caught it on time though) I'm looking to buy a controller. Any suggestions on one? :mrgreen:

:) BRILLIANT! :) i WONDER IF IT WOULD WORK???!! I almost want to tell the boss I'm going home early to... Wait a sec, I am the boss! :lol: Hmm.... I wonder if this would really work though?? Now I wonder if my Tunze magnet would work... hmm....ponder. GOOD SUGGESTION! Thank YOU! I will keep you posted if it works! :mrgreen:

UPDATE: On Stewie (a.k.a Griffie) the porcupine puffer...
 

UPDATE: On Stewie (a.k.a Griffie) the porcupine puffer...

I spoke to soon about him NOT inflating himself. Late lastnight he was blowing up like a big balloon over and over. Poor lil buddy. Although..he wouldn't touch the peas, he did swallow the krill whole. He seems to be having trouble chewing. I'm thinking he cut his mouth on the glass when he had the floating thermometer almost all the way in. :( However; at least he had some food!!! WOoHOOOO! Now he doesn't want anything to do with me. Dashing away from me when I come to the tank. He's acting as if I may have made him swallow the darn thermometer! Usually Stewie follows me around as I walk by. He won't even let me pet him now, he dashes away. :( Humanizing the puffer aside, he's not him self and doesn't want to socialize. Which tells me he most likely is under the weather with lead balls and perhaps glass shards. :( I will continue to monitor and update. I will see if I have some pictures of my pet monster handy.

Yup he has indigestion... not much you can do aside of trying peas and krill. I would imagine if he is inflating he has not tore his stomach up from the glass enough stop him from doing so. I would think this is a good sign but I am not sure. Whenever he did this at my house you would swear he had difficulty chewing as well, but I think it is from him trying to upchuck what is bothering him.

When he had indigestion here, he would not eat for up to a week, and was fine. I would take a shrimp or prawn and almost tease him with it for trigger a feeding response. Be careful when you do this, since once he strikes he tends to get both fingers in his mouth along with the food. How do I know this? He almost came out of the tank with my fingers once. He didn't do much damage but it hurt.

Like you mentioned to me a long time ago... he is getting really bored and needs some sort of stimulation. I am thinking you need a couple of fish you don't care about much for him to hunt. He was a big boy when he was caught, and I think he was hunting in the wild for too long to be totally happy in captivity at times. He is still the largest puffer I have ever seen.

I use a number of different thermometer types including the stick on cheapies. IME, the stick on is within half a degree Celsius (yes I prefer C over F) of the two digital thermometers in the display. I've seen plenty of threads with folks reporting that the digitals are off. No type of thermometer is foolproof. One of the ones I liked the most was in fact a floating glass thermometer/hydrometer combination. The hydrometer part of it was accurate as well when compared to my refractometer. It's well established technology, needs no batteries etc, the drawback being that they're breakable as you've experienced.

As far as accuracy, how much is really needed in the hobby? I often see folks reporting a salinity of 1.0264 on their refractometers. What's up with that last decimal point? The scale makes it almost impossible to read off that level of accuracy, it's at best a guess. If you just need a quick check to ensure you're heaters aren't malfunctioning, a stick on thermometer will do that for you nicely. Even if it's off a few degrees, it will keep you in the 'ballpark' so to speak.

Here is some pictures of Stewie (a.k.a Griffie)

http://i888.photobucket.com/albums/a...ld/stewie3.jpg

http://i888.photobucket.com/albums/a...ld/stewie1.jpg

http://i888.photobucket.com/albums/a...ld/stewie2.jpg

http://i888.photobucket.com/albums/a...ld/stewie4.jpg


Pictures don't do justice, as he looks small in pictures. I assure you need a bucket to get him out of the tank. :lol: