racefan Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 I was mag floating my sons 40 gal tank this evening when I noticed his glass thermometer was cracked. When I bumped it with the mag it broke the glass bubble off the bottom & about 1/3 to 1/2 of the mercury dumped out(scary) I got all the parts out put a big bag of fresh carbon in but I didn't have any water made up, so I made some up & am heating it now.How big of a water change should I do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 I am fairly certain that they do not use mercury on consumer grade thermometers. Does it have those little metal balls? Not mercury. Still want to get them out...a magnet should work. The red liquid is just red dyed alcohol or something like that. Shouldn't be a huge issue...just do some water changes and try to get all that metal out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciao Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 I'm pretty certain they don't use mercury for thermometers anymore. If it was red liquid then it was alcohol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racefan Posted February 23, 2010 Author Share Posted February 23, 2010 It did not have the little metal balls it was just red liquid. When I lifted the lid, the tank and the therm. had a petroleum ish odor to it. Kind of reminded me of a propane or kerosene type of odor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new school Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 if the liquid is red then just replace your carbon. the issue here is that in some thermometers, the metal balls are made of lead...... some stainless steel. if the magnet doesnt pick any up, then you will know they are lead. this can be a problem but dont stress yet. if lead, take a good (plastic) dust pan and in one firm scoop clean out the sand bed spot where these fell. try to do it in one very firm scoop while keeping the sand "in" the pan...... move slow and firm.... it will be difficult. the dollar tree off i205, mill plain in vancouver has mini dust pans if you need a smaller one. i just picked one up. after you dump this scoop then turn off all your moving water, pumps, heaters, let the dust settle for 10 minutes. take some time and look around. be sure you scooped the area these fell in. the less scoops the less these will travel on the bottom and the less you will disturb your sand bed. 2-3 scoops is enough (unless you want to entirely tear it down). now, re_add some sand, turn on our pumps, etc... and admire your handy work, again its always best to run some "fresh" carbon after an accident. also a 10 % water change would be good. ive seen this happen, had it happen. no biggie all fish and corals should be fine and open up in a day or two, when feeing over the next couple weeks watch to be sure they all eat. lead poisoning will cause fish to not eat. mercury is n/a, and lead is also typically n/a, unless the thermometer was made in china. hope this helps you. should be fine. dont wait past a day if its lead!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.