Ooops! Thermometer mishap!
 

Just broke my thermometer a few minutes ago. I didn't see anything ooze into the tank, but a bunch of little balls fell into the sandbed. I tried to get most of them but there are some still around. Do I have anything to worry about? Are they lead balls? Any ideas??

Bud

Im not sure if it it will work, But I'd try a magnet to see if that will pick them up.

Good idea. Unfortunately, when I tried to use the Magfloat, they weren't attracted to it. Any other thoughts? Anyone have any ideas what these balls are made of?

Take apair of pliers and squeeze one. If it '' mushes '' and goes flat it could be lead . Also if it is a dark grey and scratches easily showing shiny metal underneath it is probably lead. Definitely remove it from the tank.

You could check the web for the MSDS of that brand of thermometer. www.msds.com has the most up to date list.

Looks like I panicked a bit! I tried the ole Magfloat trick again and it worked! I was able to use it to attract all the little balls that the baster had missed. What a pain though! Maybe i'll buy a digital therm next. :) Thanks again for all your suggestions!!

I think those little silver balls will be mercury... which I think will be highly toxic I would do a watter change and vaccum up the area where were :mrgreen:

If you have spilled mercury it is not just your tank that you have to worry about, but your own safety.

Here is information on how to handle a mercury spill.

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/.../spills.htm#do

I don't think mercury has been used in thermometers for many years so I highly doubt it is that. It is probably a metal of some kind though so you should definately get them out of there asap.

Yeah, I think most aquarium thermometers available today use the red fluid inside them. In my case, the thermometer inside the glass casing wasn't damaged so none of the fluid leaked into the tank. The Magfloat took care of the rest.