This just happened! Hurry! Help!

mmccoy555

I wash cleaning the glass with my magnetic glass cleaner and I hit the bottom of the glass thermometer. It just broke the tip enough for the little black balls inside to fall to the bottom of the tank. The mercury did not break. Will this effect my tank at all. I removed as many as I could but there may be 15 or so that sank through the stone. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Boredomb

I don't know how big the gravel is but if is small I would siphon it up where the black balls fell down to the gravel. Then you will be able to sort the gravel from the black balls. I don't know if the black balls will mess up the tank but I wouldn't risk it if it was me.just a thought. Sorry Hope this helps some.

mmccoy555

I don't have a vacuum but I suppose I could make a home made one with the air bubbler. I'm thinkin that many won't hurt but I don't want to take any chances. I just got this tank to a decent looking one and I don't want to see it go the other way.

Boredomb

If you have a plastic tube long enough to reach you can use that as a siphon. Maybe someone else can answer if they will hurt the tank or not. I don't know what the "little black balls" are but you might be all right since the mercury didn't get in the tank.

Byron

Those are just weights to keep the thermomenter floating upright. I've no idea what they are made of, some sort of metal I suppose; my worry would be that in time they might "dissolve" mineral into the tank. The mercury would be the issue as you've said and that was fortunately avoided. If it were me, I would just siphon the weights out as best as I could, just in case. It's like the lead ties on plants, I remove them primarily because i just don't want lead in the tank.

Byron.

mmccoy555

Thanks. I don't even think it is mercury being a newer thermometer but I don't want to take any chances as I've said. I've heard that the "weights" are lead but I don't know if 15 of them are gonna do any damage. I will start to take them out till I get a little more info. Thanks again.

lorax84

This happened to me a month or so ago. I was more worried about the little pieces of glass in the tank than the balls. I vacuumed them out with my siphon.

TwinDad

Can you scoop the gravel out of that corner. Then make sure you remove those weights? I think that would be the easiest. I don't think a gravel vac might be strong enough to lift them up.

The majority of thermometers are made with alcohol and die. Mercury isn't used much except for very hgih end scientific uses.

Romad

If you don't have a siphon, try using a turkey baster.

Good luck.

lorax84

If you take off the wide tube and just use the hose section of the gravel vac you can increase the sucking power significantly.