Help! Emergency!

[Larissa]

My pleco just hit my thermometer with his tail and busted it. There are little balls of mercury? in my substrate. What do I do now?

[sky.eyes.woman]

Mercury? Is it red? I thought most newer aquarium thermometers were filled with alcohol? Or something else besides mercury...whatever it is, I'd try to siphon it out pronto. I guess you gotta replace it now, maybe one of those stick-on ones on the outside will be better.

[chiefmorales]

if he broke the red bottom part of a floating thermo. they are bb's

[sky.eyes.woman]

Ohhhh...yeah...I wasn't thinking about those little metal balls in there! :idea:
I'd still get them out ASAP. I also just thought about another way to prevent this happening again, if you don't like those stick-on thermometers, use on of those indoor-outdoor ones with the probe to go outside, just dip that probe into the tank. Mr. Pleco won't be able to break that!

[Holly9937]

Just to warn you, your heater might be in danger too if hes very big :eek: . I have a friend with a couple of cichlids and a big pleco who has broken a couple of heaters :(

[Larissa]

So those little silver balls are not mercury? I've tried siphoning them out but they are too heavy. I think I got all of the glass out though. I've already stuck my hand in there a couple of times to get my gravel vacuum started but didn't know if it's toxic or not and I'm like 7 months pregnant. So you don't think there's mercury in those anymore.

[Holly9937]

If they don't siphon out try scooping them out with the net and picking out the gravel if you want to save it. Do you know what brand it is? Maybe their website would say if its mercury? :huh: Maybe you should have someone else do it just to be safe...I'm pregnant too, and already got scolded by my husband that I better not hurt myself screwing around with the fish tank :argue:
lol

[sky.eyes.woman]

I don't believe they are toxic, but just to be on the safe side put on some gloves if you scoop it out with a net, or just pitch it all in the trash if you have no gloves.

[TipStylez]

Murcury is REALY TOXIC imo, just the vapors it releases is toxic if exposed to long with it, i suggest you ask somone else to clean it out for you since your pregnet...

[Larissa]

thanks for all the advice everyone. I scooped out as much as I could with a net, but the tank is 55g and it has a UGF so there are still little balls in there. hopefully it's not mercury. I got some aquasafe at wal-mart, the only place open this time of night, it says it neutralizes heavy metals. don't know if that will help or not. Guess for now I'll leave it be until husband comes home and I'll see if I can find out more about those thermometers.

[iamchris]

Mercury's melting point is -38.87°C, so unless your tank is colder than that, it's impossible for Hg to be in solid form. Let's hope for your fishies (for both reasons) that it's not that cold. By the way, you'd be dead, along with your fishies if it was really Hg. It's EXTREMELY toxic. If you ever think there's a Hg spill, NEVER attempt to clean it up unless you know what you're doing.

[Larissa]

well, so far fishies are still alive, so we'll see what happens. I'll make hubby clean the tank next time just to be safe. Before I even started cleaning the tank tonight I broke one of my glass lids. wasn't my night I guess.

[judgemax]

it is illegal to sellmercury thermometers any mor eso unless its very old i wouldnt be to concerened ..and there isint much that can hurt your baby when your in a fish tank...i had two kids ..and remember ..those fish will die much faster than you think if theres something wrong enough to hurt the belly ...just avoid inhaling or drinking any chemicals if you use tehm...

[judobadger]

If it was a weighted or stand up thermometer those could be the bb's they add for weight. I would still be concerned though because the bb's may be made out of lead. I know lead is a lot less toxic than mercury....it shouldn't hurt you to handle it, (just wash up after) but I dont know what i could do to the fish.

[chiefmorales]

The BB's are steel i had the same thing happen all they will do is rust. the iron oxide can be toxic to the fish but it would take weeks to have any affect on them. if it was mercury it would have flowed through your UGF to the bottom. the mercury in a 4" thermo. is about .75 grams even if you were to eat it you would injest less that you would eating fresh fish once a week for 2 years. .75 grams dilouted into 55gal of water would me about 125ppm though to a normal person that wouldent be anything. Methylmercury is a potent neurotoxin, causing axonal demyeliniation. Adults can experience symptoms months after an acute exposure consisting of ataxia, blurred vision, hearing deficits and paraesthesias. Fetuses are particularly sensitive to methylmercury, as shown by the more than 1,400 infants from the Minimata area of Japan who were acutely exposed to the toxin in utero when their mothers ate fish contaminated by a factory discharge. The children, while often normal at birth, developed abnormal reflexes, problems with suckling, swallowing, gait, and speech, and mental retardation. though for it to be a merc. thermo. it would have to be more that 10 years old and the fluid that you read temp would be silver not red. hope this helps and also informs. though i dont think you have anything to worrie about
P.S. also i wouldnt let my wife do anything with her tank while she was pregnent either.

[asd159263]

if you are pregnant you should stay away from the fish tank. The baceria can be dangerous(unlikly but lily enough not to risk it). My sister is pregnant and ever since she found out me and her husband do all the tank stuff. She does not even feed them. She only gets to enjoy them :D

[Larissa]

Thanks everyone. Fish are still fine and yes, the silver balls are weights and the liquid was red. I figure if it really was mercury the fish would be dead already. I'll see if my husband can get the little balls out before they rust.

[mvigor]

Mercury is not so toxic that she would be DEAD!