Whats In 'in Tank' Thermometers?

[minxfishy]

Just doing a 50% change on the coldwater tank and the thermometer smashed! Whats in them, the fish dont seem effected, should I be concerned if there is something nasty in there?

 

[england]

um isnt it mercury

 

[minxfishy]

I hope not. Is it really? Shouldnt it have effected them?

 

[Spishkey]

if it makes you feel any better i smashed the in tank thermomter in my baby turtles tank, he ate most of the little balls from the bottom and swam in the liquid before i could clear it but was no worse for wear

 

[degsod]

What colour was the line? If it was silver it was mercury and you have a problem, if it was red or blue then it was alcohol based, and there should not be a problem with such a small amount in the tank

 

[minxfishy]

All the ones I have are red (or actually orange as they are quite old).

 

[degsod]

You should not have any problem then, for peace of mind you could dod 10% water change, but in reality the amount that has gone into the tank is very small.

Like I said if it was mercury then I would be advising you to throw out all your substrate. I believe that mercury thermoneters for aquariums are no longer permitted in the European Union

 

[minxfishy]

Had just removed 50% of the water when it happened, then I re-filled. That puts my mind at rest then, as I say the all look fine, would be a nightmare if they died, they are my 4 year olds and he would be devastated if Mum killed his fish!

 

[saltynay]

For safe measure you could add a little bit of carbon to the filter if you have some around.

 

[lordofthesea]

if it makes you feel better, someone i know had a big cichlid that swallowed his thermometer. he spat it out a few days later and he was fine.

 

[Bignose]

They are almost all alcohol or "spirits" based today -- you'd be hard pressed to find a mercury one anymore. The tough part is that it isn't easy to determine the exact kind of spirit that is in there -- it may be ethanol, kerosene, toluene, or isoamyl acetate are the common liquids I could find with a quick search.

I'd do a large water change, just match the temperature and pH and hardness of the water, and you can do as large as a 90% water change without any effects. I wouldn't worry about ethanol or isoamyl acetate in the water, but i wouldn't want kerosene or toluene in there. They will all be very dilute in such a comparatively large volume as the tank, but waster changes cure almost any problem like this.

 

[Tolak]

After my oscar broke the third one I quit putting them in there. It took three, guess I'm a slow learner. 50% water change, pick up bigger pieces of glass, steel balls they use for weight are magnetic, a cheap magnet gets them out.