Accident in the tank. What do I do now?

[Wulfonce]

I was on the computer this evening when suddenly I heard a "crunch" sound come from my 125g downstairs. I went to see what happened only to find a shattered thermometer and hundreds of beads of mercury as well as glass shards scattered around the gravel. I picked out most of the glass pieces by hand and tried to siphon the mercury out. Well the siphoning didn't work. I read online that murcury is 13.6 times denser then water.

I'm assuming its not safe for the fish at this point? So how would I get the mercury out of the gravel. Siphoning doesn't work and scooping the gravel out doesn't work, the mercury just slips past the coarse gravel. I'd like to avoid removing all the gravel if possible.

Any ideas?

 

[Wulfonce]

Is mercury magnetic?

 

[qtrhorse89]

Okay well I did some reading. If the liquid in the thermometer is red then the silver stuff is either steel or lead shot and you should be able to get it out with pliers. If it was mercury that came out, it is toxic to your fish and harmful to you. You can touch it, just make sure none of it gets into your mouth and wash very well afterwards. Unfortunately I couldn't find anyway to get it out other than breaking down the tank but regardless of what you do you should probably get the fish out of there asap. Hope this helps.

P.S. this is why i swear by the digital thermometers.

 

[Burtess]

It was probably a spirt thermometer with the metal balls in the bottom for weight.
Easy to tell..... mercury is liquid at room temp.... are the "beads" solid or liquid?
If they are solid, then it's not mercury, and I would probably just leave them in there (whether they are steel or lead, it won't hurt anything).

If they are in fact liquid, you have to drain the tank, I would toss the gravel (should go as hazardous waste). Mercury is VERY soluble in water and air.... so do not vaccum it up with your vaccum cleaner. Push all small beads together to form larger ones and pick up with tape or carfully scoop up with a piece of paper. Seal it in a plastic container and have properly disposed of.

Burt