Thermometer broke inside tank!!!!!

[beautifulbettas]

I was going to check the temp in my sorority tank and the thermometer looked foggy so I went to pull it out to read the temp and everything from the bottom of the thermometer fell out into the water! I don't know how long it was broken and I'm not sure how it happened so I immediately transferred my fish into tiny bowls and syphoned EVERYTHING out of my 20g tank! So frustrating!!!!!

 

[Fibsog]

I was going to check the temp in my sorority tank and the thermometer looked foggy so I went to pull it out to read the temp and everything from the bottom of the thermometer fell out into the water! I don't know how long it was broken and I'm not sure how it happened so I immediately transferred my fish into tiny bowls and syphoned EVERYTHING out of my 20g tank! So frustrating!!!!!

The mercury?! Or the little metal balls?

 

[Jmunroe]

No need to panic. It's not mercury. It's an alcohol solution that won't really do any harm. Big thing is to get all the glass out. Do a water change and try to get the metal balls out. The rest of the metal balls you don't get will sink to the glass through the substrate and you'll notice some rusty spots on the bottom glass sometime during a water change and wonder what it is not remembering that this happened.

 

[Fresh2o]

No need to panic. It's not mercury. It's an alcohol solution that won't really do any harm. Big thing is to get all the glass out. Do a water change and try to get the metal balls out. The rest of the metal balls you don't get will sink to the glass through the substrate and you'll notice some rusty spots on the bottom glass sometime during a water change and wonder what it is not remembering that this happened.

You can try using an algae magnet to remove the metal balls

 

[beautifulbettas]

If my fish ate any of the metal balls would it hurt them?

 

[mfdrookie516]

Might hurt coming out. I wouldn't want to poop metal balls

 

[beautifulbettas]

Might hurt coming out. I wouldn't want to poop metal balls

Hahaha good point lol I hope they will do ok