My Thermometer broke in my pond!

Brian C. Attwood · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 7

The Madd Hatter wrote:
> I just had my thermometer break in my pond! around 25% of themercury
> fell into the water... Is this dangerous?

Are you sure the thermometer was actually mercury? Mercury is a silver
liquid. The red liquid found in most aquarium thermometers is some type
of dyed alcohol and is likely much less toxic.

Brian

Archived from group: rec>aquaria>freshwater>cichlids

Jim Brown · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 177

I wouldn't even use a glass thermometer, no matter what is used to show the
temperature. Consider getting on of those stick on liquid crystal
thermometers and put it on a piece of acrylic or other plastic. It won't
break, and usually is more accurate anyway.
Just don't leave it in the sun. A quick dip will give you a virtually
instant reading.

Jim

The Madd Hatter wrote in message@4ax.com...
> I'm an idiot... I knew I should have used a glass aquarium thermometer
> outside. I noticed today that the temperature readings weren't making
> any sense, so I took it out... The tip popped right off in my hand,
> and all the loose beads dropped into the water. (luckily my finger had
> already started heatingit, so not a lot went it. Trouble is, I'm
> planning to put some pleco's and 1" cristle nose cats out there, along
> w/ various mbuna fry for grow out.... There isn't a lot of substrate,
> but I do have an algae bloom going on, so its hard to see (bottom is
> 18" at that spot, and slightly sloped down to the deep end)
>
> The main thing I was freaking about was the mercury posioning the
> water as a whole, but I guess at those temperatures, it would probably
> just stay beaded (i hope!)
>
> I really don't want to empty out the pond at this stage in the game.
>
>
> On Tue, 24 Jun 2003 13:50:15 GMT, "rmc" wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >"The Madd Hatter" wrote in message
> >@4ax.com...
> >> I just had my thermometer break in my pond! around 25% of themercury
> >> fell into the water... Is this dangerous?
>

The Madd Hatter · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 25

I just had my thermometer break in my pond! around 25% of themercury
fell into the water... Is this dangerous?

rmc · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 42

"The Madd Hatter" wrote in message@4ax.com...
> I just had my thermometer break in my pond! around 25% of themercury
> fell into the water... Is this dangerous?

--
Your bottom feeders might ingest some and die if they get enough. I don't
know how to tell you to remove it. It's likely sitting on the bottom in
little beads or worked its way through to the bottom of the substrate if you
have any. I don't think I would panic with that small amount. Don't eat
any of those fish. Mercury does occur in many bodies of water and is
ingested by fish without killing them but I don't know what the safe ppm
would be.

Mark
mark@cichliddomain.com
http://www.cichliddomain.com

The Madd Hatter · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 25

I'm an idiot... I knew I should have used a glass aquarium thermometer
outside. I noticed today that the temperature readings weren't making
any sense, so I took it out... The tip popped right off in my hand,
and all the loose beads dropped into the water. (luckily my finger had
already started heatingit, so not a lot went it. Trouble is, I'm
planning to put some pleco's and 1" cristle nose cats out there, along
w/ various mbuna fry for grow out.... There isn't a lot of substrate,
but I do have an algae bloom going on, so its hard to see (bottom is
18" at that spot, and slightly sloped down to the deep end)

The main thing I was freaking about was the mercury posioning the
water as a whole, but I guess at those temperatures, it would probably
just stay beaded (i hope!)

I really don't want to empty out the pond at this stage in the game.

On Tue, 24 Jun 2003 13:50:15 GMT, "rmc" wrote:

>
>
>"The Madd Hatter" wrote in message
>@4ax.com...
>> I just had my thermometer break in my pond! around 25% of themercury
>> fell into the water... Is this dangerous?

steve · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 102

On Tue, 24 Jun 2003 13:25:03 GMT, The Madd Hatter
wrote:

>I just had my thermometer break in my pond! around 25% of themercury
>fell into the water... Is this dangerous?

Not if you just leave it on the bottom of the pond.

Steve

--
EasyNN-plus. The easy way to build neural networks.
Build networks from numeric, text and image files.
http://www.easynn.com

The Madd Hatter · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 25

I though it was mercury, because at the bottom in the bulb, it
solidifies into small bb's....

On Tue, 24 Jun 2003 10:11:36 -0400, "Brian C. Attwood"
wrote:

>The Madd Hatter wrote:
>> I just had my thermometer break in my pond! around 25% of themercury
>> fell into the water... Is this dangerous?
>
>Are you sure the thermometer was actually mercury? Mercury is a silver
>liquid. The red liquid found in most aquarium thermometers is some type
>of dyed alcohol and is likely much less toxic.
>
>Brian

J Collins · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 3

The Madd Hatter wrote in@4ax.com:

> I though it was mercury, because at the bottom in the bulb, it
> solidifies into small bb's....
>
> On Tue, 24 Jun 2003 10:11:36 -0400, "Brian C. Attwood"
> wrote:
>
>>The Madd Hatter wrote:
>>> I just had my thermometer break in my pond! around 25% of themercury
>>> fell into the water... Is this dangerous?
>>
>>Are you sure the thermometer was actually mercury? Mercury is a
>>silver liquid. The red liquid found in most aquarium thermometers is
>>some type of dyed alcohol and is likely much less toxic.
>>
>>Brian
>

Mercury doesn't "solidify". In regular cheapo glass thermometers there's
an outer glass shell around an alcohol thermometer. The "bb's" are added
to make the thermometer stand up straight and to aid heat transfer. If
the inner thermometer part is still intact, there's no problem,
especially if the line in it is red...that usually means dyed alcohol.

If you're pretty sure that it is mercury, call a poison control centre,
hospital, university chemistry department or high school with a
laboratory. They will be able to tell you how to clean up the mercury.

J. Collins

The Madd Hatter · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 25

By your description, I'm relieved to say, I think its probably an
alcohol thermometer... I was actually wondering why the middle portion
was still sealed, ifthe "mercury" was on the outside.. That also
explains why the beads didn't melt on my finger... Thanx a lot!!!

Cheers

Madd HatteR

On Wed, 25 Jun 2003 00:26:18 GMT, J Collins
wrote:

>The Madd Hatter wrote in
>@4ax.com:
>
>> I though it was mercury, because at the bottom in the bulb, it
>> solidifies into small bb's....
>>
>> On Tue, 24 Jun 2003 10:11:36 -0400, "Brian C. Attwood"
>> wrote:
>>
>>>The Madd Hatter wrote:
>>>> I just had my thermometer break in my pond! around 25% of themercury
>>>> fell into the water... Is this dangerous?
>>>
>>>Are you sure the thermometer was actually mercury? Mercury is a
>>>silver liquid. The red liquid found in most aquarium thermometers is
>>>some type of dyed alcohol and is likely much less toxic.
>>>
>>>Brian
>>
>
>Mercury doesn't "solidify". In regular cheapo glass thermometers there's
>an outer glass shell around an alcohol thermometer. The "bb's" are added
>to make the thermometer stand up straight and to aid heat transfer. If
>the inner thermometer part is still intact, there's no problem,
>especially if the line in it is red...that usually means dyed alcohol.
>
>If you're pretty sure that it is mercury, call a poison control centre,
>hospital, university chemistry department or high school with a
>laboratory. They will be able to tell you how to clean up the mercury.
>
>J. Collins

Dan J.S. · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 11

"The Madd Hatter" wrote in message@4ax.com...
> I just had my thermometer break in my pond! around 25% of themercury
> fell into the water... Is this dangerous?

mercury poisoning is WAY over rated. I really would not worry about it.
Remember, the Chinese thought it was a 'cure all' and only after drinking
the stuff for years would they die off of it.

Eric Schreiber · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 41

The Madd Hatter wrote:

>By your description, I'm relieved to say, I think its probably an
>alcohol thermometer... I was actually wondering why the middle portion
>was still sealed, ifthe "mercury" was on the outside.. That also
>explains why the beads didn't melt on my finger... Thanx a lot!!!

If the beads are solid, they are indeed just weights and not mercury.

It would be extremely rare to find a mercury thermometer for sale
anywhere these days, if they're available at all. I haven't seen one
since I was a kid.

--
www.ericschreiber.com

unkown · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 1

$7.95 for a box of 12.

"Eric Schreiber" wrote in message@4ax.com...
>
> It would be extremely rare to find a mercury thermometer for sale
> anywhere these days, if they're available at all. I haven't seen one
> since I was a kid.
>
>
> --
> www.ericschreiber.com

J Collins · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 3

"Dan J.S." wrote in @news.supernews.com:

>
> "The Madd Hatter" wrote in message
> @4ax.com...
>> I just had my thermometer break in my pond! around 25% of themercury
>> fell into the water... Is this dangerous?
>
> mercury poisoning is WAY over rated. I really would not worry about it.
> Remember, the Chinese thought it was a 'cure all' and only after drinking
> the stuff for years would they die off of it.
>

Swallowing elemental mercury and breathing the fumes produced by lots of
little droplets are not the same thing at all! I'm not saying that
swallowing it is ok, but inhalation is much more toxic. It's the fumes that
are dangerous, not the liquid itself.

J. Collins.