Oops, broken thermometer...

[rocketeer]

I thought it would never happen to me. I came back from vacation and found my thermometer had broken in my 120 gal reef. I have no idea where the little metal balls are.

I know that's a bad thing, but how bad is it? Is there anything I can use as a "canary in the coal mine" or a test? The little balls look like iron or an iron alloy. Can that be measured? How much is toxic? It would seem to me that they will deteriorate in a matter of weeks or months. Maybe I can do extra water changes until then. What will die first. I know metal is bad for inverts but is it worse for cnidarians (Spelling?) or for crabs and the like?

I am inclined to stick my head in the sand until something looks bad, then take action. Or do I really need to start a whole new reef now? I would rather do a hundred water changes over the next six months than tear the whole thing down. But I need a way to measure the toxicity.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but when people sink ships and oil rigs to make artificial reefs, there would be a lot of metal present. Right?

Jack

[Tim Marvin]

Yes, but there is a lot more water also. The diversity in the ocean is much different than our tanks also. I bet natural carbons in the ocean takes out some heavy metals, not to mention the huge skimmers and sand filters that darn ocean gets to use.

[GaryP]

If its really iron, it will just feed your algaes. If its lead that's a bad thing, although, at the pH we run tanks very little will leach into the water.

Gary

[Tim Marvin]

Yes, I'm not so sure I'd worry too much if you can't get it out easily. Just keep a close eye on the corals and they will recover from most poisoning if you put them in good water. You will probably never notice. I have had rust fall off of hinges and screws in the past with no problems.

[GaryP]

That's why fishing weights aren't considered hazardous waste. If they leached into water they would be classified as hazardous waste and every time that you lose one you'd have to call out the EPA.

Gary