Thermometer Broke

Sorry for the new post but I needed to find out ASAP.

I was just about to move all my live rock in to my new 90 gal I have setup. Finally got the water to clear, salt in ready to go. I moved the thermometer and it broke in the water..


Now I pulled it out, none of the red chemical in it broke (that tube stayed fine. Its just the weight end that broke and some of the weights dropped to the sand bed. I took a measuring cup and scooped out all the sand under the areas that had the stuff sitting on it. Luckily I didn't have any water movement on so everything seemed to drop to the bottom.

What is this material and am I OK to proceed putting my live rock in? I really dont want to pull everything out and start from scratch again. Took forever to produce all that RO water, heat it and buy the sand and salt. I'm so upset. I would assume these would be "tank safe", but thought I would ask quickly.

 

Little better of a photo:

 

i would say you're fine as long as the mercury (red stuff) didnt go in the water

 

If you missed a couple of the lead weights, it's not a big deal. The liquid in these thermometers isn't even dangerous anymore....it's alchohol based vs mercury based (which would be bad). If you got the broken glass out, you're fine.

 

oh my bad ;D

 

I knew it wasn't mercury which was a little relieving, and that part didn't break. What I am worried about is the metal weights leaching in to the tank. They aren't lead as they are magnetic. I tried to get most of them out.

 

Even if you missed a few and it's magnetic, then even if it rusts it's not a biggie. Iron is a normal component of NSW. In fact, many phosphate adsorbers are made out of processed rust.

 

Thanks for the info guys. I took a magnet off my koralia power head and ran it over the sand. picked up some of the little balls but I think for the most part I should be OK. Back to cleaning the live rock and moving it over.