General Care Discussion :: Thank you!!

[Gokuh]

I like to thank the board poster who suggested using a turkey baster awhile back for getting the waste out of the aquarium dead spots between cleanings.

He/she saved my bacon!

I had a cheap thermometer to measure water temperature. The bloody thing broke tonight while i was doing a partial cleaning.

Since this cheap thermometer is mercury based, this is a huge deadly problem - to both the turtles and me! I had quicksilver balls all over my tank.

Fortunately, the turkey baster allowed me to get ALL the balls out of the tank. Further, it allowed me to completely remove all traces of water! It took me awhile, but it saved my backside and my turtles lives!

The moral of the story: Keep a $2 turkey baster for cleaning and do not buy cheap stuff for your habitat!

[Gokuh]

My bad, the glass tube did not break. The little silver balls fell all over the aquarium. It would still be very bad if the turtle at them!

[marisa]

I don't know where you are (U.S. or not), but a few years ago the bottom fell out of a cheap thermometer I was using. There was no mercury in the thermometer (it's been banned for a few years now in thermometers). Contamination from mercury wouldn't be a problem, but you're right that getting the balls out of the tank to prevent them from being ingested is definitely good.

Glad to hear the turkey baster works for you.

[HERSHEY]

Just a fyi but I have a floating thermometer made to go in a pond. Shelley keeps me on my toes and I needed something that was easy to use and she could not destroy. It has a black plastic casing completely covering it except for the front display where you can read the temperature. I have had it a year and it does great and I don't have to worry about it breaking becasue it is encased in plastic. Shelley likes it to she plays with it and pushes it around the tank.

[SpotsMama]

I use a digital thermometer but since Spot is so inclined to attack things in his tank, I only use it occasionally to check the temperature then take it out before he can tear it to pieces. I've keep several of those plastic stick on thermometers on the outside of the tank so that I can tell at a glance if things are generally ok. I know the stick-on's aren't as accurate as other thermometers, but they should reveal if there's anything seriously wrong.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Here's a funny nerdy factoid about Mercury for people who are interested in the science of the stuff (from my Highschool Chem professor):

Back in the early 1900's, Mercury was prescribed as a laxative (no lie) and there were people drinking the stuff and not dying or getting sick from it. The reason why they didn't get sick is because it doesn't get absorbed in the digestive tract. Where it gets dangerous is thru your skin if you touch it or breathe the Mercury vapors. Apparently the lining of our digestive tract is way different than the skin on the outside which is why it doesn't get absorbed when you drink it. And the main reason they banned it as a laxative was because they didn't want people handling it with their hands or breathing the vapor (once they figured out that it gets absorbed thru the skin on your hands & gets absorbed thru lung tissue! It really is toxic in this case).

Of course, I do NOT recommend anyone going out and DRINKING the stuff now. Don't try this at home, kids.

And lastly, Mercury spills can easily be cleaned up with any kind of sulfur-containing item. In the past (in a pinch), I have actually used egg yolk to clean up the stuff from a broken antique thermometer because egg yolks contain a lot of sulfur (that's why rotten eggs smell so bad is because of all the sulfur!). The sulfur attaches to the outside of the Mercury "balls" and makes them inert enough for you to dispose of them.

Ok, Nerd out.