HELP!! Emergency! Digital Thermometer/ Battery Fell Into Tank

hunkydory

New Member
I'm really in need of some advice here. I am in the process of setting up a reef tank. I do not have any live rock in yet. I am also establishing a refugium that I initially seeded with 120 lbs of live sand and has been in the process of cycling. I normally have the two connected via a pump and gravity return back to the main tank (a Red Sea Max 130D). Today I disconnected them to repair a PVC drip. About twelve hours later I discovered that my digital thermometer had dropped into the refugium, leaking some corroded metals into the refugium. The tanks are currently not connected and I am 90% sure that the thermometer dropped in after I disconnected them.

Do I need to throw everything in the refugium out (120lbs of live sand)? Should I just wash the sand and remove all the water. The main tank has the ability to filter with carbon and GFO, but I haven't connected them. Please help!!!!
 

jerry26

Member
What level of corrosion are we talkin here?

I definitely cannot say for certain but im fairly sure it would have just leeched some heavy metals into the water. I would think that you could get away with cleaning it real good and hittin it withsome metal detoxifiers. If the battery has ruptured, i think youve got a serious problem
 

hunkydory

New Member
Did the battery have a full on rupture?

The battery and thermometer had leaked out a brown sludge and into the tank water. I had a bunch of biobale in the middle of the tank and the sludge appeared contained on the side of the biobale that the thermometer dropped into. I did a pH test and the pH had dropped from about 8.2/8.3 to 7.9 or so.

I proceeded to remove almost all of the water and replace it with the water from the [empty] main tank. Still not sure how to proceed.
 

hunkydory

New Member
I'm thinking of biting the bullet and simply starting the refugium from scratch with fresh sand...if I did that could I still keep the tank?
 

jerry26

Member
If its leaking a liquid, its ruptured. The bulk of what leaked is probably lead and sulphuric acid but theres going to countless other contaminants. The amount leaked by a battery like a AAA or even a AA isnt going to be alot. You can try cleaning it and detoxifying it but i think its risky.

The acid will cause a ph drop.

The sand will hold in all the contaminants so its the most dangerous thing to keep. Tho id say the same is probably true for the bio balls. You can keep the tank just wipe it out with rubbing alcohol. If its glass, idk if its possible for the silicone to absorb it but the acid can be neutralized with baking soda.
 

BLADEYAMAHA

Well-Known Member
Damn, I'd ditch the sand and keep the tank, clean the tank very well though. Clean enough to eat out of.
 

hunkydory

New Member
thanks for the advice...the only silver lining is that the main tank wasn't connected and i didn't have any corals or inverts to kill. I'll probably clean the whole thing out with EDTA really well.
 

hunkydory

New Member
thanks for the advice...the only silver lining is that the main tank wasn't connected and i didn't have any corals or inverts to kill. I'll probably clean the whole thing out with EDTA really well.

I drained the tank of water and sand and rinsed it out really well. I would like to keep this tank as it has been drilled with an in tank overflow. I have been trolling around looking for what to wash this thing with. I read someone suggesting muriatic (hydrochloric) acid and then acetone to completely dissolve the metals and remove any organometallic complexes, respectively.

That does seem a bit drastic, does anyone have any experience with battery disasters??
 

jerry26

Member
Sounds a little excessive to me. Id just wipe and spray it out several times with some not so potent chemicals. If its acrylic the acetone will eat away at it. Idk what the acid will do and idk what chemicals like that will do to the silicone of a glass tank.
 

hunkydory

New Member
130# of oolite for a 30 gallon long = 4 inches. I was shocked as well.

I ditched the sand and performed the total decon procedure recommended. The aquarium is glass...and just so everyone knows, acetone is typically used to clean glass and evaporates in seconds. Additionally, it is very well tolerated by biological organisms (it is even produced by them).

I think the real question is regarding copper in general...what is the best procedure to remove it. I washed with muriatic...though, in retrospect, I would recommend a mixture of muriatic with hydrogen peroxide. Copper needs to be oxidized in order to dissolve (do NOT use bleach to oxidize with HCL, unless you have a death wish).

I'm sure what I did was overkill and since the copper and other metals that leached into the aquarium were likely insoluble, a good 5-10 rinses with water would probably work as well. For those that have copper treated tanks, however, I do recommend the HCl/peroxide, wash 10X with water, acetone, wash 10X with water procedure.
 
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