Florescent light tube breaks into the tank

[underseaworld]

I picked up as much of the glass as I could see. My concerns are can the powder from the tube be harmful to the tank?

[Live Rock Ricky]

hmmmmmmmm.... dont think it can do any good..... i guess you will find out over the next 30 days..

[Reefland]

Wow, sorry to hear about this. I am not sure if it will cause any problems either but am tagging along to read the outcome.
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[TimH07]

fluorescent lights contain mercury, typicly some argon and some phosphors, they dont sound good to have in a reef tank

[underseaworld]

The bulb was 6fl long and the tank is 300 gl with 90 gl sump. If there is enough mercury, argo, and phosphors to hurt the tank

[Ninong]

Argon is an inert gas, so that's not a problem. Mercury is highly toxic IF it's in a form that is biologically available. I have no idea how much was in that fluorescent tube. I have no idea if your problem is serious or not. I have no idea what will happen to whatever mercury may have gotten into your tank's water and substrate. Will it be acted on by bacteria, in effect making it biologically available? I really don't know.

I'm just offering my two cents worth since no one else has chimed in so far. I would suggest that you run carbon 24/7 for the next few months.

P.S. -- Here is what the EPA has to say about mercury from fluorescent lamps. It won't help you much because they don't tell you what to do if you break one over your marine aquarium.

[Lucid]

That really sucks. I have also wondered what would happen in this event. :/ I would do large water changes and contact the manufacturer of the bulb. Maybe they have had this issue before and has better advice.

[Ninong]

underseaworld,

I hesitate to post this link but here goes: The fluorescent lighting system.

Scroll down to: Appendix B: I Broke A Fluorescent Lamp. Now What? (HTML)
A discussion of what you should do (and things not to do) if a fluorescent lamp breaks. Medical assistance is always first, followed by clean-up procedures. Also included in this appendix are details on the special problems associated with broken fluorescent lamps in aquariums.

The advice on "special problems associated with broken fluorescent lamps in aquariums" is written for freshwater aquariums but I don't see why it wouldn't apply to saltwater tanks, too.

I just don't know how to take that guy's advice. Is he being overly cautious (overly anal) or is his advice well founded? I don't know.

I know you aren't going to like reading what he has to say.

I'm sure this has happened many times before because not everyone uses an acrylic or tempered glass shield beneath their fluorescent tubes (which is probaby a good idea).

You might want to try searching this other reefkeeping bulletin board because they have 207,000 members. If you're not already a member, just register. It doesn't cost anything to register. I tried searching for you already over there but I gave up. I was getting too many hits that were not exactly what I was looking for. I probably just don't have enough patience. When I searched for "broken fluorescent" in titles only, I came up with only one hit asking about how to dispose of fluorescent tubes that arrived broken in shipment. When I changed the search to anywhere in the posts, I came up with lots of hits that weren't what I was looking for. I just can't bring myself to accept that this question has not been posted over there before.

Good luck!

[underseaworld]

Thank you Ninong. I knew I could count on your help. I copied the email addresses to my contact list.

[underseaworld]

The following is Mr. Fenner's thoughts on my issue. Thanks for the help again....

Mmm, there shouldn't be any real issues... other than those which may have occurred already... Some lamps do have a bit of mercury to them... but this and what other little chemical residue there might have been is likely of little further consequence. Do take care when having your hands in and about the substrate, lest there be bits of glass still thereabouts. I would siphon the area a few times during your normal maintenance. Bob Fenner