so i just got home to work to discover that my thermometer i...

so i just got home to work to discover that my thermometer in the tank has broken, the bottom part broke somehow..... What will happen now, and what can i do to help my tank out, just a reminder, 125 gal cichlid tank

Hmmm, well did any of the mercury leak out? Your fish might have broken it too, mine are constantly playing with mine and I hear it tapping on the glass all the time!
You might want to do a pwc and maybe a good vacuum to see if there are any glass shards or anything in there.
I wish you luck!

i got the two glass shards from the bottom of the tank, and as far as the mercury goes is it just the red stuff or what? and also some of the mercury had to get into the water from contact right, or does it not work like that?

I think the mercury in my thermometers looks like tiny grey bb's under the red stuff, but the red stuff could be the mercury too, I am not too sure. I would do a vacuum around that area and try to get the bb things out, if your thermometer had them that is, and any tiny pieces of glass that might have fallen off. But I would still do a pwc to dillute the mercury if you got any in your tank, just to be on the safe side. And then keep an eye on your fish for the next week or so to make sure your fish are okay.

Since mercury is a toxic heavy metal, they have limited its use in thermometers. However, to be safe you may want to do a rather large partial water change. Some water conditioners like Kordon Rid Metals will detoxify heavy metals. The Kordon product does not treat for chlorine, etc., so you also need to use your primary water conditioner.

I finally got tired of those glass thermometers floating all over the place when the suction cups deteriorate, so I bought some of the stick on thermometers. They're not super accurate, but the inexpensive electronic, digital thermometers can be moved from aquarium to aquarium when you need an accurate reading.

yeah thats happen to me many times. I always thought it had to do with temperature diffrence. If the water is cooler than the air inside the thermometer the glass will expand too quickly and break. or it will become so fragil a single fish swiming up to it will break it. it's always a good idea to get a slightly larger heater than what is need for your tank, this will minimize anything that can happen to it.

mercury in its elemental form is not all that toxic. its reacted form would do much harm. in thermometer the elemental mercury is used. and it pretty much insoluble in water...it also very unreactive. my guess is u wont be able to take it out by vacuum because mercury is a heavy element. and when gravel is disturbed it would just go to the bottom of the tank......it is even heavier than iron metal. .....note that sometimes pregnant women are asked not to eat bottom feeders te prevent mercury poisoning. since bottom feeders have high concentration while feeding on the ocean floor.
also mercury is a very slow to have any affect,.....i should stop now...this probably way more than what u ever wanted to know about mercury. hopefully the next thermometer u have is much better.

Here's something else you probably didn't want to know about mercury. Less than a hundred years ago, it was called quick silver and was often prescribed by doctors as a cure for most ailments. Some of those so called doctors spoke rather broken English and pronounced the word "quick" so it sounded more like quack, hence the term "quack doctor."

Miners also used mercury to capture small pieces of gold from their panning efforts. Mercury would hold on to the gold, and when it was boiled it would deposit the gold on a surface held above the boiling pot. At least it went something like that, and nobody worried about short term or long term effects. Now, we all worry about both.