Aquarium hydrometer broke, is it bad?

Question

I have a salt water hydrometer, its bottom just broke and now there is small balls of some black weights in the aquarium. The mercury didnt break, but are those weights poisonous?
(It was a salt water aquarium hydrometer)

Answer 1

The weighted balls are not dangerous, I would try and remove them if possible, but do not stress if you cannot.

As far as mercury, even if you shattered the whole hydrometer, there is no mercury as mercury is silver. The red you see is glycerin which is a sugar.

Answer 2

i would remove as many of the "small balls of some black weights" as possibly and even some of the substrate in the area that they fell into, they may be inert but could also rust, and rust is bad in an aquarium : )

Answer 3

No, the weights are inert and are not poisonous to the fish. I would however remove as many as possible so curious fish don't eat them. While not poisonous, it would cause problems if one lodged in a fishes gut.

MM