Entire Pellet Container Fell in Tank...

[Joshbd]

So, I was taking the pellet container out of my Apex AFS since it looked a bit clogged and the top popped off dumping about a months+ worth of CD3 Pellets into the tank... Before I rant about what a horribly designed (and noisy!) feeder it is that very well may be dumped in the trash, I'm more worried about the tank (34G SPS dominant mixed reef).

What I've done so far: immediately tried to remove as many pellets as possible through either syphon or netted (think I did a decent job), a 5 gallon water change with a another forthcoming as soon as it's ready, and added a bag GFO to hopefully offset what I'm sure will be significant spike in phosphates. Will also change out all mechanical filtration this evening and do another 10G water change tomorrow.

Anything I'm forgetting? I'm really really hoping this falls in the "oops" category rather than tank crash, but we shall see....

 

[this is me]

The bag of GFO might cause more damage than the remaining pellets themselves. If you have netted the majority of the pellets out, it’ll just a big feeding to the tank.
I’m more concerned of the GFO stripping out the water too fast. Remember, the pellets will take some time to breakdown and turn into P and N but the GFO goes to work right away.
Always test your water before using a large amount of GFO.

 

[Edp251]

Agree with post above. They take time to break down. Siphon and do a few water changes. Measure N and P for a few days. Watch your corals and fish puff up and color up.

 

[Joshbd]

Good call. Easy to over react and over compensate. Yanked the GFO for now and will just do daily Phosphate checks with the Hanna for a little while. I hear high phosphates are all the rage these days anyway, so maybe this will be a just a little (or big) head start... Thanks!