Olive oil in tank

[n05stang]

So I asked my wife to feed my fish, I had a small container of olive oil under the tank to occasional grease up the squeaking doors, she thought this was the Red Sea coral food and added it to the tank. Now my sump has oil floating on the water and my skimmer is acting up. How do I get this oil out of the tank? Will the skimmer take it out over time? Is this dangerous for the tank?

 

[Jekyl]

Oil will float on the water. Shut off all filtration and wavemakers. Use a paper towel to try and soak up as much as you can from the top.

 

[redeyejedi]

Not heard of this happening before. Skimmer and carbon may help. If it was in a red sea coral food bottle then sadly it was asking for trouble.

 

[n05stang]

It was not in the bottle, it was in a one of those little screw lid Tupperware containers. Apparently it looked yellow enough that she assumed it was the coral food.

 

[redeyejedi]

It was not in the bottle, it was in a one of those little screw lid Tupperware containers. Apparently it looked yellow enough that she assumed it was the coral food.

Bad times.

 

[Dom]

No big deal in my opinion. It will probably get caught up in filter pads where mechanical filtration takes place.

If it really bothers you, you can shut off your pumps and use an 60cc irrigation syringe to suction the oil from the water surface.

 

[brandon429]

I rate this as not harmful. even withdrawn corals if it happens can be just sensitivity changes this is not harmful overall. Among mistakes possible it’s a tame one

i would prefer this to a pepper or spice accident