White "Explosion" from Root Tabs

[Arcite]

Just added the Easy root tabs to my tank for the first time (I usually use seachem's) and now I have piles of white gunk in my tank. Should I be concerned?

 

[Mmiller2001]

It's just the cap portion, you can remove it. It's not harmful.

[GameCzar]

Yeah, the gelatin caps come popping up like wacky inflatable arms guy.   Not a fan of that part.   We use a turkey baster to remove them.

[mommygourami]

I've had that happen to me a couple times, so I've just been more diligent about burying them as deep as possible with my long planting tweezers.  I've also heard some people poke a little hole in the capsule with a sewing needle before planting to release some of the air. 

[mynameisnobody]

@Arcite just bury them as deep as you can and you will avoid this problem. Good luck

[Arcite]

Yeah, I'm kind of disappointed by these results.. I'll try the needle trick that @mommygouramimentioned... I already planted them against the glass on the bottom, they can't go any deeper.

[GameCzar]

Yeah in my experience burying them deeper doesn't help, I'll have to try the needle trick.   Too bad they just can't pack them without air.

[skipper]

I give them a couple very light squeezes on their way down to “pump” the air out. I also make sure they are horizontal under the substrate. Once I started doing this no issues with re-emergence. I had one pop up/break open once and my betta immediately swept in and actually ate some of it... it was months ago and he/tank were completely fine.