Pooper Scooper!

[Nevergone815]

quick question regarding " the cleanup crew" of the fish world.i know that there are fish to eat leftover foods and fish to eat algae. but is there a fish that eats or can eat fish feces? my fish poop a lot and i hate cleaning the tank so often. i have a filter designed for a 10 gal but when i get the funds i will get one for a 20 gal to overfilter the tank. but until then is there a fish or other aquatic species i can buy that can help out with this?

oh by the way my tank is freshwater...

 

[riverman444]

As far as I know there are no freshwater fish that eat feces. A few freshwater ones do.

 

[dreworz5]

As far as I know there are no freshwater fish that eat feces. A few freshwater ones do.

???

 

[riverman444]

Oops....just noticed that. No Freshwater poo eaters......a few saltwater ones.

 

[panboy]

I don't know what riverman meant either, but no, there are no fish that eat feces. plants however can decompose feces and use it as nutrients

 

[riverman444]

http/filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Summary/Speci...ry.php?id=49396

There's a poo eater.....note "Coprophagus" in the name.

 

[riverman444]

A lot of shrimp are coprophagous (poo eaters), I just don't know which.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Nevergone815

What kind of substrate do you have? I've found that sand is a lot easier to keep clean that my old gravel used to be.

Of course, I have mostly cory cats and the waste they produce breaks up and is filtered away quickly. I never find it littering the bottom.

 

[mark.w.jones]

Did you know that rabbits eat their own poo as their digestive system is not able to absorb all the useful stuff from their food in one go.

I'm thinking rabbits in SCUBA gear may be a perfect species for an aquarium although whether they eat other animals poo I don't know.

(God I must be bored )

 

[riverman444]

Rabbits in Scuba Gear!! ROTFLMAO!!!

Would you leave the tail and ears out or would you tuck them in the wetsuit?

 

[Mithlondwen]

Wow... I only have one plant in one of my tanks thus far. Good to know fish pooh composts into usable nutrients for the plants.

 

[IovaykInD]

I've always wondered about that too, but didn't worry too much because my tank is planted. It'd be easy to just get some fast growing stem plants and you don't have to vacuum anymore.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

even if there was a fish that ate other fish's crap, where will the crap fish's crap go? best you can do is get some corys to stir up the surface of your substrate

 

[Nevergone815]

wow you guys have been busy since i posted this... its only been like a few hours lol. well i have gravel and all the decomposing nasty poo and excess food turns into this nasty green-blue crap at the bottom of the tank (at the very bottom under the gravel). i want to update into sand, i'm looking at local shops to see if they sell it. and i don't have much experience with aquariums so i'm learning through this forum (gosh i love this place!!! ) well i have been having problems with my levels right now my tanks have been cycling 2 weeks and 3 weeks (i have 2 ten gallons) i wanted to get fishies and rushed and really overstocked in too short of time, reason why i have 2 10 gal. i don't want to introduce live plants right now. down the lin i want to, after my tank cycles for like 2 months or longer. but i think the sand would be best so that the food doesn't go between the gravel and the poo will just stay on top of the sand and not fall in between the gravel as well.

 

[Inchworm]

Wow... I only have one plant in one of my tanks thus far. Good to know fish pooh composts into usable nutrients for the plants.

Oh yes and it's good to water your houseplants with too. It's especially good to use the water you take from the tank and rinse your filter media in.