Fish that eat their own waste?

[smokey11]

I change water weekly and try to vacuum out as much poo as possible when I do so. But I am getting the feeling that the fish are poo-ing faster than I can clean the tank so over time I see waste building up in the aquarium!

What can I do to solve this problem? are there fish / shrimps that will eat poo???

 

[Sharkbait54]

I don't think there are any Fish that eat poop, that doesn't make sense.

It sound like your over stocked what's your stock tank size and cleaning schedule?

 

[smokey11]

its a 15G tank. I change 1/3- 1/2 of the water every week.

i have 14 cardinal tetras, 3 cleaner fishes, a dwarf puffer, and 5 shrimps

 

[Zimmanski]

What kind of cleaner fish?

 

[smokey11]

Two Chinese algae eater and one flying jackel

 

[Sharkbait54]

If you came down to 6 tetras, 5 shrimp, and a couple of snails you would have a nice clean tank.

 

[ianeberle]

I agree with Sharkbait above. You are overstocked for a tank that size. Small aquariums are really hard to keep clean as it is and adding a lot of fish makes it even harder.

Does your puffer bother the shrimp? I always thought they were aggressive.

 

[bettaowner]

Brackish water scats got their name because they eat droppings.

 

[smokey11]

The puffer doesn't bother the shrimps but he has eaten all the snails... everytime I replace the snails he just eats all of them. So I'm only left with the shrimp as scavenger

 

[Samzter]

its a 15G tank. I change 1/3- 1/2 of the water every week.

i have 14 cardinal tetras, 3 cleaner fishes, a dwarf puffer, and 5 shrimps

Yeah them algae eaters need to be rehomed. And the puffer. Then maybe you could get anther centrepiece which has a very small bioload. Dwarf puffers are very messy as well.

 

[ianeberle]

Yeah them algae eaters need to be rehomed. And the puffer. Then maybe you could get anther centrepiece which has a very small bioload. Dwarf puffers are very messy as well.

That's what I was thinking. The best small algae eaters that would work in your tank are oto catfish. You will need a group of about 4.

 

[bkiggy]

Algae eaters can be obnoxious to other fish and aggressive.keep the puffer! DP are awesome
Agree on Otos they do a good job , only live about a year though

 

[Samzter]

Algae eaters can be obnoxious to other fish and aggressive.keep the puffer! DP are awesome
Agree on Otos they do a good job , only live about a year though

No.. Don't keep the puffer. They are ver messy and not community fish. And the otocinclus catfish live 3-5 years with proper care.

 

[Annakhil]

i agree about the otos, i have 3 in my 10 shrimp tank and 6 in my 29 their bioload is almost non existent and they are great cleaners, i would trade the AE for them. i thought puffers were to be in species only since as they grow they like salinity in their tanks, maybe someone that knows more about them would chime in, JMO

 

[Samzter]

i agree about the otos, i have 3 in my 10 shrimp tank and 6 in my 29 their bioload is almost non existent and they are great cleaners, i would trade the AE for them. i thought puffers were to be in species only since as they grow they like salinity in their tanks, maybe someone that knows more about them would chime in, JMO

If it's a dwarf puffer they won't need salt but you're right .. They do much better in species only.

 

[FlyAnglerFishKeeper]

OK, I can't offer much on the thread's main topic, but yes - there are fish that eat poo. If you like to eat fish, you might want to stop reading this reply right now.


You're still here? Ok then.

Commercially farmed stripers(striped bass,) farmed for restaurants and stocking make huge amounts of poop. To keep this from happening, fish farmers found a fish that will eat the poop, in the process apparently producing less poop in the end (pardon the pun) than the stripers. The fish that eats the poo is also sold for human consumption. You've probably had it. It's...

That new "wonder fish," Tilapia. It's true. Poo eaters. Oh well. So are catfish and they're eaten all over the world and they taste great. OK, that's all for my useless tidbits for today. LOL

 

[smokey11]

O man I'm never eating catfish again!!

 

[Ursi]

Chinese algae eaters grow to be 10inches as far as I'm aware? Sounds like you're over stocked