How do you clean up after a pleco?

[hulkamaniac]

I have a BN pleco in a 75g planted tank. I love having him in there as I've got a soft spot for odd balls and he does a good job of keeping the tank clear of algae. The problem is that he makes so much poop I can't keep the tank clean. I swear the day after a vacuum/water change it's just as bad as it was before. His little area that he likes to stay in is even worse than the rest of the tank. This is my main display tank so I hate to have it look so bad. Is there anything I can do short of moving the fish somewhere else or maybe swapping him for my rubberlip pleco?

 

[Idealconcepts]

I had the same problem except the poop was like 6-9 inchs long, I ended up getting rid of him. BN is busy nose right? I have one of those in another tank and his poop isn’t as long and doesn’t build it because I have UGJ (under gravel/sand jets) that constantly circulate all fish waste and un-eaten food around the tank so the intakes of my canister filters can pick them up. So basically all the stuff that stuff that use to sit on the black sand gets circulated and eventually gets pick up by my filters. I do a lot less vacuuming and I don’t see as much waste on the sand as I did before the UGJ. You could try a rubber lip, they don't get as large and I can't remember if they are as good at clean algae as the BNs.

 

[Jchillin]

A BN pooping in a planted tank is a wonderful thing. I have 5 (both albino and brown) in my 75g and I couldn't be happier about it. If the accumulation is such that it is unsightly (though I can't imagine one pooping so much), then spot vac'ing is your only option.

FWIW, I also have an 8" Sailfin in there with them and no poop problems.

 

[Burks]

A BN pooping in a planted tank is a wonderful thing. I have 5 (both albino and brown) in my 75g and I couldn't be happier about it.

Sorry but I have to ask, why is it a wonderful thing?

I plan on breeding some BN's in my planted 40g and your statement made me scratch my head.

 

[neilanh]

A BN pooping in a planted tank is a wonderful thing.

Maybe you should bag and sell the stuff to the planted folks!

 

[fish 'n' fries]

A BN pooping in a planted tank is a wonderful thing. I have 5 (both albino and brown) in my 75g and I couldn't be happier about it.

Sorry but I have to ask, why is it a wonderful thing?

I plan on breeding some BN's in my planted 40g and your statement made me scratch my head.

Fertilizer!...I have to second that fact. But honestly, only occasionally do I see enough poop to be unsightly from my gibby... Are your currents set up so that debris gets picked up by your filter?

 

[QTOFFER]

A BN pooping in a planted tank is a wonderful thing.

Personally, I think it would be even more wonderful if it could be trained to do its business in one corner.

 

[tropicfishman]

I trained my leopard gecko to poop on piece of toilet paper in its cage, maybe youcan trian the pleco lol, actually there really messy fish, they eat and it comes right out, you just have to keep up with it, its a chore but its worth it, imagine the mess of 2 in a 10 gallon

 

[hulkamaniac]

A BN pooping in a planted tank is a wonderful thing. I have 5 (both albino and brown) in my 75g and I couldn't be happier about it.

Sorry but I have to ask, why is it a wonderful thing?

I plan on breeding some BN's in my planted 40g and your statement made me scratch my head.

Fertilizer!...I have to second that fact. But honestly, only occasionally do I see enough poop to be unsightly from my gibby... Are your currents set up so that debris gets picked up by your filter?

The LFS seems to think that's my problem. The water in the tank is pretty still. I tried a powerhead and it seemed to pull my plants out of the substrate.

 

[newfound77951]

I have two BNs in a 55 and every couple of weeks or so I;ll notice a poop buildup in one corner near where they hang out. There is some stargrass there so it traps the poop. I gravel vac it out, it's a nice reminder to do a water change. I have a Aqua clear HOB and one small powerhead in my tank, and also cories and loaches that poke around in the bottom and help stir the poop up into the water column so that the filter gets it.

What kind of substrate do you have? A properly sized powerhead shouldn't be blowing plants out of the gravel but if you have very large or very light substrate that might add to the problem.

 

[Satsumas]

I have a BN and a Clown in my 20gal and i completely understand where you are coming from. I vacuum the substrate, stand back and see that i have done a good job. Next morning though it looks worse than it did the day i done it!

Thankfully though i think i will be moving my BN over to my high light tank which i plan to plant heavily!

 

[7Enigma]

I had the same problem except the poop was like 6-9 inchs long, I ended up getting rid of him. BN is busy nose right? I have one of those in another tank and his poop isn’t as long and doesn’t build it because I have UGJ (under gravel/sand jets) that constantly circulate all fish waste and un-eaten food around the tank so the intakes of my canister filters can pick them up. So basically all the stuff that stuff that use to sit on the black sand gets circulated and eventually gets pick up by my filters. I do a lot less vacuuming and I don’t see as much waste on the sand as I did before the UGJ. You could try a rubber lip, they don't get as large and I can't remember if they are as good at clean algae as the BNs.

Sounds to me like your BN had a parasite/bacterial infection. No fish should have long stringy poop.

OP, one thing you can do is have a PH near the substrate shooting across the tank towards a corner, preferably towards a back corner. The slight current in that direction will push most of the poop into that spot when it gets stirred up by passing fish. My tank current goes from the top left to the bottom right, and I have a large deposit of fish poop and plant debris in that corner with very little elsewhere.

HTH

 

[Jchillin]

A BN pooping in a planted tank is a wonderful thing. I have 5 (both albino and brown) in my 75g and I couldn't be happier about it.

Sorry but I have to ask, why is it a wonderful thing?

I plan on breeding some BN's in my planted 40g and your statement made me scratch my head.

Fertilizer!...I have to second that fact. But honestly, only occasionally do I see enough poop to be unsightly from my gibby... Are your currents set up so that debris gets picked up by your filter?

Yep, that is exactly what I was referring to. Having little circulation is definitely the reason you are seeing accumulations. Improving the circulation will certainly help get rid of it.

*Kudos for recognizing the fert thingy fish n fries!

 

[Burks]

Fertilizing never crossed my mind. I use Greg Watson ferts on the tank to begin with. Little more won't hurt.

Thanks.