Too much poop in tank, what fish will eat poop?

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manoosie

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Jul 21, 2005
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I have white sand, so poop is easy to see in my tank. Is there ANYTHING that will eat it, perhaps mts? How bad is it if i just sift the tank around and put it under the surface of the sand?
 
Nothing will eat poop. You have to vacuum it out. If you leave it biuld up your nitrates will continue to rise making it unhealthy for your fish.
 
Snails will break down fish waste, but then they produce their own. You need to be vacuuming the tank while doing 25% PWC weekly/biweekly.

How bad is it if i just sift the tank around and put it under the surface of the sand?
If you do that, you will also be convering up uneaten food. Both the waste and the food will led to nitrate build up and "old tank" syndrome. Best bet--vacuum for a healthy tank!
 
:lol:

That's like asking which dog will eat poop. -Sorry, I had to mention that.

But honestly, eating the poop is the duty of your gravel cleaner.
 
here is a suggestion.

get an airstone or powerhead to blow and stir the sand (place the airstone/powerhead in areas of dead spots/where the most poo accumulates)

the strong current will help keep the poo/particles floating - and the filter will suck it up !
 
I vaccum and stuff, its just that the white sand makes every little poop stand out. What if i buried the poop, is that bad? How is snail poop compared to cichlid poop?
 
Have you thought of mixing some black sand with the white sand? It will help camoflague the waste. That's what I do. You can't see the fish waste in the community tanks. But cichlid poo is much bigger and you can definately tell that it's waste.
 
There is no way around it....don't bury your poop.... your due diligence is the only option. If you do by chance, however, invent a poo vaporizer or a "poo-be-gone" additive, you'd make millions.
 
I have actually seen shrimp eat poop! They probably wouldn't clean your whole tank but they may do an okay job in between gravel vacs.
 
You could also pick up a Turkey Baster and use it for spot cleanings between gravel vacs.
 
Mice eat poop (sometimes), but I'm afraid that one wouldn't last very long underwater. :D :wink:

Really, there are no fish or inverts that eat fish waste, and you don't want to rake it into the sand - that will cause deadly pockets of anaerobic bacteria.
Your only option is gravel vacs.

A white substrate can be a PITA as far as maintenance goes - between the fish poop, diatoms, and algae. If you really want a white substrate (which looks stunning when carefully maintained), you'll just have to do very frequent gravel vacs to keep it looking its best.
 
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