What am I doing wrong? (aka the Poo Diaries)

[Rachel0001]

Yes, I know cichlids are messy fish. But good grief, they poop SO MUCH! I feed them a lot so I'm not surprised, but I do wonder why I get fish poo that gathers in certain spots in my tank.
( "a lot" = I feed them until I see the underdogs get a bite or two). I have one group who practically leap out of the aquarium when they see me and others who run for cover. I feed them by distracting the bold guys and sneaking pellets to the smaller ones on the other side.
I feed them 1-2x day for around 30 seconds and they eat it all as they fall so I never have uneaten food around. I only feed NLS cichlid, Thera-A, or medium fish formulas. I don't know if I'm overfeeding, I've heard everything from feed twice a day to feed every 2-3 days. If I feed less frequently the underdogs get skinny.

I have a 100G with a Fluval 405 and a Rena xP3 with the spray bar, three 250W Aqueon Pro heaters and a Tetra Whisper air pump rated for my tank size.
I vacuum the sand weekly during PWCs of 25-40% and test my water before the change. Every week it's the same...Am: 0, NO2: 0, NO3: between 5-20, pH:8
Current stock: 10 sm/med yellow tail Acei, 6 yellow labs, 1 rusty, 6 red zebras.
In QT I've got 1 blue & 4 albino socolofi and 3 aulonacara (I know, they're not really mbuna, I've heard some have success keeping them together so I'm trying with a QT tank close by).

Why is it that the poop doesn't get filtered out? Or is it normal that it sits on top the sand?

The filter intakes are about 4-6" above the sand because I recently took out a bunch. The poo wasn't sucked up when they were closer though, so I don't know if that's it. I have 1 intake and 1 output on each side of the tank. I just added the Rena, hoping maybe that the poo-piles were because I just needed more filtration. No change.

Should I try for more circulation, maybe add a power head to move things around? I don't even know if I can use them w/o an UGF.

Wow...that turned out longer than I expected! Thanks folks, for responding- and reading the entire thing!
I'll post poo pics from my phone

 

[Rachel0001]

Pics...

 

[Rachel0001]

Last ones...when it's not so poopy, it's beautiful! You can still see a little bit around the rocks.

 

[garfy]

Your not doing anything wrong.Africans just are this messy and it sounds like your feeding level is just fine.Your weekly pwc and vac is plenty enough to take care of it and your water parameters are good.Just be sure you disturb the sand so as to get any trapped poo.The tank look great by the way

 

[jetajockey]

That's the major downside of using white sand, you will see every little bit of poo on it.

 

[Hholly]

Gorgeous tank!

 

[5x5]

Agree with jetajockey. No one seems to talk about this obvious problem when recommending white sand! The only time it looks good is the day of PWC.

I have the same problem regarding the feeding. It's a tough balance to not overfeeding the boss of the tank, while still giving the bottom feeders some food. I chose to stick with every other day feedings. 1x is arguably fine. I think twice a day is very likely to be overfeeding.

 

[Rachel0001]

Thanks everyone! I decided about three days after setting up the tank that white sand was a baaaad choice. I'm switching to black once I wrap my brain around a good game plan. I'm sure not emptying the tank to switch it.

I was really hoping someone knew a secret trick to getting the filter to get it up and out. I am sitting here watching the poo just hang out on a rock about an inch and a half away from the filter. NLS must = poo as heavy as rock. Luckily taking care of my tanks is my favorite "chore" and I don't mind all the PWCs.

I will switch to 1x/day feeding. I have heard mbunas naturally want to graze so feeding less more often is a more natural routine for them. The feeding schedule seems to be a point of debate...but for me it takes a lot of self control not to feed them every time I walk by and they follow me all over like they're starving. I can do once a day easy enough! I am planning on skipping more feedings here and there once I see some algae on the rocks and I know they can graze. They're getting big fast, I have some newer ones who've doubled size in one month. Yeah, they're not starving.

Thanks for the compliments, btw it will look great with black sand!

 

[Jmedic25]

Black sand shows poo also!!!!I feed my cichlids NLS and there are lil red turds everywhere...So dont get to excited, plus when I changed gravel for sand it took me 4 hours in my 75...Not to rain on your parade just dont want you to have too hi hopes

 

[Rachel0001]

Black sand shows poo also!!!!I feed my cichlids NLS and there are lil red turds everywhere...So dont get to excited, plus when I changed gravel for sand it took me 4 hours in my 75...Not to rain on your parade just dont want you to have too hi hopes

Dang it! I saw red sand at Petco. I'll just match the sand to the turds lol

 

[TankBoss]

Thanks everyone! I decided about three days after setting up the tank that white sand was a baaaad choice. I'm switching to black once I wrap my brain around a good game plan. I'm sure not emptying the tank to switch it.

I was really hoping someone knew a secret trick to getting the filter to get it up and out. I am sitting here watching the poo just hang out on a rock about an inch and a half away from the filter. NLS must = poo as heavy as rock. Luckily taking care of my tanks is my favorite "chore" and I don't mind all the PWCs.

I will switch to 1x/day feeding. I have heard mbunas naturally want to graze so feeding less more often is a more natural routine for them. The feeding schedule seems to be a point of debate...but for me it takes a lot of self control not to feed them every time I walk by and they follow me all over like they're starving. I can do once a day easy enough! I am planning on skipping more feedings here and there once I see some algae on the rocks and I know they can graze. They're getting big fast, I have some newer ones who've doubled size in one month. Yeah, they're not starving.

Thanks for the compliments, btw it will look great with black sand!

It's called "cleaning". Your fish won't benefit from you disguising the poo. I just "sweep" my sand regularly. I also heeded the advice of someone here and used the exhaust of one of my filters to direct the poo out from behind rock areas that are difficult to get at with my hose.

 

[garfy]

Tankboss is spot on.Fish poo and it has to be cleaned up for the sake of your water and your fish whatever the substrate.

 

[Rachel0001]

I vacuum the sand during the PWCs (I use a python) every 5-7 days..I can't imagine I should do it more often.
I was hoping to find a trick to getting it into the filters in between cleanings. I would rather clean out my canister filters every week then have to stare at the poo for the last few days of the week. That dark red NLS poo stands out against the white sand more than it would against black sand; it would benefit to switch me so I don't have the urge to clean it every third day when I don't need to.
My water is clear and I have great parameters and I'm not trying to mess that up...I just don't like seeing fish poo 3 days after I cleaned the tank.
I should mention I am a bit of a perfectionist. Im NOT saying I'm perfect but little things like fish poo all over my clean white sand bugs me. I have two kids and a clean white couch, I can keep 6' of sand clean.

I hadn't thought of using the filter outtake to "blow" it out of the corners. That's a great idea and sounds easier than lifting every rock in the tank like I am doing. I am 5'2" in shoes, I can't reach the little ones without almost falling in lol.

 

[5x5]

TankBoss and Garfy,

Why are you making the assumption that Rachel is lazy and is just trying to hide fish waste rather than clean it? All that was indicated is that it stands out against the white sand and is not aesthetically pleasing.

I have the same problem myself with white sand beds. The only time it looks good is for about 4 hours after the PWC/Vacuuming, then it's back to being spotted with fish waste. You could vacuum your sand bed 3 times a week and still have this problem to an extent.

 

[TankBoss]

TankBoss and Garfy,

Why are you making the assumption that Rachel is lazy and is just trying to hide fish waste rather than clean it? All that was indicated is that it stands out against the white sand and is not aesthetically pleasing.

I have the same problem myself with white sand beds. The only time it looks good is for about 4 hours after the PWC/Vacuuming, then it's back to being spotted with fish waste. You could vacuum your sand bed 3 times a week and still have this problem to an extent.

Good luck making your poo blend in with your substrate Rachel. And I wouldn't call anyone lazy who would change out their substrate as a solution to this problem.

 

[Hholly]

Have you thought of using one of those gravel vac thingies that don't remove water but just take out the poo? I saw these at the store, not sure if they're worth it($55). But you would still be stuck doing it several times a week. :-/

 

[garfy]

Wasn't suggesting that you are lazy.Just pointing out the facts.Was only trying to help.Good luck with your tank.

 

[5x5]

It's called "cleaning"

Maybe I took it the wrong way, but this comment appears to tell the original poster they are "barking up the wrong tree" by changing substrate colors and needs to step up the cleaning.

My perspective is that it's just a fact of life with white sand - no matter what you do.

 

[garfy]

Personally I think that lighter coloured sands look more natural than black sand and just meant stick with the vacuuming and don't sacrifice the beautiful white sand.It looks fantastic!!

 

[TankBoss]

Maybe I took it the wrong way, but this comment appears to tell the original poster they are "barking up the wrong tree" by changing substrate colors and needs to step up the cleaning.

My perspective is that it's just a fact of life with white sand - no matter what you do.

That's pretty much my point.
Good job!
There is only so much that you can do, as we are keeping and feeding, live animals, in water. You WILL see poo.
The difference between light and dark sand, I suspect, isn't going to please someone, who is willing to completely take apart their setup, in order to replace white sand with a shade that better matches fish poo.
And to this person I say "good luck" and "I hope it ends up being worth your trouble".