Need help with excessive fish waste?

[mnemosyne]

Hello all. I have a 27 gallon tank which is currently home to one very large sucker fish, and I'm having a problem with, yes, you guessed it, mounds and mountains of excessive waste. I feed him one to two Hikari Tropical algae wafers every day. Should I just cut down to one per day?

Also - is there some sort of detritus eater I could purchase to take care of this excessive waste? I used to have a crayfish living in the tank as well, and that seemed to keep the waste problem under control - I don't want another crayfish however, since it was aggressive towards the sucker fish. Any advice ?

 

[QTOFFER]

Definitely cut down the feeding to one wafer a day.
Plecos and the like are well known poop factories. There's not much else you can do to remove the stuff other than a gravel vac. I don't know of any fish or invert that will eat pleco poop.

 

[theotheragentm]

The Hikari wafers are huge. Cut it back to one for sure.

 

[Taelen]

What type of Pleco is this? There are many that will easily get too big for 27g. I feed my BN pleco a wafer a day.

 

[pokrface]

Plecos get huge-even in small tanks. I'm a firm believer in giving fish the most natural food available. I once saw a 22-inch pleco in a store in Florence, SC. When I asked the owner what he fed the fish, he said "zuccini." Ever since I have fed my plecos a piece of zuccini (large or small depending on the size of the fish) every two or three days. Just drop it in the tank and let it float. I love watching the fish latch on and feed upside down. Cut off the skin before feeding it smaller fish, but larger plecos will eat the whole thing. Other plant eaters in your tank will help with any remains. If you feed an appropriate amount, I think you'll find less waste that is also easier to remove from the tank. If your problem continues, try making a small depression in an inconspicuous location to collect the waste and spot siphon once a week.