What does normal fish poop look like?

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Kilgore

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
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Portland, OR
Haha, got you with that one...

No, seriously, I know stringy white fish poop indicates diarrhea which MAY indicate parasites, but what does "normal" fecies look like? :drain:

The reason I ask is because my new guppies poop more than any fish I have ever kept (except maybe goldfish), and it has ranged in color from bright red to brown to yellow.. no blue or purple yet, but give them time.

Anyway, the poop seems to reflect the food - I would swear they are pooping straight bloodworms sometimes. I am thinking normal is brown. Anyone else care to share their fish poop thoughts?
 
I've always seen brown or green pooh from my fish, the coloring could just be the food, I know that if human pooh comes out grey with a yellowish stripe through it it means your liver is not working anymore and you'll prolly die within a week becuase its not breaking down dead blood cells
 
I had swords taht would poop the colour of the food they were eating. typically red or green.. I returned them because live bearers breed too much.
 
lol i have seen a pleco poo as long as as 20 gallon coming from a 6 inch pleco lol. but i agree with everyone else on this one that it is the food. norm for my fish is a light brown to green colour and red for the blood worms. it all depends how much of each flake they eat lol.
 
One of my praecox rainbows was pooping a perfect piece of spinach or lettuce leaf the other day. i swear the thing didn't get digested at all....it was coming out bright green and looked good enough to sell at the grocery store. the funny thing was the other fish were chasing him around trying to eat it.
 
LOL I have seen some nasty pooh from plecos, i love the ones that look like party streamers across the tank lol
 
Glad I am not the only one so closely observing fish poo, lol. I agree on the food coloring thing - the bloodworms seem to have the greatest effect (as in, was that even digested?), followed by flakes. Interestingly, daphnia, a natural food for guppies, seems to result in normal brown poo.
 
You should see the streamers a 13.5" sailfin can put off, he was sucking on the glass in the front corner standing.. he had one that went from the floor around his mouth, back to the floor around his mouth again and it was still comin out when he got startled. (I think I may have tapped the glass to move him since I thought him sucking on his own poo was degrading)
 
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