Fish feces everywhere

[kiliiiii]

Hi. currently, I have a 36" tall paludarium with a 15 gallon'ish aquarium section at the bottom. Over the past 6 months or so I have noticed an unusual amount of fish waste that builds up in the substrate and any small movement causes a big cloud of detritus in the tank. I have tried multiple things to control this problem such as weekly water changes and gravel vacuuming, substrate swaps, buying a new filter (and cleaning it weekly) and doing smaller feedings. Nothing has seemed to help and I am considering tearing the tank down to build another terrarium section. I have no idea why it's so bad since there are only 7 small tetras, a pea puffer and 1 clown pleco. Please help, any suggestions will aid.

 

[Fisheye]

Are you sure it's not diatoms?

 

[wishuponafish]

Out of your stock the pleco is the only one that poops a lot, is it possible you're just getting dirt leaching off your terrestrial area?

 

[kiliiiii]

it is definitely not diatoms and the pleco was only added 2 weeks ago. it is also not dirt since I have a barrier that prevents dirt spillage

 

[SnookusFish]

You could try amano shrimp or a plant carpet

 

[kiliiiii]

I do not have sufficient lighting for a plant carpet however, maybe I can try the Amano shrimp. Do they require lots of plants?

 

[SnookusFish]

I do not have sufficient lighting for a plant carpet however, maybe I can try the Amano shrimp. Do they require lots of plants?

No, i have them in one tank that just has 1 anubias and some java moss. Give them some stones and driftwood and they will be fine although a few plants or a bit of moss wont hurt. You can also feed them blanched fruit tree leaves as it provides some minerals they need to molt. This is true with all types of shrimp, especially cherries

 

[kiliiiii]

will they deal with the fish waste in the gravel/river stones?

 

[FinalFins]

You could try amano shrimp or a plant carpet

Amano shrimp don't eat poop. As far as I know, no animal does.

 

[SnookusFish]

will they deal with the fish waste in the gravel/river stones?

Yes they will eat it. Mine pick up the gravel. They then poop out broken down fish poop which decompeses easier and is good for plants

 

[StarGirl]

Honestly no fish or shrimp is going to do your cleaning for you 100%. If you have that much waste you need to cut back even more on feeding and gravel vac way more than you are.

Yes they will eat it. Mine pick up the gravel. They then poop out broken down fish poop which decompeses easier and is good for plants

Huh? I dont think thats a thing...May be wrong.

 

[kiliiiii]

I have tried very small feedings and even 50 percent water changes twice a week with about 10-15 min. of gravel vacuuming and it has still not worked. I don't know what is causing this and it's becoming very frustrating!

 

[StarGirl]

The only thing shrimp or other bottom feeders will do is eat excess food. As far as I know they dont eat poop itself. Maybe try turning off your filter when you feed. It wont fly all over that way.

 

[FinalFins]

Yes they will eat it. Mine pick up the gravel. They then poop out broken down fish poop which decompeses easier and is good for plants

Poop is a mixture of bacteria and leftover nutrients. Not all that healthy (why would anything want to eat it?) and although they pick it up, do you actually see them eat it? I have amano shrimp myself and they certainly do not eat poop.

To OP can you get a picture so we can judge exactly how much poop there is?

 

[SnookusFish]

Honestly no fish or shrimp is going to do your cleaning for you 100%. If you have that much waste you need to cut back even more on feeding and gravel vac way more than you are.


Huh? I dont think thats a thing...May be wrong.

Oh im sorry i thought i had read that somewhere. Just double checked and apparently the fish poop turns to biofilm which the shrimp then eat. Either way they do still keep my substrate cleaner than without them. Have you considered a stronger filter or positioning the filter intake closer to the gravel. Apart from that i agree with the above to perform deep vacuums but i dont see why that isnt working for you.

 

[kiliiiii]

What you see in these photos is just after a huge water change with extensive vacuuming. FYI the waste is coming from the gravel not the sand on the outer area. This is what happened when I gave the gravel a small swirl with a ruler. Believe me, it is much worse than it appears in these pictures.

 

[FinalFins]

What you see in these photos is just after a huge water change with extensive vacuuming. FYI the waste is coming from the gravel not the sand on the outer area. This is what happened when I gave the gravel a small swirl with a ruler. Believe me, it is much worse than it appears in these pictures.

I definitely think the pleco is the culprit.

You take a turkey baster and 'squirt' all areas towards your python/water changer hose during a WC. Don't know if it will make much of a difference but it's been effective for me.

 

[kiliiiii]

I've tried that too, no effect and as I've mentioned before the pleco has only been in the tank for 2 weeks and this has been an ongoing problem for 6+ months

 

[FinalFins]

I've tried that too, no effect and as I've mentioned before the pleco has only been in the tank for 2 weeks and this has been an ongoing problem for 6+ months

If so I would think it is poop that hid itself somewhere and has been disturbed?

 

[DuaneV]

One thing that sticks out to me is you said, "over the last 6 months...., Ive tried weekly water changes, gravel vacs". So does that mean you werent doing them before? I wonder if it got out of control because you werent doing that in the first place? Neons and a Pea Puffer shouldnt be causing that much waste (you said you added the Pleco 2 weeks ago).

 

[saltwater60]

Any nerite snails? Mine make more doodoo than any of my fish do.

 

[SM1199]

Amano shrimp don't eat poop. As far as I know, no animal does.

Rabbits are meant to eat their own poop so that they gain the most nutrients by passing it through their digestive system twice. And my dog certainly thinks poop-sicles are tasty treats.

But that's irrelevant to this topic. Carry on

 

[wishuponafish]

I've seen my ghost shrimp gobble up a quarter inch long platy turd and watched it fill up his gut so I don't see how an amano couldn't do that too if it was hungry.

 

[RDcompton03]

Yes they will eat it. Mine pick up the gravel. They then poop out broken down fish poop which decompeses easier and is good for plants

they may eat bacteria which has set up on decomposing poop. But they DO NOT eat poop. And if they did what would the value in that be. They eat poop and then poop. Its still poop.

 

[RDcompton03]

Rabbits are meant to eat their own poop so that they gain the most nutrients by passing it through their digestive system twice. And my dog certainly thinks poop-sicles are tasty treats.

But that's irrelevant to this topic. Carry on

if you have a rabbit that eats its own poop either you are starving it or not giving it some nutritional element it needs.

 

[flyinGourami]

if you have a rabbit that eats its own poop either you are starving it or not giving it some nutritional element it needs.

Not necessarily, could be wrong but certain poops that they produce during the night are consumed and its pretty normal. What you said I think applies to dogs though, although again I could be wrong.

 

[EbiAqua]

if you have a rabbit that eats its own poop either you are starving it or not giving it some nutritional element it needs.

Coprophagy is normal in rabbits. Their gut flora process their food into a more easily digestible form. Rather than chewing cud like ruminants, rabbits eat their droppings to extract as many nutrients as possible.

Other animals that practice coprophagy are elephants, baby koalas, rodents, gorillas, and hippos.

 

[RDcompton03]

Not necessarily, could be wrong but certain poops that they produce during the night are consumed and its pretty normal. What you said I think applies to dogs though, although again I could be wrong.
[/QUOTE
Yes my bad for not being more specific. There is a special "poop" produced at night that they will eat. You will likely never see it because when they are doing it, it appears that they are cleaning themselves. They do not however go around the cage eating the poop on the floor of the cage.

 

[flyinGourami]

Yes, I think that is what SM1199 meant. Srry if I seemed rude btw.

 

[RDcompton03]

Coprophagy is normal in rabbits. Their gut flora process their food into a more easily digestible form. Rather than chewing cud like ruminants, rabbits eat their droppings to extract as many nutrients as possible.

Other animals that practice coprophagy are elephants, baby koalas, rodents, gorillas, and hippos.

LOL yes I stand somewhat corrected. There is a certain poop that a rabbit produces that it will eat.

 

[Hugooo]

I used to have a hamster that also eats its own poop. Don't worry, for many animals this normal. Not sure about other animal but rodents poop two kinds of poop, one regular one and another one that has nutrients. They eat it because it has nutrients that the did not get when eating food and so they missed it. Don't believe me ? Google it

 

[flyinGourami]

I used to have a hamster that also eats its own poop. Don't worry, for many animals this normal. Not sure about other animal but rodents poop two kinds of poop, one regular one and another one that has nutrients. They eat it because it has nutrients that the did not get when eating food and so they missed it. Don't believe me ? Google it

Haha I used to have a hamster too....THey do so many interesting things, eat their own poop, store food in their cheek pouches, and PUT SEEDS IN THEIR WHEELS TO KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT.

 

[Hugooo]

Haha I used to have a hamster too....THey do so many interesting things, eat their own poop, store food in their cheek pouches, and PUT SEEDS IN THEIR WHEELS TO KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT.

Finally, someone that gets my pain... my mom would wake up every night to move the weel because it bothered her more than it did me. But they are SO gosh darn cute, especially on YouTube!

 

[saltwater60]

if you have a rabbit that eats its own poop either you are starving it or not giving it some nutritional element it needs.

Actually rabbits eat some portion of their wet poop. Not the round pellets you see but they eat the wet mushy poop.
Rabbits Eat Their Own Poop

Trust me I’m literally surrounded by rabbits right now.

I’ll agree with you 100% on the fish poop that nothing except bacteria eats and breaks down fish poop. Shrimp and snails may pick at it but they don’t eat it.

 

[flyinGourami]

Finally, someone that gets my pain... my mom would wake up every night to move the weel because it bothered her more than it did me. But they are SO gosh darn cute, especially on YouTube!

Yep, when I used to go downstairs for water I just heard a rattling sound; I feel bad for my grandparents because they slept really close to the cage lol. They are really adorable though, I love the long haired syrians(there were these REALLy beautiful ones at petsmart)

 

[Demeter]

Shrimp are said to benefit from bacteria in the poo of other critters. Even if there was something to eat the poo buildup, they in turn would just be creating more poo so no point there.

Ok so back on track here, I see you have a piece of driftwood in there and the crud seems to be building up in the gravel under the wood? The wood and pleco are probably the main culprits. Wood is constantly in a state of decay in the home aquarium. I notice much more mulm around the base of wood during gravel vacuuming.

Adding more flow at the bottom of the tank may help, a sponge filter would probably do well at collecting the finer particles.

 

[Debbie1986]

I agree with Demeter. I had my 6 gallon tank look a mess. I could not figure out why it always looked dirty. The magnolia leaf I had in it for tannin had degraded to small practicals. No matter how much I gravel vacuumed, the volume was huge. I ended up cleaning the tank out & restarting my cycle because it looked really bad.

Some driftwood an degrade faster than others. I know my 2 small snails I got last June in my 1 tank were constantly on or inside it eating biofilm last year. they made the inside portion more hallowed out by their activity.

 

[NBettas83]

I do read that Clown Plecos need at least 20 gallons, just as a side note.

 

[Valliry7]

Ghost shrimp do eat fish poop, I have seen them do it. They are great scavengers!

 

[DoubleDutch]

It is the Clown making a mess as woodeater. Only a very small part is digested and the bigger parts leaves the fish in that way.