Sniperelite8243

I know it sounds wierd but some animals do eat poo. and i was wondering if there is a freshwater community fish that would eat poo.

Any ideas

Thanks

__________________

Tommy Gun

I really do not think there is a fish that will eat another fish's waste and I wouldn't even advise keeping a fish for that purpose. My thinking here is that fish should eat food and make waste, and I am willing to bet there are fish that would eat your pleco's wastes, but only becasue there was nothing else for it to eat. The bacteria in your tank will eat it as it decays, but this is just going to add to your nitrates and make sure you have to change your water more times than you already do. The best thing is to remove the waste on an 'as needed' basis and do water changes as your nitrate tests show you is neccessary. I would think about looking at an LFS or two to see if you can find a tool that will help you out. Even if it is not intended to do so, but will work, there is nothing wrong with being a bit of a McGyver once in a while!

Sniperelite8243

worth a try. i just cleaned my tank again today a got out all the waste.

Thanks

__________________

Tommy Gun

Yea, I had considered this as well, a long time ago when I had a common pleco who would have about a 5 foot long string of waste wrapped all over my tank, which was bad because I had a couple fake plants that would not let go of it too easily! Besides it being unsightly, I would think you can get pretty close to a week between water changes, even if you dont take out the wastes, depending on how stocked you are right now, and the amount of water in your tank. I know that common pleco I had, which got to about 8 inches in length before I could find it a better home, couldnt completely ruin my 55 gallon's water quality in a week.

Sniperelite8243

Their the only fish i know that has that has such long poo. and the thing that confuses me. One poos alot while the other doesnt that much. could one be a male and the other a female?. There both only 3-5 inches. Luckely there poo is very light and my python cyphone sucks it up very easy.
also i got to thinking what if i screw my python up to my hoses hookup out side, not to put water in just to suck out the poo. my hose gets alot more suction so would that make my python stronger. its also 3-4ft lower then the tank?
then when i need to fill the tank just hook it up to my normal faucet?

Thanks

__________________

fernival brainard

the people at my LFS told me that Scats will eat poo, hence the name. But he said "nothing, but nothing will eat plec poop."
sorry dude!
just tell anyone who asks about all the plec poop that it is underwater spider webbing

Fern

BJP

Scats will eat wastes but it's more of a survival adaption for when times are bad than a dietery preference. I've also watched a show on Discovery showing an entire pond living off hippo poo.

As for the pleco poo try a change in diet. If you put something different in the front you may get something different coming out the back. I've raised common pleco's up to around 19"s without much stringy hassle by varying the diet around.

dlee9707

the dirty jobs hippo caretaker one? a gigantic indoor pond /w thousands of cichlids in it. i dont think they lived off the hippo poo tho. although hippos must make ALOT of poo, thousands of cichlids could probably take the thing down IF they would even try to eat it, they also had to take alot of the poo out by hand, hence the job being dirty.

__________________
55 Gallon Tank:
4X yellow lab
Breeding pair of Red Empress
Female OB peacock
S. Fryeri
Syno. Catfish
Blue Batia
Generic Pleco
One Tinfoil Barb (i couldnt get the thing out with a net or anything else, so i guess its there to stay...)

BJP

No, this was actual film footage of hippo's in Africa. I don't think I'll ever get those closeup's out of my mind of the hippo's relieving themselves followed by a swarm of huge fish feasting. Apparently the entire ecosystem of the ponds start with hippo poo.