Pleco eat poop?

futurecanadian

futurecanadian

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Mar 10, 2007
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Cleveland, OH
I am curious if I buy a pleco will eat the poop that my fish so generously have spread about my tank?

What can I do? I have a sand bottom and my thai crab has no ambitious goal to help keep it clean...

I need a genuin poop eater lol...

Shawn
 
You cant rely on a fish to crap. Plecos will actually and much more to the tank if they're fed properly. You are the best crap removal tool. Use a siphon and hover it over the surface of the sand.

That said, I'll move this to the FW forum for you:)
 
fish do not eat 'poop'. plecostomus will suck algae off rocks and tank walls and like to rasp on driftwood but they need a summplemetal, variable and high quality diet just like all other fish. need to clean off the gravel/sand surface? get yourself a Python water exchange system. google it.
 
Yeah, bottom cleaners are there to clean off excess food and algae growths... the only fish I can think of that consumes fecal matter is the scat, but those are brackish water fishes... and even then, I don't think they eat fish feces, per se.

To be honest, my female bristlenose pleco MAKES a lot of poop, so don't count on bottom feeders for that. The only one who can clean that up is you. :P
 
I never noticed my Scat ever eating actual waste. He was a pig though, and cool, wish I didnt have to get rid of him. Bottom feeders or cleaners is sometimes misleading to say. Many fish eat from the bottom but not waste, real food. Some even only eat live foods like worms or snails, so sometimes these bottom feeders can be more difficult to feed than normal fish. There is only two things off hand that will work good to keep your bottom free of waste buildup and thats a gravel vac and lots of plants. Gravel vac is a lot cheaper and easier unless you know what you doing with plants.
 
thats the problem with sand, you can see all the poo. Get a power head for some extra circulation and it might pick most of it off the bottom, although, I have noticed plecos of anykind leave turds that weigh about as much as a cinder block and barely anything but a siphon will pick it up.
 
TimmyB42386 said:
thats the problem with sand, you can see all the poo.
Click to expand...
I would think that's a good thing, rather than having it lurking underneath, rotting, and sending the nitrate level high.

Thee only thing in a tank that will "eat" poop is plants, and they do that very, very slowly. You gotta be the janitor and clean up after the fish.
 
The name 'scat' originates from the latin name, Scatophagus. During certain times of the season, young scats can be found in areas where sewer pipes dump into bodies of water. These fish could be seen nipping at the floating detrius and fecal matter flowing out into the waters.

This is how they get their ever popular nickname “scat (dung) eaters”. However it is inconclusive as to whether they actually do eat the waste or the organisms that feed on the waste. It is thought that perhaps they are just consuming the undigested vegetable matter in the dung and only when other food sources proved scarce.

Obviously, we don't feed them feces... but it is how they got their name. And they are such avid feeders because they eat from just about anything in their native habitat... obviously!! XD
 
TimmyB42386 said:
thats the problem with sand, you can see all the poo. Get a power head for some extra circulation and it might pick most of it off the bottom, although, I have noticed plecos of anykind leave turds that weigh about as much as a cinder block and barely anything but a siphon will pick it up.
Click to expand...

i second that, cinderblocks and all!
 
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