What Eats Fish Waste?

[00mitomk]

CAn anyone tell me wht type of aqurium animal ie snails shirp crabs crayfish etc eat fish waste becouse i see people have these things in their sigs saying clean up crew does this mean thy eat fish waste??

Many THanks

Mil Es

 

[kniesh]

Not totally sure about this but I have got 2 wood shrimp in my tank with a sand substrate and I have seen them nibbling away at the waste which accumulates on a sandy substrate. I think most shrimp will do but makes sure you have no fish big enough to eat them.

 

[SPLiSH]

No animal actually eats solid waste, they may toy with it but since the nutrients have been removed by the first animal, there would be no point in another animal eating it.

When signs say 'Clean up Crew' they usually refer to animals that eat algae, like plecos.

 

[kniesh]

Bronze corrys and shrimp would be best to stirr it all up though, which in turn keeps the substrate clear.

 

[Fella]

Bronze corrys and shrimp would be best to stirr it all up though, which in turn keeps the substrate clear.

It doesn't actually remove the waste though. The best waste remover is a gravel vac or siphon.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Bronze corrys and shrimp would be best to stirr it all up though, which in turn keeps the substrate clear.

Word of warning about the cories- they can be prone to bacterial infections if the substrate is not kept clean. There are fish in nature that do to some extent eat poo (like dung beetles do on land)- but then they naturally produce poo of their own, so you're not really any better off. Anyway, most fish found in the hobby do very little poo eating. The main cleaning they do is of algae (some plecos, otos, shrimps, to some extent livebearers) and of leftover food (corys, plecos, shrimps, snails). But anything that cleans up also produces more waste- what goes in must come out, otherwise your pets would explode

 

[nurglespuss]

Exactly Scat's eat fish poo (hence the name), so do Cod, and yes so do some shrimp (such as the wood shrimp) and all filter feeding crabs and shrimp will consume fish detritus (after its been stirred up a little). Planarians, flat worms, hydra etc. will also consume fish waste, as will greater pond snails, blood worms and fresh water clams.

Theres a list for ya

 

[pica_nuttalli]

but, as mentioned, everything that eats poo later produces poo.

the term "clean-up crew" is an unfortunate term misappropriated from SW keepers. my understanding is that tanks with live rock need various invertabrates to help maintain the ecobalance of the system--largely by controlling algae forms and eating tiny food particles.

FW keepers have since adapted the term to refer to essentially all bottom-dwelling or algae-eating critters. while largely done out of affection, at the same time its a terribly misleading practice. all of the fish commonly called cleaners actually need to be fed appropriate sinking food, especially plecos. most of the larger shrimp and snails also require additional feeding.

only MTS, pond snails, and smaller shrimp (such as Amanos) resemble the SW "cleaners". but even these don't make all of the poo disappear. the snails will redigest some waste (most plecos and predatorial fish have highly inefficient digestive systems) but again, the snail poo replaces any eaten fish poo. small shrimp primarily eat algae forms, detrius in the water column and little bits of leftover food. they won't even look at fish wastes.

while i firmly believe that MTS are a fantastic addition to any tank, (certain snail-haters will disagree ) they won't solve any cleaning problems. the only thing that results in a proper tank cleaning is a gravel vacuum.

 

[nurglespuss]

While there is some good advice here, I have never had cause to vacuum any tank I've owned... Until the last 8 years or so, I primarily utilized undergravel systems, with rear non filtered banks for plants, this needed a sift/vacuum once a year, if that. My current re-entry into fish keeping (small tank) will never have the gravel cleaned as the trumpet snails within, do infact eact fish waste (they arent picky, they munch it up, digest the remnants left inside and re-pass it, in a much more dispersable form). Plants absorb the waste, and provided the gravel is always 'active' it doesnt really require vacuuming at all (IMO). Most shrimps feed on fish 'poo' only the algae shrimps are fairly strict herbivores. If you want a low low maintainance tank, go for either an undergravel or heavily planted.

 

[Bullrock74]

No animal actually eats solid waste, they may toy with it but since the nutrients have been removed by the first animal, there would be no point in another animal eating it.

When signs say 'Clean up Crew' they usually refer to animals that eat algae, like plecos.

My pacu eats the droppings of my oscar all the time. I have witnessed it countless times.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

i disagree with the undergravel advice. while an undergravel system does make waste less visible, it does not remove the waste from the system and in fact interferes with cleaning attempts. the wastes collect underneath the gravel and sit there en masse decaying and polluting the water column. cleaning an undergravel generally involves removing at least part of your gravel, seriously disrupting the nitrogen cycle. a reverse-flow undergravel, however, would not have these issues but it also would not pin wastes at the bottom of the tank.

however, planting a tank is very helpful for keeping chemical pollutants under control. the roots do not "absorb" solid waste but they do take in large portions of the chemical byproducts of waste decay. (MTS and other small snails facillitate this process by digesting larger chunks of poo into tiny chunks of poo, which in turn decay more readily.) but unless you're tank is heavily planted with high-wattage lighting and the works, you will still need to do water changes as usual. and that will need to involve some gravel vacuuming to remove solid wastes from the unplanted sections.

 

[kniesh]

Trust me, wood shrimp eat poo, I have watched it on a number of occassions. They also produce considerably less waste than any fish.

I came about this by accident but I have a planted tank with;

8 harlequins
4 bronze corys
2 wood shrimp
3 apple snails
9 cherry barbs
1 male siamese fighter
1 black molly
2 sparkling gourami
2 honey gourami
1 dwarf gourami
2 ottos

With this amount of fish and a sand substrate I was begining to see a lot of waste on the bottom. Since I bought the wood shrimp it has all gone and I have witnessed them eating it. I do feed them aswell btw. They're not just starved.

Not sure about the snails as I've only just added them.

 

[00mitomk]

all sounds good so you gusy reckon shrimp and snails to minimise nt get rid and corys to move abt.

can anyone give me some advice on wht type of these would be best cheers

Miles

 

[nurglespuss]

Yah sure: Malaysian Trumpet Snails. Don't bother with apple snails, and leave ramshorns/pond snails etc. out of the equasion.

Corydoras paleatus is a good one (peppered cory) or Corydoras Aenus is very robust.

 

[dizzied]

Wood shrimp ideally shouldn't be eating poop. They should be filter-feeding.