# Does anything eat Poop?



## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

Hey, was just wondering if there is anything in the freshwater world that eat's fish poop as in eats poop like it's going out of style. Cause I would like to not have to vacumm every day.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

do you eat poop???........ no.......then why would you expect a fish to eat poop.....
there are no fish that eat excrement..


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

You shouldn't have to vacuum everyday anyways, that means you have too many fish in your tank or one fish that needs to be removed.


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## alliecat420 (Mar 28, 2009)

how meny fish do you have in how large of a tank.. it might not be overcrowded.. you might just be overfeeding.. it could be moldy food your seeing


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

dogs eat poop from time to time especially cat poop, cause most of the food in cat poop is largely undigested. Dungbeetles don't eat it, but they utilize it. And everyday is an exaggeration, more like every other day, and that's cause I'm anal about how the black sand looks =P


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## alliecat420 (Mar 28, 2009)

Toshogu said:


> dogs eat poop from time to time especially cat poop, cause most of the food in cat poop is largely undigested. Dungbeetles don't eat it, but they utilize it. And everyday is an exaggeration, more like every other day, and that's cause I'm anal about how the black sand looks =P


point taken.. but still... no fish eat poop.. theres not much nutritional value in it


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

I don't think we need a list of animals that eat poop. How about we get a list of the size and fish in your tank and then we can help lol


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## aquatico (Mar 5, 2009)

I've seen fish eat poop, then be like oops and spit poop out lol. I thought this thread was a joke XP. Also just want to add if you over clean your tank it could be just as bad as a too dirty tank


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

doesn't have to be fish, maybe snails, invetabretes, eh.. worms?


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

I believe that the best you can do in an aquatic environment in your house is find snails that will eat the extra food left over etc. Now keep in mind that snails poop as well. MTS would be a good choice but keep in mind how many of them you will have in a short period of time. Also the snails are eating detritus, NOT poop. For lines of poop on your black sand there is nothing that I know of that can help you.


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## alliecat420 (Mar 28, 2009)

nothing.. not snails.. no invertabrets.. not even worms... nothing eats poop..


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

nope..... nope..... and nope... lol

there are many mammals that eat the excerment of their newborn....part of that is because it has nutrients in it..also to keep predators from getting the scent..newborn do not have a scent of their own; but their waste does..


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

sometimes i have to holler at folks about things that they don't really understand...
now.....ya'all put on the thinking caps...... take a good look at your fishes... now think about what their natural habitat is like..... what is the water like???....what kind of substrate??... plants??.. driftwood??.. rocks??.. 
all of these things are important...where it came from is the perfect environment for those fishes..
but we human beings like to think that we are smarter than god and we create environments that we think they should be in... mainly because it is what "WE" want and think looks good...
fish really do not live in near sterile conditions...if some folks ever got a good look at areas of the amazon they would be down there with 1,000,000,000,000 GPM canister filters trying to clean up all the nasty gunk.
there is such a thing as being too clean for the good of the fish..

toshogu...... i think you need to be less anal about this issue or you are going to analize your fish to death... lol


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## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

I've been conditioning my fish wrong this whole time?


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

Half the fun of creating a mixed species aquarium is finding fish with same parameters that fit some function within the tank. Pleco's and snails for most algae, Cory's and shrimp for destrus and leftovers, Platy's to keep the plants clean, Beta's to sit there and look good. I'll be adding Sidthemunkeys to keep the snails in check. and some (true) siamese algae eaters, once the hair algae shows up.


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## skason (Jan 8, 2009)

Horses and Rabbits eat their own feces. Post-Gastric Fermenters. Rabbits are sneaky and do it at night.


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## Guest (May 3, 2009)

i cant seem to find any fish names "Sidthemunkey":- i think the name is spelt "Sidthimunki".


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

it's Botia (sounds like "Sid the Monkey") spelling


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## Mr. Puffer (Mar 26, 2007)

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/526792/scat

I also have about 5-6 other links just from googling Scat once. They are known eaters of poo. Their definately not freshwater, but everyone here seems to think there aren't fish that eat poo. Figured I would let you know thats not true.

And I also have a couple of old old old tropical fish keeping books that also explain their name, and the reason they were given it... The fact they eat poo when there is no food available. They date back to the early 60's and one even back to the 40's.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I would be looking for a mechanical, rather than biological solution. Maybe a rotating powerhead close to substrate level, blowing from one end toward a power filter intake on the other. 

Know any MEs? Build a submersible version of the beach-combing self-propelled vehicle they use in Florida.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

actually mr puffer scats do not eat excrement..most common scat is the "scatophagus argus"......the name is from the greek.....
scata(scato) = offal = garbage = excrement...
phagos(phagus) = eater of...
argus = 1000 eyed monster in greek mythology

the name would lead one to believe that they eat excrement; but they do not.
they live in salt and brackish waters around docks and such and scavenge from the garbage that we magnificent humans dump.


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## Guest (May 4, 2009)

Mr. Puffer said:


> The fact they eat poo when there is no food available.


if you starve a fish and it has no recourse then yes. they will eat their own excreta to survive and that may give them just enough energy to live. excreta has no nutrional value. ma mom's Golds used to eat their own poo when mom was outta town and the damn maid refused to show up to feed them. it wasnt healthy for them. but they "survived". 

like John said, if we humans dont eat poo, why should anything else eat poo?

cheers!


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## ThatFishKid (Aug 9, 2008)

you know what eats poop? plants....many water problems can be cleared up with the adition of plants. my sand tank has MTSs and plants, and never been vacumed. MTSs and worms break up/down poop, but don't "eat" it. that's where the plants come in.

EDIT: also, adding a bit of flow along the bottom will help keep the poop from settling on the sand and looking bad.


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## wrestlerboy (Apr 8, 2009)

I think ghost shrimp eat fish poo.


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## komodo182 (Apr 14, 2009)

i think there are a few main options here. 
If you have a lot of time and money, you could find some scientists (genetic engineers) and have them experiment with the genome of a certain fish and maybe find a way to get it to eat poop as its main function in life by playing with its purines and/or pyrmidines. Sounds crazy i know, but the genome is coming along and this could happen one day.

Another other option would be to deal with it in the same way you have or hire someone (if you have lots of money).

Or (probably the best option) would be to do the mechanical methods listed above by certain members. This seems to be the easiest and cheapest way in the long run since your time of vacuuming each day has to have a dollar value to it.

Either way, enjoy the tank and best of luck with whatever option or options you choose.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

Thanks for the posts, I'll continue my search for a poop eater. Will post again if I find something that does.


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