Poop eater
- Thread starter Mr. Fishy
- Start date
It wouldn't make sense since poop is what fish excrete after it takes all the nutrients out of food... If there is no nutrients in the poop then why eat it. Also the poop has high ammonia levels, which is usually oxidized to nitrate which is less harmful, so the ammonia would be toxic to the fish. I did some kind of fish on Dirty Jobs but i don't think it exist in the aquarium world.
Whoever told you was probably talking about cories or any bottomfeeder really. It's a very bad misconception that usually leads to killing off your bottomfeeders because you don't feed them. What's even sadder is that people recommend "cories, because they'll eat all our fish poo and you won't have to clean your tank so often."
yep, they are right Mr. Fishy. Sorry. No fosh out there will eat fish poo- you will always have to ddo your water changes and gravel vaccuuming. There are fish who will eat the excess food that sink to the bottom, such as the cories KB mentioned. If they are compatibile for your tank and you can get your hands on them, shrimp do an amazing job of picking up excess food particles.
But still no poop
But still no poop
answer to your questions my friend
here you go
https://www.azgardens.com/p-224-substrate-burrower-golden-clams.aspx
here you go
https://www.azgardens.com/p-224-substrate-burrower-golden-clams.aspx
Actually there are some that will... but this is purly academic, I wouldn't recommend them in the 99% of aquariums.
Fish from the Genus Scatophagus (meaning "Dung Eaters") do exactly that... eat poop. The downsided here is they get BIG, start in FW, need to be moved to Brackish, and then need a HUGE marine aquarium as adults (partly because they are a schooling species, get almost a foot long and are ACTIVE). In nature they can sometimes be found around sewage outlets getting a free meal. That said, it isn't their whole diet and they do need other things as well.
There are other detritivores and such out there, but when you get right down to it... they poop too. So no matter how you cut it the only way to get that poop out is with Gravel vacuuming (while it's solid) or water changes (for when it's been broken down). Remember, anything we put IN our tanks needs to be taken out by US in one form or another. Plus those fish need a more varied diet anyway lol.
Chris
Fish from the Genus Scatophagus (meaning "Dung Eaters") do exactly that... eat poop. The downsided here is they get BIG, start in FW, need to be moved to Brackish, and then need a HUGE marine aquarium as adults (partly because they are a schooling species, get almost a foot long and are ACTIVE). In nature they can sometimes be found around sewage outlets getting a free meal. That said, it isn't their whole diet and they do need other things as well.
There are other detritivores and such out there, but when you get right down to it... they poop too. So no matter how you cut it the only way to get that poop out is with Gravel vacuuming (while it's solid) or water changes (for when it's been broken down). Remember, anything we put IN our tanks needs to be taken out by US in one form or another
. Plus those fish need a more varied diet anyway lol. Chris
Unfortunately tha info is a little missleading IMO... Normally to do well long term clams do need to be fed. And while I don't know the specific partical size for that species nomally its in the order of TINY, like Phytoplankton tiny.
And yes... while clam larvea are not parasites, I do remember reading about some parasites that use clams to complete their life cycle. Not very common from my understanding, but that could be because clams aren't very common either.
Plus the addition of clams to an aquarium means you need to pay attention to pH fairly well. If it goes too low they can actually have their shell disolve. And they use Calcium to make new shell material.
All in all I don't normally recommend them and even less so as a form of filter.
Chris
And yes... while clam larvea are not parasites, I do remember reading about some parasites that use clams to complete their life cycle. Not very common from my understanding, but that could be because clams aren't very common either
. Plus the addition of clams to an aquarium means you need to pay attention to pH fairly well. If it goes too low they can actually have their shell disolve. And they use Calcium to make new shell material.
All in all I don't normally recommend them and even less so as a form of filter.
Chris
LOL, I'm guessing you've never had a clam die in your tank? There's not much worse than that... I'd say the smell is second only to a LARGE dead snail (Tied with "dead anemone stench") and we haven't even gotten into what it does to your water quality . Then it just becomes a cain reaction, one dies, ammonia goes through the roof, more die, ect ect ect, all of a sudden your looking at a crashed tank.
I still say they should only be put in tanks that are specialized for them. Just my opinion though...
. Then it just becomes a cain reaction, one dies, ammonia goes through the roof, more die, ect ect ect, all of a sudden your looking at a crashed tank. I still say they should only be put in tanks that are specialized for them. Just my opinion though...
I knew if land had dung beetles that there had to be an aquatic version. I wonder if there is anything in the invertebrate phylum that does that role though. The closest thing to what you are looking for is plants and algae, for they directly absorb nitrogen waste as nutrients. I purposely let algae develop in a cycling tank and have plants around to make the cycle less severe. Whatever you let grow, there is a limit on how much plant growth that can be had so eventually of this plant matter has to be removed so you can remove some nitrogen from the system. I don't think you can ever get away with not doing water changes. Most aquarium fish are river fish so their ecosystem just flushes the excess nitrogen down the river where it probably gets absorbed in some other aquatic ecosystem like a swamp, marsh, oxbow, lagoon, or the ocean.
