How To Clean Fish Poop From Bottom Of Tank

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How To Get Rid Of Fish Poop In Planted Aquarium?

Deep Dave

Dec 10, 2018

HI All,

I am new to Aquascaping and this was my 1st attempt. The tank turned out to pretty good, and water parameters are in control, the plants are doing pretty OK, and the fish are enjoying it.

I do however have 1 question, I cannot siphon the fish poop from the substrate in a lot of places where there is plantation, I do carry out 40% water changes every week though without fail.

What happens to the fish poop if left unsiphoned?

Do the plants use it as ferts?

Giul

Dec 10, 2018

The plants will use it as ferts but if you're highly concerned about it you can get a small gravel vacuum and use it to get in the tight spots. I swear my Gouramis purposefully poop in the worst spots and I'm so much happier now that I have a tiny vacuum to target those areas

Deep Dave

Dec 10, 2018

Thread Starter
#3

I swear my Gouramis purposefully poop in the worst spots and I'm so much happier now that I have a tiny vacuum to target those areas

Haha!! I will probably get myself a tiny vacuum then..

Thanks for the reply..

YATT

Dec 10, 2018

Before I vacuum I have been "fanning" the hard to get areas to "blow" out the poop near the plants. I'm not sure if this is best idea but it does move some poop/food material out from underneath.

Marijn Lange

Dec 10, 2018

Before I vacuum I have been "fanning" the hard to get areas to "blow" out the poop near the plants. I'm not sure if this is best idea but it does move some poop/food material out from underneath.

Doesn't this increase your PH level?

WTFish?

Dec 10, 2018

Turkey baster works well too.

Kalyke

Dec 10, 2018

I got concerned about areas where there might be trapped gas in the substrate under a "carpet" type planting. What people have been recommending are small burrowing snails. This may not seem like it answers your question but the small burrowing snails eliminate (or at least lower) the need to move the plants around while suctioning. Some people do not like these snails. I don't but I bought a plant recently and found the eggs were on it. They hatched and now I have these snails. I feel better about putting carpet plants in now.

As far as blowing, if you get a power head or small pump, you can get the mulm into the water current so you can take it out easier.

Lacey D

Dec 10, 2018

HI All,
I am new to Aquascaping and this was my 1st attempt. The tank turned out to pretty good, and water parameters are in control, the plants are doing pretty OK, and the fish are enjoying it.
I do however have 1 question, I cannot siphon the fish poop from the substrate in a lot of places where there is plantation, I do carry out 40% water changes every week though without fail.
What happens to the fish poop if left unsiphoned?
Do the plants use it as ferts?

Yes, the plants use it as fertilizer, and it will degrade naturally. But if you want to siphon it up, you can rubber band a chopstick to the end of the siphon tube so it is sticking about an inch or so out from the tube. Then use the chopstick to GENTLY stir the top of your substrate around the plants, getting the tank debris up into the water so it can be sucked up. Rachel O'Leary demonstrated this in a few videos, most of the time on normal sized tank siphons, but here is her using a small air tube for some fine spot cleaning:

yinoma2001

Dec 10, 2018

I bought 8 tiny terra cotta pots and put most of my plants in there (with gravel and a root tab). So my gravel vacuuming is much easier now compared to when I had them planted into the substrate.

sinned4g63

Dec 10, 2018

+1 for the turkey baster and +1 for the chopstick on your vacuum, both works fantastic. I prefer the turkey baster myself. I think it's easier instead of possibly ruining where the plants are in a tank such as mine with a growing carpet.

JaksAquatics

Dec 10, 2018

I swear my Gouramis purposefully poop in the worst spots

Ikr I have a heavily planted 15 and the fish all poop in the crayfish's nook where there is no plants! I even put a Cryptocoryne back there and it died from all the poop! Lol it sucked bc that was my first one but now I have a bunch.

Deep Dave

Dec 12, 2018

Thread Starter
#12

Thanks for all your replies..

I learnt a lot of new things..

Cheers!

happah

Dec 12, 2018

I can't reach about 70% of the surface in my aquarium because of the plants and decor; what I do is wave my hand above the planted surface to stir up the debris, and then collect what I can from the water column. I would assume what I don't catch is used by plants as fertiliser.

Gamer

Dec 12, 2018

If I feel like too much poop is accumulating inside one of my planted tanks and it collects/settles in a hard to reach area I find a turkey baster helps...pro tip though...buy a turkey baster specifically to use for that purpose. I mean don't use the one you'd use in the kitchen on your food or whatever!

WinterSoldier.

Dec 12, 2018

Fish poo in a planted aquarium is your best friend. The poo will act as a fertilizer and safe you a lot of work. I just let my tank go, and I can see the poo becoming part of the dirt over time. I have terrific plant growth, and happy fish. I don't do a lot about poo

Deep Dave

Dec 13, 2018

Thread Starter
#16

Hi,

Thank you very much for all the replies.. So basically Ill try to get the poop out using Turkey Baster, and not stress about the poop in the aquarium as it will be used up by plants

Thunder_o_b

Dec 13, 2018

I use this Search results for "pristine" It has worked very well for me.

sinned4g63

Dec 13, 2018

Fish poo in a planted aquarium is your best friend. The poo will act as a fertilizer and safe you a lot of work. I just let my tank go, and I can see the poo becoming part of the dirt over time. I have terrific plant growth, and happy fish. I don't do a lot about poo

True, my 10 gallon I don't think has ever been cleaned behind my moss tree and my 5 gallon is near impossible to vacuum under the log. If it looks really bad I'll take the turkey baster and blow some water in the area to mix stuff up and vacuum the debris from the water column, but that particular area in the tank does has a lot of roots reaching towards it..

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