General African Cichlid Discussion • Best poop eaters

[naturlvr]

What fish could I put in with my African Cichlids that would do the best job eating poop and other waste?

[DJRansome]

In general, fish don't eat poop or waste.

The feces should get swirled up in the water column and swept into your filters if you have enough circulation. What is the GPH (gallons per hour) of your filter? It should be in the documentation from the filter, or you can usually Google the information by just entering something like GPH Rena Filstar XP4 for example.

Do not overfeed so that there is no excess food to be handled.

A bristlenose pleco can eat algae if you have it growing on your glass. This helps keep the glass clean during the week between cleanings when you scrape the glass every week. But they will not eat the feces of other fish.

[naturlvr]

In general, fish don't eat poop or waste.

The feces should get swirled up in the water column and swept into your filters if you have enough circulation. What is the GPH (gallons per hour) of your filter? It should be in the documentation from the filter, or you can usually Google the information by just entering something like GPH Rena Filstar XP4 for example.

Do not overfeed so that there is no excess food to be handled.

A bristlenose pleco can eat algae if you have it growing on your glass. This helps keep the glass clean during the week between cleanings when you scrape the glass every week. But they will not eat the feces of other fish.

Thank you DJ.. Someone at Petsmart (will never ask them anything again lol ) told me there is a fish called called a Clown Loach.
But I am not having problems anymore. Crossing fingers.

[DJRansome]

They do not eat poop and like to be in schools of six or more in a large tank. Can grow to be 13". Not a perfect fit with Africans, although people do keep them for a time with success.

There are lots of bottom feeders, but they are best added because you love the fish and not for a cleanup crew. Better to feed less so there is no food waste and have good filtration to keep debris off the bottom and in the filter where you can clean it.

[naturlvr]

They do not eat poop and like to be in schools of six or more in a large tank. Can grow to be 13". Not a perfect fit with Africans, although people do keep them for a time with success.

There are lots of bottom feeders, but they are best added because you love the fish and not for a cleanup crew. Better to feed less so there is no food waste and have good filtration to keep debris off the bottom and in the filter where you can clean it.

Thanks! I need the exercise! Clean up!

[cyclonecichlids]

The best poop eater is nitrobacter. Use good substrate and they will do a great job eating the poop. The rest should be siphoned out by the fish keeper at water change time.

By the way, you won't have much poop if you don't overfeed.

[noki]

Depends what is in the poop, lots of veggie material can get "recycled", but eventually bacteria has to take care of it in the end. If you have too much poop, yes, you probably feed too much, or have too many fish, which will be an eventual problem down the road.