robdog013 Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 Hi everyone, I have recently acquired a six foot tank, keeping mbuna cichlids, mainganos, cobalts, Electric yellows, Hongi. I have bristlenose and plecos as the cleaning crew. Unfortunately (for me) I have used sand as the substrate and in a mateer of days faecal material can be seen around the tank. I am currently running two external canister filters and 2 x power heads. Instead of regular poop scooping is there any other easier way to get rid of this unsightly problem??Are there any particular catfish out there that eat faeces? cheers rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 your plecos would be contributing significantly to your problem , as they are known for it, there really isnt anything you can do other then vacuum your tank regulary if you dont want to part with your plecos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew8710 Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 My only idea is that you put one of the power heads down at the substrate level and angle it towards your canister inlet, so all the poo is pushed into the canister and out of sight.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electricyellowz Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 Do as andrew8710 said if you can that is. Or you could change your substrate to a gravel and the poo is more out of sight than it is on sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robdog013 Posted June 18, 2007 Author Share Posted June 18, 2007 cheers guys, I will give that a go, i love my pleco he WILL STAY. i love this site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electricyellowz Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 i love this site So do I it is the most helpful groulp of people I have ever delt with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robdog013 Posted June 18, 2007 Author Share Posted June 18, 2007 aye man, iam new do you know hao I can see the classifeds section? I saw it at a friends house but its not available to me? do you have any light to shed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D6C1 Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 You have to apply for the classifieds. here http://www.aceforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=30720 Get rid of the sand and use gravel. If not, then the powerhead method is the way to go. good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keleher Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 id say stick with sand as the poo will stay on top and can be removed from the filters. but with gravel it sinks down into it and builds up unless you vacuum it every few days. how many lph are the 2 powerheads and filters? there might not be enough flow in the tank to lift the poo up. james Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamwater Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 Vacuming is about your only option I am afraid....unless you have a bare bottom tank or substrate with no rocks or anything else in the tank, all the powerheads in the world wont help lol....they joy of plecos Sand is a much better option than gravel though....the gravel may hide it, but that can lead to more disaster, especially if you dont like gravel vacuming.....as it will keep building up until your water turns to poo....! I have sand substrate also and to keep it looking a little respectable I made up a filtration and water return to work with my gravel cleaner...it allows me to remove all the crap with gravel cleaner and not lose any water....so I try and do a once a week clean to keep it down... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 You need to keep the matter in suspension, in my 8ft tank which has sand I have absolutely no waste on the sand whatsoever. Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuong Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 My only idea is that you put one of the power heads down at the substrate level and angle it towards your canister inlet, so all the poo is pushed into the canister and out of sight.. This is the way I do it, especially with big poopers in the tanks like plecos. Just use the powerhead to collect it all into a corner out of sight and ready for siphon day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamwater Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 You need to keep the matter in suspension, in my 8ft tank which has sand I have absolutely no waste on the sand whatsoever. Bruce But you dont have any plecos in your 8'er....put some in and see what happens to your clean bottom then lol and have you ever tried keeping BN crap in suspension? especially if they have plenty of wood to chew on..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robdog013 Posted June 19, 2007 Author Share Posted June 19, 2007 I never thought of using the power head to push the poop into a corner for vacuumingh, this idea will save me heaps of time, thanks guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 What i do in my 4x18x18 is direct the powerhead toward the back side of the glass. Since the tank isnt overly large msot of the poop just concertrates into one section of the tank and then i gravel vac it up in one hit. The powerhead is 3000/lph. HTH Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robdog013 Posted June 19, 2007 Author Share Posted June 19, 2007 cheers richard I'll give it a go tonight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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