Newbie..Bottom feeder to eat poop?

[swong126]

Hey guys,

I am a newbie to this site and to the fish world.....I inherited a 45 gal freshwater tank with white sand and filled it up with 9 cuchlids. I have 2 plecos and 1 small catfish. I was told the catfish would eat the other fish poop by the fishstore but the bottom of the tank is getting pretty dirty. Are they any kind of fish out there that does eat other fish's poop? the tube to my filtering system only goes down 1/3 of the way compare to the length of the tank. Thanks.

[ROB281]

no fish will eat poop, sorry the fish store lied

[Matt in Houston]

Sounds like you need to invest in something like a python siphon/water change hose and vac up the poop. Thats a lot of messy fish in a 45g tank...prob should be doing weekly 50% water change and vacs.

Most fish and pet stores have them, around 25 to 35 dollars...but much better than filling buckets when you change out water.

Oh and dont forget to add a water dechlorinator into your tank like Prime when you put water back into the tank from the sink.

[swong126]

What is the best water change hose and vac for sand since it will also suck up the sand? Thx

[Matt in Houston]

What is the best water change hose and vac for sand since it will also suck up the sand? Thx

Just siphon carefully off the top of the sand....no need to jam it down into the sand. You can also control the suction strength by how fast. you run you sink water.

Try it out, Im sure you will get the hang of it in no time.

I would get the Python brand, make sure you get the one with the brass faucet adapter.

[supadave]

Man...I wish I could.. find a fish that would really eat poop. I would definately put one in my Tropheus tank.