# Pleco Poop!



## jemminnifener (Nov 23, 2011)

I don't think it's something you can stop. Maybe they'll stop pooping as much when there's less for them to eat. I think plecos are known for having long and large volumes of poop. Maybe a smaller algae eater will have smaller, more sightly poop?


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## DerekFF (May 24, 2011)

Fish eat......then they poop. Pleco poop just happens to be verrrry long and visible.

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## PlantedTankLover (Aug 28, 2010)

My BN never went ths much, maybe its because there are 2 of them. Once they get bigger Ihad planned on moving them to my 125, hope they grow fast with all that algea to eat!


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## Realistik84 (Sep 12, 2011)

Isnt it good fertilizer for plants?


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## Geminiluna (Jul 24, 2007)

Realistik84 said:


> Isnt it good fertilizer for plants?


To some extent, yes. But build-up often occurs faster than absorption by plants and leads to high organics and nitrates in the water. Plus just being visually unappealing.

Anyway, that's part of keeping plecos is the very visible pleco poop. Never understood why people rely on plecos as clean-up crew given their output. LOL!


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## PlantedTankLover (Aug 28, 2010)

Only fish I knew of that could keep the plants clean. I have some that are slow growers, and those are the ones that get heavy algae. I was cleaning them off by rubbing the leaf between my fingers, but they do a better job. ;-)


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## happycamper (Sep 3, 2010)

I may be wrong, but I think bristlenose plecos are the only ones that stay small?

Anyhow, the poop is unavoidable. They need to have algae wafers as the main staple in their diet, and should be offered vegetables like zucchini a couple times a week. Algae alone will make for a very sad hungry pleco  It is also recommended to keep driftwood in the tank, plecos like to rasp the wood and the fibers aid in digestion. 

I would agree that a plecostomus makes a terrible clean up crew.


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## PlantedTankLover (Aug 28, 2010)

I have LOTS of drift wood in the tank, and already feed wafers and zucchini for the fish already in the tank. If not plecos, what would you recommend?


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## Geminiluna (Jul 24, 2007)

Otocinclus might be a good option for you - particularly when it comes to keeping the leaves of your plants clean. Avoids the issue with the "long sausages" left behind typical of plecos.


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## PlantedTankLover (Aug 28, 2010)

Is this something I could find at my LFS?


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## Geminiluna (Jul 24, 2007)

PlantedTankLover said:


> Is this something I could find at my LFS?


Definitely. I see you're in Chicago - tons of places you can find them. Petsmart will carry them (assuming Petco as well or the other pet franchises that I can no longer recall the name of since I moved out of Chicago years ago). And you'd find them at Old Orchard, Old Town Aquarium... anywhere. You'll want to select from fish that have been in their care for a little while so that you have a better chance of getting fish that are already accustomed to eating zucchini/algae wafers/algae in captivity. They can be tricky to get acclimated from wild import and to get them to eat in captivity. But otherwise, they tend to be very good algae grazers and remain small so you can stock multiples. Lots of discussions about them will show up if you do a search for Otocinclus, Oto, or Otto in this forum.


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