# poop and sand and all that mess.



## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Well that's the thing with sand... fine particle size, no circulation, poop stays on top. It might look good, like a sandy beach, but other than that... I much prefer gravel.


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

Cories help, they put there snouts right into the sand and turn it over a bit.


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## Tonyd (Jan 22, 2004)

Maybe some Malaysian Trumpet Snails would help. They also stir the top layer of substrate and they may consume the fish waste and reprocess it into smaller snail waste.

Tony


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## TexasState (Jan 10, 2004)

Wouldn't ghost shrimps help with cleaning the substrate?


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

They aren't enthusiastic poop eaters... I mean, who is? They will take care of any leftover fishfood, dead plant parts, even some algae, but don't expect them to eat all of what is coming out of the fish, and leave nothing... :mrgreen:


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## Schmoop (Feb 10, 2004)

Thank you to everyone who's offered info and opinions here. I suppose it all boils down to personal preference. I'm concerned mostly about the lack of circulation. If I could round up a half dozen MTS I might leave the sand, but otherwise I'm gonna take out as much as possible and put in a fine gravel. Any tricks for making this task easier? (I seem to be learning alot retrospectively, and that's just becoming real old :roll: )


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## Mini4x (Feb 3, 2004)

I am seriously trying to figure out how to un-sand my tank.. I love the look but it's just not working out.. 

I really don't think I can do a complete teardown, but it might be my only alternative, and thoughts on susbtrate swapping on a running tank?


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

There are methods to add a little bit of substrate daily over a certain period to keep the disturbing minimal. Likewise, you could vaccuum out some sand, and add the new substrate, one area at a time.
But with the substrate being so "basic", you should seriously consider just cleaning out the whole thing and starting over...


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## Schmoop (Feb 10, 2004)

I picked up some fine gravel (~2mm). I'm going to fill a couple big buckets with tank water, remove the fish and the plants (there's only a few fish, and the plants are so new it'll hardly be an uproot for them). I'll syphon off just a bit more water (and sand if it'll come up), and then shovel out as much sand as possible. I'm not going to try get it all out, just the bulk of it. Hopefully, it'll all go smoothly.


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## Mini4x (Feb 3, 2004)

BTW.. I got 50 MTS's in my 75 and they help a bit, but the sand doesn't get mixed enough.


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

Wasserpest said:


> They aren't enthusiastic poop eaters... I mean, who is?


My stupid basset hound :roll:. She thinks she's a dung beetle. 

[Cliff Claven mode engaged] Also, it's a little known fact that the naked mole rat is one the few (truely) homocoprophagous mammals (as well as the only mammal to operate with an insect-like social structure - queen & workers) [Cliff Claven mode disengaged]

Now there's a piece of 'water cooler trivia' for ya .


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## Schmoop (Feb 10, 2004)

:hehe: I had a friend who had a basset hound. It didn't eat poop, but it did eat her car (well, the seats) and a bottle of tylenol while it was at it :aah: Yes, it lived. I think you have to know a few bassets to understand that one. :wink: 

Well, my overhaul is done. I raised alot of dust, and can't see too clearly how my aquascaping went, but I can tell already that the gravel is more agreeable for me...at least esthetically...and if it does what I'm hoping it will do (collect poop to feed the plants and allow better circulation of water), then I'm very glad I took the plunge into the overhaul. I did notice lots of root growth on my plants, and feel heartened by that because my lighting was so poor for a while that I'm surprised anything survived let alone grew.


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## Mini4x (Feb 3, 2004)

I am going to pickup some new substrate this weekend, flourite or some other more plant friendly, I'll see what the LFS has.. then start vacauuming out my sand, good thing is my sand is really fine and it'll vacuum out pretty well.


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## R2thaSAR (Feb 22, 2004)

i thought that u could put maybe Riccia fluitans over it, it'd be kinda like grass, and it would alleviate the problem of seeing it


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## Basilisk (Mar 1, 2004)

Wasserpest said:


> They aren't enthusiastic poop eaters... I mean, who is?


Ironically, scats' scientific name (_Scatophagus spp._) means literally "feces-eater". It might alude the fact they eat a wide variety of foods, which seems to me not so strange a diet, many species do. I have never seen them eat poop, only the usual suck-and-spit inspecting procedure.


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Very cool! I had never heard of them before. They look quite interesting too!


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## Ahkuma (Dec 5, 2004)

What are MTS's?

Also does someone have a pic of an aquarium using the white silica sand 2-3mm size? I would like to see what it looks like in a complete set up.


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## Rex Grigg (Dec 10, 2002)

MTS = Malaysian Trumpet Snails or Multiple Tank Syndrome.


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