# Bristle nose pleco and POOO



## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Since I've had these fish, I noticed they pooo every 2-5 minutes, constantly. I like the fact that they are decent algae eaters and clean my tank, but I think they poop more than they can clean and may be the problem why I cant seem to get rid of my staghorn algae. Someone tell me this is normal, or I'm probably going to put these guys up for adoption. 

Since they hang out on the glass and on my DW a lot, there droppings are all over those areas. I try to vac what I can every week, but it's hard to keep up with when they poop every ~5mins :eek5:.

btw, I have 2 adult females


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## eyebeatbadgers (Aug 6, 2007)

Yes, they are poop factories. I have a male and female, and the male is about 5" long. His poop has increased in size with him. Thankfully, my filter is strong enough to sweep it off the bottom of the tank and suck it up.


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## belladee (Jun 15, 2007)

I have one too and he hangs out behind the rocks and NEVER comes out and just poops in a spot that I cant get to. So he doesnt clean the tank and he makes a mess. 
He is a pain.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

dammit!! They're so pretty tho... I don't really want to let these fish go, but I think I'm going to have to. I've got a Eheim 2217 on my 39g plus a seperate powerhead for more flow. Is this not enough flow for my tank? Do I need a stronger filter to make poop fly?


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## eyebeatbadgers (Aug 6, 2007)

you probably have enough flow, you just need it directed so that it lifts poo off the bottom of the tank. Play around with the spraybar, or take the spray bar off and see if you can get the flow you have directed to the right spots.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

eyebeatbadgers said:


> you probably have enough flow, you just need it directed so that it lifts poo off the bottom of the tank. Play around with the spraybar, or take the spray bar off and see if you can get the flow you have directed to the right spots.


I've never used the spraybar that came with it. The rear of my tank is pretty thick with plant mass so I have my outlet in the front of my tank (top right), spraying at a 45* angle (downward towards the bottom left corner). 

I'll try cleaning out the filter to see if my flow increases. Even my Whisper HOB has more flow power. I'm starting to think this filter is not sufficient for my plant mass in this tank. :confused1:


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## bannh (May 3, 2008)

More can't come out than is going in... Unless there is a LOT of left over fish food which they are eating, a lot of their waste is from veggie matter (algae) with maybe a little wood fiber. That wouldn't produce as much ammonia as the same amount of waste coming from a high protein diet. If the waste is long and stringy, that may be an issue which a medicated food would correct. Otherwise adjust the placement of the intake and trying to change the direction of the flow, like eyebeatbadgers said, could help. Or evaluate if the tank is being overfed.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

bannh said:


> More can't come out than is going in... Unless there is a LOT of left over fish food which they are eating, a lot of their waste is from veggie matter (algae) with maybe a little wood fiber. That wouldn't produce as much ammonia as the same amount of waste coming from a high protein diet. If the waste is long and stringy, that may be an issue which a medicated food would correct. Otherwise adjust the placement of the intake and trying to change the direction of the flow, like eyebeatbadgers said, could help. Or evaluate if the tank is being overfed.


They sometimes come out for the sinking pellets I feed my ciclids and cats. I feed the fish only enough to be devoured within 3 mins (mainly Hikari mini pelets). 
I feed the fish 3 times a day. Maybe I should cut it down a tad? Here's my fish list for reference on my bioload:

- 2 female BNP
- 2 male GBR's, 3 female GBR's
- 5 Bloodfin Tetra, 
- 15 Neon Tetra 
- 5 Synodontis petricola cats
- 3 Lamprologus ocellatus 
- 5 Rasbora espei
- 8 guppies
- 4 Amano shrimp 
- 1 Golden mystery snail

Would one say this is too many fish? They seem to thrive in there just fine. Although there is def alot of "pooo" collected along with detritus every week from my 50% WC's.


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## bannh (May 3, 2008)

That is a lot of fish. I'd probably be doing a 50% WC twice a week or more... Try feeding them twice a day, see if it help. Don't know how big that snail is but those things are even worse at producing waste than BN, I like them, but they are messy.

I would get the L. ocellatus and S. petricola out of there though (if nothing else). Both are from Lake Tanganyika and they are going to do best in a pretty different setup than I'm guessing you have (well planted and tetra friendly).


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## eyebeatbadgers (Aug 6, 2007)

You could feed the fish once every 3 days and they'd be fine. Yes, I think 3/day is too much. 1 per day is fine, less is too.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Thanks for the suggestions fellas. I'll try limiting the feedings to once every 3 days (poor fish). I just can't seem to stop thinking they are all going to starve lol. They've gotten so use to me feeding them that they hover at the top whenever I'm nearby. 

As for the Lake Tanganyika fish, I collected them cause of my fish collectoritus. I know they will def benefit from a different setup so I'll probably set up a 10 gal for them in the near future. What I really want is just to make my tank a species tank now, but it's so hard to just get rid of all the fish I already have.


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## eyebeatbadgers (Aug 6, 2007)

I would cut back to once daily, probably not every 3 days. There are many times that I go three days without feeding my fish, but there's no need in making a habit of it. In nature, I seriously doubt any of these fish eat so much food daily! That being said, there is nothing wrong with your pleco pooping constantly, it may be unsightly, but it does show that he is healthy.


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