Good poo eaters

[BloopFish]

I mean amphipods are less for fish food and more for cleaning. They are by far the best detritus, sandbed, algae, rock cleaners that you can put in your tanks. With that comes their voracious appetite and breeding habits though.

They also will definitely wipe your copepod population. I was adding a few thousand copepods a month which would disappear in two weeks. Now that the canary wrasse is doing it's thing, I'm finally seeing copepods again.

Currently I've been dosing silica and I'm pretty sure my copepod population has increased due to this. Diatoms are, generally speaking, a more accessible and usable food source for zooplankton. Like you said, at least the amphipods eat all the rotting gunk detritus mix.

 

[living_tribunal]

Currently I've been dosing silica and I'm pretty sure my copepod population has increased due to this. Diatoms are, generally speaking, a more accessible and usable food source for zooplankton. Like you said, at least the amphipods eat all the rotting gunk detritus mix.

I’ve noticed something very similar!

I just started carbon dosing with vinegar. My copepod pop has grown tremendously eating the white bacteria on the glass.

 

[spidercrab]

Fish poo will be broken down pretty quickly by bacteria or other bugs. Its probably detritus which is going to collect no matter what. It can be siphoned out occasionally if it is unsightly or it becomes a home for numerous bugs.

 

[BloopFish]

I’ve noticed something very similar!

I just started carbon dosing with vinegar. My copepod pop has grown tremendously eating the white bacteria on the glass.

Honestly have been thinking about small amounts of carbon dosing just for the sole purpose of increasing bacterial population in the tank. However, its a nano tank with no skimmer, so I worry that there will be oxygen problems. I had a small crash when my AIO pump broke and caused oxygen levels to plummet... don't want to go through that again.

 

[living_tribunal]

Honestly have been thinking about small amounts of carbon dosing just for the sole purpose of increasing bacterial population in the tank. However, its a nano tank with no skimmer, so I worry that there will be oxygen problems. I had a small crash when my AIO pump broke and caused oxygen levels to plummet... don't want to go through that again.

Without the skimmer, I wouldn’t do it. The bacteria will build up real fast and remove too much oxygen from the water.

With a skimmer, I think dosing small levels of vinegar would work well. I notice my corals enjoy it as do the pods/sponges. I’d go as far to say that it has really began to grow my copepod pop. I only have anecdotal proof however. I’m sure there is a study out there with more information.

I’m also equally sure that reducing my amphipod has had an equal impact on their resurgence.

 

[mattdg]

Regardless of what you put in there to eat it, it will eventually end up as an unsightly pile of detritus. In the end, siphoning or strategic flow to push it around and up into your overflow is going to be your best bet.

 

[LadyTang2]

A sea cucumber. Bonus, they even look like poo.

Are sea cucumbers good for eating algae too or other duties (which?) or do they mostly just churn sand? Do you view them as good cuc?

Also, dont detritivores just poop the stuff back out again so its all still in there, what can you add to a tank to really take the crap out, is this like DSB which we know does not work great?

 

[P-Dub]

Are sea cucumbers good for eating algae too or other duties (which?) or do they mostly just churn sand? Do you view them as good cuc?

Also, dont detritivores just poop the stuff back out again so its all still in there, what can you add to a tank to really take the crap out, is this like DSB which we know does not work great?

Crabs was asking for good poo eaters. Cucumbers are good poo eaters. They are good other eaters as well.

Everything that eats something ends up pooing something. So, yes, in a sense everything is still in there, just in a different form that can be eaten by other poo eaters all the way down to microbes. Cucumbers are just an alternative method for one stage in a complex system of poo conversion. Some cucumbers do fine with no sand and others rely on it. Most of the time, cucumbers require a fairly established system with plenty of poo and other items to eat. Depending on the size and bioload of the system, a cucumber will actually shrink due to self-digestion if there is insufficient food available.

Mechanical filtration, in whatever form, is still one of the most effective methods of poo elimination. Deep sand beds do well for some people and their systems and not others. Different strokes for different tanks.

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

...Also, dont detritivores just poop the stuff back out again so its all still in there, what can you add to a tank to really take the crap out, is this like DSB which we know does not work great?

...Mechanical filtration, in whatever form, is still one of the most effective methods of poo elimination. Deep sand beds do well for some people and their systems and not others. Different strokes for different tanks.

DSBs are not always utilized correctly. They are not an excuse to dump tons of fish and food in the tank. They will do very well with lighter bioloads however. The advantage is that, if deep enough, you will get an anaerobic layer with massive surface area for NO3 to be processed into diatomic nitrogen. Thus NO3 won't build up endlessly in your tank and the bacteria involved help breakdown the solid waste keeping it from building up as well.

There is a rate at which this occurs. You know you have exceeded this rate if NO3 and poo piles up in your tank. In my experience with my 4" DSB the poo piles up faster than NO3. Thus you would still need to clean it eventually. That time could be years and years away depending on your relative bioload. Organisms, including bacteria, take up the NO3 so fast that I actually have to dose NO3 several times a week and I have only 4 small corals in my 29G tank.

Although it is planted too, the nitrate consumption rate was still high even before plants were involved. DSBs are REALLY good at reducing NO3. They are also good at increasing the time between needing to remove detritus. That does come with some risk depending on how long you wait. The more you let build up the greater the risk should it get a major disturbance.

 

[YankeeTankee]

I wonder if someone were to regularly siphon just the top inch of a DSB but leave the deeper layers undesturbed how that would perform long term.

 

[P-Dub]

I wonder if someone were to regularly siphon just the top inch of a DSB but leave the deeper layers undesturbed how that would perform long term.

That is exactly what I did for years way back when I had a DSB. Worked well for 6 years. Not sure if 6 years qualifies as long term though.

 

[Marie7]

I have seen mine eating it, yes

 

[ChuckD76]

Here's one. Lol

I have one of those at home, too and can vouch for their efficiency.
Cat litter box has never been cleaner.

 

[Super Fly]

Hermit crabs and Tomini Tang... yes, I was shocked to see it eat one spot foxface's poo