How to clear fish poo from soiled tank?

**lennon** · 15th Jan 2014, 10:46

Dear all,

I am new to soil and I have no idea on how to clear the poo from the soil.. although I read on the packaging of the soil saying that water change only needed after 30days, but I see a lot of poos on the soil itself and I have no idea how to clear it.. if using gravel pump the water will become cloudy again? or just leave the poo there and it will slowly disintegrate into the soil??

**serialain** · 15th Jan 2014, 11:07

let the poo fertilize your plants!

**GHD97** · 15th Jan 2014, 15:07

Yup

In the good old days, guppies were reared in large plant pots with soil and plants. No water change at all and the fish and plants grew happily ever after^^ The poo does act as fertilizer but if you find it unsightly, add a layer of sand above the soil. Fish poo will land on the sand and can be vacuumed out without disturbing the soil.

**bennyc** · 15th Jan 2014, 15:44

I just leave the poo as it is, to re- fertilise the soil. However water change in the intial period is neccessary to keep nutrient in check since new soil is very "nutrient rich" and might bring about algae problem. I recommend at the very least once per week.

**thebaldingaquarist** · 15th Jan 2014, 17:18

There are 2 areas where an aquarium beneficial bacteria can grow. Beneficial bacteria decomposes poo into simpler compounds like ammonia and subsequently nitrates ... etc.

1 area is in the filter media
1 area is in the substrate

In a new tank, beneficial bacteria is still establishing. so poo on the soil will be very apparent. Once the bacteria is established, you will not see a layer of poo... rather some fresh poo, on top of broken down ones.

If you have a thick layer of "stuff"on top of the soil, it means that circulation is not good enough and/or the filtration capability is not good enough.

So, to me, there are only 2 reasons why you would see a layer of poo untouched...
1. bacteria is not established and stablised
2. too much bio load. bacteria established is not enough to process the waste given.

**Urban Aquaria** · 15th Jan 2014, 17:39

Yeah, beneficial bacteria in the substrate will breakdown the poop and create nutrients in the soil for plants to use... that's why its important to make sure the beneficial bacteria is established and the tank is fully cycled before adding fishes and shrimps, a fully cycled and stable system is what enables a soil based tank to maintain the ideal balance without the need to vacuum the substrate or removing the waste material.

Strong filter flow and circulation also helps alot, a tank with good circulation will be able to pick up smaller particles of waste and bring it into the filter for more efficient processing, the re-distribute the nutrients evenly to all parts of the tank for the plants to use, so you'll see alot less waste particles in the tank itself and the water will be much clearer too.

Note that if you have a soil based tank, you also need to have lots of plants too, or else when the waste are broken down to nutrients, there is nothing to use it up... which of course algae will then gladly move in and use.

**lennon** · 17th Jan 2014, 10:35

Dear All,

thanks for the advice. I will try to see what I can do to it.. There are really a lot of poos at the soil area and I do not have a lot of plants inside as mine is a small tank of 36cm only.. Maybe I will try to scope it out using small fish net..

thanks all..

**Urban Aquaria** · 17th Jan 2014, 13:25

Just curious, what soil substrate brand are you using?

One of the reasons why some people use soil substrate (versus sand or gravel) is because poop doesn't show as clearly on soil, the colors are relatively similar.

In addition, if you can actually see alot of poop on the soil substrate, it probably also means your tank is overstocked or you have livestock which produce alot of waste, and your current filter isn't strong enough to remove and process it, so you might consider reducing the bio-load accordingly.

**lennon** · 17th Jan 2014, 19:06

Ada brand soil.. the soil is black but the waste are slightly orange.. so can see clearly.. I am afraid the water condition will not be good for the fishes.. I have a total of 6 fishes in that tank.. 4 guramis and 2 angel fish.. dont know if it is over loaded..

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**Urban Aquaria** · 17th Jan 2014, 21:01

Do you feed the fishes live food or maybe orange/red colored flake food? I've noticed sometimes that results in orange colored poop.

I guess you could switch to dark colored pellet food, then their poop should become dark too... and hopefully blend in with the soil.

Without enough plants to soak up the nutrients, you'll just have to keep up with tank maintainence and do more water changes to remove them.

Whats the size of your tank? And the sizes of the fishes? And the filter you are using? Those factors will determine whether your tank can handle the bioload.