Handy Aquarium Clean-Up Tool

[zyblack]

Hi Hi,

I been having problem with my swordtails and turtle pooping all over the tank and making it an ugly and possibly toxic aquarium. It is ugly to see strings (and sometimes large pellets) of black, disgusting poop covering my beautiful coral sands. My filter is not strong enough to suck up the waste and even if i find a filter strong enough to do it, I would probably bring harm to my fishes with the whirlpool current. I tried using gravel siphon which is useful but displaces a lot of water and causing trauma to my fishes. Since my tank is small but keeps getting dirty, I decided to use my high IQ and incredible wits to solve my problem. And dear users of this wonderful forum...my solution is this:



If you look closely at the contents of the ketchup squeeze bottle, the black particles are pure premium fish and turtle waste. The amount of poop I sucked out is way more than my gravel siphon and displaces little water. In fact, I merely waited for the poop to rest at the bottom of the bottle before squirting the clear water out, careful not to squirt poop out though. If only I can get hold of a manufacturer, I would mass produce and brand it "Magic Poop Remover" then sell it at ten bucks. Ahh!!! Poop Money!!!

Disclaimer: I will not be held responsible for any harm caused to inhabitant of your aquarium and the advice above is provided for entertainment only. I also do not endorse any products found in the background of the picture as they just happen to be there when I took the shot.

[juggler]

Very ingenious!

However, someone described using a "turkey blaster" many years ago for the same purpose or sometimes to remove dead fry from the tank without water change. I think the item looks like your ketchup bottle. Can someone post a pic? I have never seen one myself.

[zyblack]

Hi Juggler,

It is called "TURKEY BASTER", essentially a dropper consisting of hollow tube with a hole at one end and hollow squeezable rubber ball at the other end. If you google image it, you probably find though it beats me why it is called a turkey baster and not a poultry or fish baster.

It is this very thing which inspired me to hunt for one though it is pretty difficult to find one in your local hardware shop, maybe better luck at a bakery shop. I was looking at one website which someone harvested baby brine shrimps from a 2 liter soft drink bottle by shining a torchlight at the top of the bottle to attract them and then using the turkey baster to siphon them out. The idea hit me right then to use it to solve my waste problem.

I came across the ketchup bottle while hunting for the turkey baster and since I can't find any baster or dropper, I grab the bottle. It turn to be more efficient since i can suck more debris in one go rather then keep dipping my hands into the water and disturbing my fish. And the best thing? I can squirt my turtle for eating my shrimps and pooping all over.

Oh yah...one unrelated question...how do i get an avatar??? I want to put my turtle picture as my avatar.

[dc88]

Good idea !
Though I wouldn't leave it on the kitchen counter for too long or my fried egg might taste funny one day.

[zyblack]

Haha..true...a potential health hazard. You could consider this "gut-loading" if you feed your fishes with quality food with spirulina tabs and "colour-enhancing" flakes. My turtle food comes loaded with 7 vitamins and calcium so my turtle's poop will be pretty nutritious. Imagine "colour-enhancing", multi-vitamins, high calcium and sprinkled with high quality algae, fried poop egg!!!

Avan