# Sooo much poop !!



## Kelly100 (Jun 10, 2012)

I have had my aquarium now for 3 moths. I just added 2 dwarf Blue Gouramis, 2 Mollys, and 2 Rubber Lip Plecos a few weeks ago. They joined my 4 GlowFish, 5 Neon Tetras, 3 Black Shirt Tetras, and 3 Corydoras in my 29 gallon tank. Before the new batch of fish came, my tank stayed clean, well, after I did once a week water changes and cleaning. Never did I hardly see any poops floating around. Now, I see long lines of poop all over the aquarium. Hanging from plants and decorations. Not to mention The Little Gouramis !! The yare FOREVER with a line of poop trailing behind them. The Mollys are not to much better, they seem to have alot of poop too. I was just wondering if anybody else have lots of poops with these 2 types of guys. I try to scoop it out soon as I see it floating around, because it looks kinda yucky. Is there anything I could do, about so much poop ? Is this normal for these 2 types of fish.


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

Hi Kelly,

Welcome to the forum :wave:

Yes, plecos are notorious poopers. With two in a tank that size you're going to have to do more water changes to keep the nitrates down. You might want to consider re-homing them to a larger tank  

I had one common pleco in a 45 gallon and couldn't keep up with the poop decorating everything. I did use a turkey baster to get what I could see off of the plants and caves. Ugh! Once I realized he wasn't a good fit for my tank, I gave him to a reputable LFS so they could re-sell him to someone with a much larger tank.


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## AbbeysDad (Mar 28, 2011)

Welcome!

Just some food for thought (which becomes funny as you read on)...
Some time ago I did some research and subsequent postings on tropical fish food. The conclusion was that many foods use fishmeal with large amounts of starch (flour) materials as binders and fillers - materials that just pass through fish as waste.
Foods like Omega One, New Life Spectrum, Ed's Almost Natural use more whole [often fresh] fish and less binder/filler materials.
My own observation was that after switching, my fish simply poop less. I believe that more of the food is metabolized rather than just passing through.

Another consideration is how much you feed. Fish are 'programmed' to eat whenever food is available (to compensate for lean times in nature). Fish will over eat and just maybe you're feeding more than they need resulting in more waste.

Hope this helps some.

AD


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## Chesh (Feb 17, 2012)

This is such a funny thread! I don't know about Plecs, but I can tell you from first-hand experience that Mollies are POOP FACTORIES!!! Looks like you're in this one for the long haul! Now you know. . . we need to see some pictures of the babies


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## flight50 (Sep 30, 2008)

Comparing your new inhabitants to your old, it sounds like the proper compatibility research wasn't done. You have some serious waste producers in comparison to your existing low waste producers. Hopefully you don't have a male and a female molly. Mollies are live bearers and your situation could get alot worse.


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## Kelly100 (Jun 10, 2012)

I really never see the Mollys swimmin around with poop strings. It's ALWAYS just the Gouramis. Sometimes those little guys have poop strings trailing behind them that are 2 inches long. hahhahaa


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## Chesh (Feb 17, 2012)

Kelly100 said:


> I really never see the Mollys swimmin around with poop strings. It's ALWAYS just the Gouramis. Sometimes those little guys have poop strings trailing behind them that are 2 inches long. hahhahaa


LOL! I haven't kept gourami (yet), so I don't know about them. But I PROMISE you, just because you don't see it as a work-in-progress doesn't mean it isn't there. *giggle* Mollies = poo. Lots and lots of poo! Sounds like someone we know will be upping her water change schedule! ;-)


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