Fish Waste Removal

Hi guys i was wondering, is it necessary to remove all the fish waste present in at the bottom of the tank? I have a take with some mid-sized guppy fries with a sponge filter, and it is simply not enough to suck up the fish waste. I was thinking of putting a thin layer of gravel across the base of the tank to at least hide the fish waste. Will the fish waste decompose and disappear by itself? What kinds of dangers will there be if they are left unremoved? Thanks in advance guys.

[jest1081]

hi,

with or without gravel you'll need to clean it up or sludge will build up.

with gravel it could extend the period imo plus bacterias housed in the gravel will help you breakdown some of the waste.

will it do any harm to the fishes? I've read in some sources stating that if u dun clean up the waste, ammonia would be produced, but aren't fish producing ammonia through urea alr?

[vic]

The fish waste will not disappear by itself it's broken down into small particles u can't see.

If we take a few mins of our time to suck out the physical waste we see everyday it can save us alot of issue.. 1st n most impt we minimize the problem of nitrite n nitrate.

It's either u spend on good filters if u wan to change less water or
U change more water if u wan to save on filters

[derricka]

Originally Posted by GiantGourami

Hi guys i was wondering, is it necessary to remove all the fish waste present in at the bottom of the tank? I have a take with some mid-sized guppy fries with a sponge filter, and it is simply not enough to suck up the fish waste. I was thinking of putting a thin layer of gravel across the base of the tank to at least hide the fish waste. Will the fish waste decompose and disappear by itself? What kinds of dangers will there be if they are left unremoved? Thanks in advance guys.

waste will trap in the gravel but when u do wc ,u need use gravel cleaner to suck waste out.if prolong never wc gravel cleaner will also be choke by waste.can solve your first problem but also creat one

[harrysoo]

I kiasu a bit, everyday I suck out the waste.

[scottelfy]

Will the gravel be another place that bb can cultivate and inturn be a filter media itself? Heard ppl say before but not sure myself

[FanAromatic]

IMHO, your filtering system is not enough to filter out the waste, left over waste in those area is good to do wc daily.

if u remove the waste reguarlarly, it beat having to clear up the mess or rather cumulative effect with interests added

[forcefeedback]

why not introduce some plants into the system....