Large Cichlid Newbie: Waste Management

[alex crouvier]

I kept planted tanks with small tetras and killies successfully
before. Now I am turning my attention to keeping large cichlid
like Texas Cichlid or Midas singly in a 70 gallon tank.
I had a Flower Horn in a 3-feet tank and boy, does he put out
lotsa waste on my bare bottom tank. All I have is an internal Eheim
modular filter. I still have to suck up all his poop every 3 days or so.
I tried feedig him less but the poop although less is still there.
Any better ideas from the more experienced out there?

[Mephistopheles]

"alex crouvier" > wrote in
:

> I kept planted tanks with small tetras and killies successfully
> before. Now I am turning my attention to keeping large cichlid
> like Texas Cichlid or Midas singly in a 70 gallon tank.
> I had a Flower Horn in a 3-feet tank and boy, does he put out
> lotsa waste on my bare bottom tank. All I have is an internal
> Eheim modular filter. I still have to suck up all his poop every
> 3 days or so. I tried feedig him less but the poop although less
> is still there. Any better ideas from the more experienced out
> there?
>
>
>

Add sand or gravel so the waste is not so noticeable. Also, Texas
cichlids especially love to dig. By keeping him in a bare bottom
tank you are depriving him of his primary source of entertainment.

Meph

[RedForeman ©®]

I'm learning more and more everyday about the Midas I inherited... He
seriously entertains himself and us by his constant re-arranging of his
tank... We recently put a plastic lid in the tank so he would have a toy,
and it worked, he's mouthing it, carrying it across the tank and dropping
it, picks up small rocks and drops them, gently of course....




"alex crouvier" > wrote in message
...
> I kept planted tanks with small tetras and killies successfully
> before. Now I am turning my attention to keeping large cichlid
> like Texas Cichlid or Midas singly in a 70 gallon tank.
> I had a Flower Horn in a 3-feet tank and boy, does he put out
> lotsa waste on my bare bottom tank. All I have is an internal Eheim
> modular filter. I still have to suck up all his poop every 3 days or so.
> I tried feedig him less but the poop although less is still there.
> Any better ideas from the more experienced out there?
>
>

[James Thompson]

"RedForeman ©®" > wrote in message
...
> I'm learning more and more everyday about the Midas I inherited... He
> seriously entertains himself and us by his constant re-arranging of his
> tank... We recently put a plastic lid in the tank so he would have a toy,
> and it worked, he's mouthing it, carrying it across the tank and dropping
> it, picks up small rocks and drops them, gently of course....
>
My red devil does that. I put some marbles in with him, he moves them
around a lot. he also has a plastic diver he picks up and tries to kill :)
What joy these big fish are.

[RedForeman ©®]

"James Thompson" > wrote in message
> "RedForeman ©®" > wrote in message
> > I'm learning more and more everyday about the Midas I inherited... He
> > seriously entertains himself and us by his constant re-arranging of his
> > tank... We recently put a plastic lid in the tank so he would have a
toy,
> > and it worked, he's mouthing it, carrying it across the tank and
dropping
> > it, picks up small rocks and drops them, gently of course....
> >
> My red devil does that. I put some marbles in with him, he moves them
> around a lot. he also has a plastic diver he picks up and tries to kill
:)
> What joy these big fish are.

Marbles???? I never thought about that... but this fish is so big, that he
can put several marbles in his mouth, and that frightens me to think he'll
swallow them... It's not my fish, I'm fish-sitting for someone, and I'm sure
they'd not appreciate the story, "I thought marbles would ENTERTAIN, not
kill him.... sorry"

I'm thinking something like a wiffle ball or something??

[Peter D. Rau]

I use Aquaclear 500s on all my tanks 75 gallons and above with large
cichlids and have no problems. They are easy to clean and have a large
sponge that can be rinsed out and put back in. They hold a couple
chemi-pures on top the sponge too. You might also try switching the
main part of your cichlid's diet to something like mealworms. The only
waste that is left over is the chitinous shell. Mealworms can be
purchased in bulk through many sources.

alex crouvier wrote:
> I kept planted tanks with small tetras and killies successfully
> before. Now I am turning my attention to keeping large cichlid
> like Texas Cichlid or Midas singly in a 70 gallon tank.
> I had a Flower Horn in a 3-feet tank and boy, does he put out
> lotsa waste on my bare bottom tank. All I have is an internal Eheim
> modular filter. I still have to suck up all his poop every 3 days or so.
> I tried feedig him less but the poop although less is still there.
> Any better ideas from the more experienced out there?
>
>