The curse of the poo-ing platys...

[roberto1979]

Hey there,

it's been ages since I posted on this group - have been real busy and
my fishkeeping, for once, is going swimmingly, if you pardon that
awful pun.

Anyhoo, I have a 21 litre tank (that's 5 gallons, non-Brits) and in it
I have 5 platys and a hard-assed neon tetra who was the only survivor
of the slightly alkaline water we have here in the west of Scotland. I
was fortunate enough to have one of the platys give birth last year,
so basically of the 5 platys, one is the "mum" and 4 are the kids, of
varying size (none are bigger than her).

To cut a long story short, all the fish are happy - I'm feeding them a
pinch of mainly tetra prima mini granules (sinking tropical food) once
every day, occasionally tropical flakes (about one per fish) once a
day, and every week giving them one of the frozen treats from this
packet of small icecube-shaped foods (it's bloodworm, daphnia and
stuff apparently). Every couple of weeks I throw in some lettuce or
cucumber.

So far so good, but every day each of these fish (bar the tetra) has a
big long trail of caca hanging out of its posterior, which doesn't
seem to be causing them any trouble but looks unslightly and
shouldn't, I don't think, be happening. Having been constipated myself
due to festive overindulgence, I don't want my little pals to suffer a
similar fate, so can anyone suggest what I'm doing wrong here? It's
got to the stage where I ocassionally feed them once every two days,
as otherwise the tank's becoming a total poo-fest.

Everything about the water seems healthy - no nitrites, small level of
nitrates (25-50 mg/l), general hardness is 9dH (although the water
here has a carbonate hardness of pretty much zero, despite the rocks I
put in the tank), and the pH is a steady 7.5.

I keep the tank clean (fortnightly 10% water changes, gravel
siphoning, adding "waste control" solution on occasion, cleaning
algae) and at a steady 73 Fahrenheit, but for the life of me can't see
what I'm doing wrong.

Any suggestions from you experts, as always, would be really
welcome!!!

thanks!

Robbie
Glasgow, Scotland, UK

[Mellie]

Hi Roberto and welcome back.

I also have platys and basically they poo a load. Mine always have a
nice trail going on. There was a post (I think by Netmax) about the
record longest poo trail :-) Platys and Goldfish could compete :-)

I'm no expert but as they poo a lot I might change more water than 10%
every two weeks. Your nitrates will build up as they bigger. I try
and do 30% every week to two weeks ( have to say more like 2 weekly
over the holidays). I also feed twice a day. I feed near the filter
so that if they don't eat it within a minute or two it gets sucked out
(I also have cory's that eat any leftovers)

I'm sure more people will help you and tell you real good advice.

Hope you are warm in Scotland?

Cheers
Mellie

On Jan 11, 9:06 am, roberto1979 <robbie.edmonst...@btinternet.com>
wrote:

[Mister Gardener]

Tis better they poo and offend thine eye than to ne'er have pooed at all.

I agree with Mellie; poo happens. An increase in water changes to weekly 20% will help keep the excess poo from fouling the water. And I suppose you could follow the platies around with a platy sized roll of poo paper.

MG

[Tynk]

Yes, Platies do poo well.
I once got a few mini coral platies for my daughter's tank.
At first she was completely disgusted with them, and said they're
gross (yucky).
When asked why, she said it's because they have this long, huge poo
hanging out of them!
LOL
She's used to keeping bettas, and they tend to do a nice plop and
they're done.
She doesn't have them anymore, nor does she want any more poo
machines. = )~




On Jan 11, 8:59�am, Mister Gardener <mistergarde...@email.toast.net>
wrote:

[T.J. Truchon]

On Jan 11, 2008 6:24 AM, Mellie <mell...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi Roberto and welcome back.

I also have platys and basically they poo a load.  Mine always have a
nice trail going on.  There was a post (I think by Netmax) about the
record longest poo trail :-)  Platys and Goldfish could compete :-)

Balloon Mollies belong on that list as well. When I purchased a few of them before the big die off in my tank almost a year ago they used to have a trail that could streach half the tank.

--
Troy J. Truchon - Wonder Ape
http://icedtea.wordpress.com/

[Gill Passman]

Didn't we have this debate a few weeks ago? I thought Andy's BN's
won.....

Yep, Platys can certainly poo their own body length and then
some.....makes me wonder where they store it before expelling
it.....and having planted that gross question in your minds I'll beat
a hasty retreat - my only excuse being I'm warming up for OT
Weekend....lol

Gill

[Andy Gratton]

Hi  Robbie ,  I wouldnt worry about  the  klingons  on the platys    they  are  well known  for this  along  with  BN  catfish  &  Goldfish , 

Yes there was a thread on this  and i think  i even  posted  pics  of the baby BN's  with  their trailers  lol .

I  have a Juwel Rekord 90   which  has  a majority stock  of BN  Catfish  and i  vaccum the tank  every other day  lol

[NetMax]

.. my hypothosis:
lots of food = lots of poop
lots of veggies = long poops
algae = veggies
Platys eat algae, all day long
explains pleco-poop too
~~

On Jan 11, 9:06 am, roberto1979 <robbie.edmonst...@btinternet.com>
wrote:

[Andy Gratton]

I thought  it was  algae eating  fish  had long  gut lengths  hence  they  store it up  to ensure maximum removal  of nutrients  from the food, so  you end up  with  streamers  lol

On 11/01/2008, NetMax <comput...@hotmail.com> wrote:

.. my hypothosis:
lots of food = lots of poop
lots of veggies = long poops
algae = veggies
Platys eat algae, all day long
explains pleco-poop too
~~

On Jan 11, 9:06am, roberto1979 <robbie.edmonst...@btinternet.com>

[NetMax]

That would seem to make sense, but herbivorous African cichlids (which
have the longer intestines) don't yield streamers, and omnivorous
Platys with normal intestines do. Not exactly a rigorously tested
scientific proof ;~) but an investigation might be appealing to one
of those beer-drinking university fraternitys : )
~~

On Jan 11, 6:32 pm, "Andy Gratton" <anglerfis...@googlemail.com>
wrote:

> I thought  it was  algae eating  fish  had long  gut lengths  hence  they
> store it up  to ensure maximum removal  of nutrients  from the food, so  you
> end up  with  streamers  lol
>

> > > Glasgow, Scotland, UK- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Melissa phillips]

A few weeks ago our goldfish, Uma, had a 5 inch long streamer (yes I measured it, best I could anyhow) and it didn't seem to bother her.  Infact I think she was quite proud of herself! 
--
Melissa:)

[Mister Gardener]

Melissa phillips wrote:

A few weeks ago our goldfish, Uma, had a 5 inch long streamer (yes I measured it, best I could anyhow) and it didn't seem to bother her.  Infact I think she was quite proud of herself!

Wow. That's almost 13 cm!

MG

[roberto1979]

Hey all, just to say a big huge thanks for your help - this forum
never lets me down, you're all too clever for your own good, it's
brilliant.

Seriously, though, I can now rest easy knowing that the
"dangleberries" streaming out of my platys' posteriori are perfectly
healthy.

As Pink Floyd sang - SHITE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND.

Thanks!

R