fish eating poo

jnewman · #1 12/08/2007, 02:33 AM

I have noticed when my fish do a number 2 they all seem to eat it is this normal and should i worry about fish health?

demonsp · #2 12/08/2007, 02:35 AM

I would think if they actually eat it they maybe underfeed. They will inpsect and then should spit out.

jnewman · #3 12/08/2007, 02:55 AM

i feed every other day or so.

demonsp · #4 12/08/2007, 02:56 AM

Or so. What type of stock do you have, Fish and Coral?

jnewman · #5 12/08/2007, 03:34 AM

6" naso, purple tang, lawn mower blenny, 2 chromis, 2 clown, flasher wrasse and cleaner wrasse. acros, monti, torch and shrooms

demonsp · #6 12/08/2007, 03:38 AM

The tangs need nori (dried seaweed ) as with the blenny. I feed a little flake in the morning what they can eat in 1 or 2 min. Then frozen at night mixing itup from brine to marine cusine to cyclops. I may skip a morning every now or then. They would like eating more. Its how much not how often you feed them.Should feed often just dont overfeed.The nori would be 2 or 3times a week. Feed on a clip and not to much.

Bygkid · #7 12/08/2007, 10:23 AM

Among the 15 fish that I have, my Yellow tang and the Hippo tang always are eating other fishes poo. IMO, this is not really all that uncommon for tangs. In fact, mine sometimes work in tandem to irritate my Magnificent Foxface(BTW, they eat like pigs!) to 'make' him go poo so that they can eat his poo. Weird, I know, but kind of facinating to watch. There is no shortage of food since I feed a mixture of Nori, flake, pellet, mysis, live brine and Prime reef through out the week. I mix it up so they don't get bored and hopefully are getting a wide range of diet needs. They are also constantly grazing throughout the day. I have heard that this is not really that uncommon with some tangs.

Scott

Sk8r · #8 12/08/2007, 10:27 AM

Some fish can 'recycle' or cycle things through a second time to be sure no food value is lost. Kind of dismaying for us to contemplate, but dogs do it, many rodents do it, fish, etc.

Duff Man · #9 12/08/2007, 11:01 AM

I see mine go after fresh poo. I think they think it's a stray piece of food or something and spit it out right away. Just be glad it's not the dog going after his own poo.

ledford1 · #10 12/08/2007, 11:28 AM

The explanation I once heard is that tangs often eat poo because they utilize the bacteria for digestion.

I'm not sure why they do it, but IME, it's common.

m2434 · #11 12/08/2007, 11:44 AM

Interesting, I happened to be reading an article on this earlier this morning and then saw this thread.

Here is the article.
http://www.int-res.com/articles/meps/7/m007p253.pdf

jnewman · #12 12/09/2007, 03:13 AM

i am glad that i dont have the only fish with wierd eating habbits.

tktodd · #13 12/09/2007, 09:07 AM

My Hippo Tang loves chowing down on some turds!! Seriously

MR PALM BEACH · #14 12/09/2007, 09:25 AM

I have watch my yellow tang do It and spit It back out, pretty nasty just thinking about while I write. LOL

Whisperer · #15 12/09/2007, 09:46 AM

My hippo chases anyone who is about to make a dump. He's good at spotting who is about to. My powder brown and scopas do not do this.

Faerytale · #16 12/09/2007, 10:19 AM

Just be thankful you don't kiss your fish...LOL

Rosie

vito is hooked · #17 12/09/2007, 11:28 AM

WHISPERER... IM in P CHARLOTTE where do you get your fish supplies?

Whisperer · #18 12/09/2007, 01:46 PM

Hey Vito, I have my tank set up almost 2 years. Most fish were ordered online. Some were from the local petco by US 41. I would QT any new fish either way. Do you keep SPS/corals?

bmrescort · #19 12/09/2007, 03:42 PM

I was just reading this post and I have to wonder are there many people that really feed their fish every other day. I feed mine twice a day and add phyto every other day for the corals.

And if you are wondering my nitrates are at 0

vito is hooked · #20 12/09/2007, 06:06 PM

WHisperer ,Just got started a year ago with salt, so much to learn. Loven it thoe.Got a wicked good deal from PGI, complete set up ,125 with chiller. Got FOWLR now, Bio BAll filter in now, changing over to Macro Ref till i can build sump/ref .so many questions. QT EVERYTHING!!!

Acillaton · #21 12/09/2007, 07:13 PM

My tangs do that too and I feed them I think tooooo much. So I think thats a normal behavior.

350nine · #22 12/09/2007, 07:35 PM

I know for a fact I overfeed but I love watching them eat. My tangs eat all kinds of poo. It's normal. I see them eat it in the wild.

jnewman · #23 12/13/2007, 12:09 PM

i was feeding 2-3 times a day and i had a crazy outbreak of H.A. got that under control and now. since feeding every other day 2-3 times enough that all the food gets eaten. fish still eat poo? but as you all have noticed they must do it for a reason.