do invertebrates poop?

[mujtba]

my LFS said you can put as many inverts in a tank and its fine...

so they don't go to the bathroom? :hmm5:

 

[eckrynock]

That's a nice way of putting that.

Every animal excretes waste.

 

[Sk8r]

Lol! Yes, they do, but the deal is, they take in waste as food, then reduce its volume considerably. What they excrete is immediately processed by worms and bacteria.

So you can think of them as the tank's trash compactors, and you can have as many of them as your tank can sustain off the waste of other creatures...not an infinite number, if you wish to have other things, because pretty soon you'd be specially feeding THEM, but you'd be surprised how tightly inverts can pack a dirty tank and keep in business.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Sk8r's right, to an extent. Not all invertebrates pick through the garbage. But generally the effects are the same. Just as well, most invertebrates have smaller amounts of waste and are usually cleaner than most fish.

 

[Sk8r]

True, Travis, you keep me honest: my peppermint shrimp prefer to eat as high up the food chain as possible. There are high-on-the-chain inverts, and I'd NOT pack my tank with them and expect anything but shrimp sushi.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

:lmao: Glad to help. FWIW, mujtba, the chances of you having such a high bioload from inverts are slim, but to say they don't add to the bioload at all is an untruth.

 

[Anemone]

Please do not use creative spelling in an attempt to avoid the profanity censor. It really isn't necessary.

Kevin
Anemone
RC Staff

 

[thecoralreefer]

Indeed they are much cleaner and at some point you might catch one eating the waste from another. My anemones release a large amount of waste and the other inhabitants feed or maybe just taste it anyway. I am sure that if you could watch a pod long enough it would poop too!

 

[mujtba]

anemones release wastes too?@!??

 

[greenbean36191]

Yep, and contrary to popular belief, even "filter feeders" excrete just like any other animal.

 

[mujtba]

greenbean36191, is that ur pic in avatar?

 

[mnestroy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10418775#post10418775 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mujtba
greenbean36191, is that ur pic in avatar?

I wonder how many times hes been asked that question.

 

[mujtba]

haha he wont answer.. i know hes just sweating her..

 

[Potsy]

The amount of waste material that my plate coral ejects is almost volcanic. I've seen fanworms eject little pellets of waste.

 

[Kayak_Guy]

if it eats, it poos

 

[kuramura]

I have seen my zoas do that

 

[Hormigaquatica]

Suggested Reading.

 

[hyperfocal]

That poor kid needs more fiber...

 

[happyface888]

Lol agreed. ^