Why Fish Poop & What Does It Tell Us About Our Fish?

Why do fish poop? What is the purpose of fish poop? Can fish faecal matter be beneficial in any way? 

All valid questions I’m sure. It’s important to understand our little friend’s behaviours and habits in order to understand the fish itself better.

This includes when where how do fish poop and why our fish poop. As well as what colour the poop is and how often our fish relieve themselves.

Hang on Do fish poop? of course, they do.

So let me explain a little more for some perspective. There I was looking at my favourite search engine can you guess which one?

Anyway, I was searching looking for some information and doing a bit of research and noticed some questions surrounding this very topic so I gratefully decided I must answer these questions.

All the queries were related to why fish need to move their bowls so to speak and what that tells us. Well, it tells us a fair bit about the health and age as well as the condition of our little buddies.

Not only that but fish waste is becoming more and more important in other ways within agriculture farming and gardening as a way of sustaining crops plants and our soils.

I will briefly answer the question here for those that just can’t wait and then we will dive deeper and look at this topic in more detail here goes.

Why Fish Poop & What Does It Tell Us About Our Fish?

Fish poop because they eat and have leftover waste this waste tells us a great deal about our fish we can determine health age & condition as well as stress all from the colour & consistency & regularity of their poop.

Why The Need Too Poop

Well if fish just kept on eating and eating they would take what’s needed out of the food. Nutrients and minerals and all the bad stuff the leftovers waste poop if you will. That waste will just keep growing and growing inside our fishy friends. until bang pop, they explode and poop everywhere.

That’s how I imagine things happening. The truth is they would die before popping from poison. Yep if they could not expel the waste that waste which is indeed toxic now will cause havoc on our little buddies and they would die so it’s a good job they do poop.

What Can Poop Tell Us About Our Fish

A great deal as I’ve said before for instance a healthy fish will have poop a similar colour to that of the food being fed.

Healthy Fish Healthy Poop

The waste will be evenly consistent in thickness like string but not more than an inch long. If the colour is even all the way through. So if fed flakes the poo would be brownish red even all through with an inch or so hanging out the back of the fish. 

Also once the fish has finished pooing the poop itself should detach and fall to the tank floor this is a good sign of a healthy fish that’s being fed flakes.

Long Stringy Poop 

Now as long as the poop detaches after said fish has finished and the poo colour is consistent with the colour of foods eaten.

As well as the colour is evenly distributed all through the waste matter itself this is a good sign the fish is fine and healthy but that it may be eating too much food or be slightly constipated.

How To Tell Constipation Via Fish Droppings

When fish are constipated the poo will be drier and hang longer and longer once over an inch to two inches we are looking at constipation issues.

Especially if it just keeps hanging and refuses to detach.

Can It Be Something Other Than Constipation?

For sure yes it can be if the poo itself is not a constant colour all the way through. If the poop is half reddish in colour but not all the way through.

This is a sign of worms now at least you can check the fish for any other tell-tale signs such as cloudy eyes tiredness and or not wanting to eat.

White Or Clear Poop

This can be tricky as if a fish has white or clear almost see-through poo it could be a parasite or intestinal problem especially if the poop is refusing to detach.

Although it’s normally the fish equivalent to diarrhoea as there’s no mucus surrounding the poop. Just have a look and if it’s moving on its own you have a parasite.

Again at least you can get the fish checked over looking for other tell-tale signs cloudy eyes etc.

Not All Poop Is Stringy

This is so true take betta, for instance, they don’t do stingy poop at all it’s more like little pellet bombs but they sink to the bottom of the tank indicating that the fish is indeed healthy.

Age Of Our Fish?

Well, I know what you are thinking what a joker you can not tell the age of our fish from fish poop that’s just silly but wait let’s explain.

Fish when young poo more regularly and poo a more consistent colour.  They have nothing to do with their poop other than actually pooping if that makes sense.

Older fish tend to poop less and have slightly longer poo not too long though still within the parameters we spoke of earlier but longer than young fish.

Older fish don’t absorb as much from the food as they age and poo less vibrant colours shall we say.

As well as all that older fish tend to how to say this well they like to have a taste of the poop this is usually the younger ones’ poop.

There is a tone of extra nutrients that the older fish like in that there poo.

Reason Fish Poop Floats

This is a great question and comes down to two possibilities one is the fish has too much air and has a bit of gas while eating.

Some gas has made its way into the food. The second reason is cork yes some pellets that you feed fish have a shell of cork that is undigested by the fish and as the cork is lighter than the water it floats.

The cork is used as it’s non-toxic and preserves the food inside the pellet. After the fish eats the pellet the cork which cant be digested binds itself to the faecal matter and after the fish passes the poop floats.

In Conclusion Why Fish Poop & What Does It Say About Our Fish

Fish poop because like all living things that eat they have leftover waste after eating which over time they need to expel from their bodies.

If fish didn’t do this they would die from toxins within the waste or explode in an almighty mess. Fish poop indeed says a lot about our fish and can give us clues to help us maintain healthy fish.

The poop can also tell us what the fish have eaten if the fish have eaten and also what stage of life the fish is likely at impressive stuff.