Destructive fish

cdawson

cdawson

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Jan 6, 2003
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Who eats plants out of this group of fish( I know they all do, but not destructively)? I'm finding tops of plants missing. There is a possibility it's snails, but shouldn't they only eat decaying plant matter?

-Pleco
-SAE
-One female Guppy
-Neon tetras
-Harl. Rasboras
-Blue tetras
-Red Eye Tetras
-ghost shrimp
-CAE
-Otos
- and an SA puffer (we've cut down on his feeding lately)
assorted corys as well but I know it's not them.
 
I think we can narrow it down to the pleco, CAE and SAE. If it's a needly-type plant that's getting munched, it could well be the SAE. I think plecs generally like to rasp holes into broad-leaved plants, like swords. Not sure about CAE - I know they become mostly carnivorous as they age, but they tend to be guilty of a lot of things, so I just wouldn't put anything past them.

Maybe I missed some possible others from your list, but the above three are the ones I'd suspect first. I'm surprised you have snails, if you also have a puffer. If the snails are so big to be left alone by the puffer, they may be the culprits. I know Colombian ramshorns (Marisa cornuarietis?) and Pomacea canaliculata (non-bridgesi apple snail) are known plant-eaters.
 
I don't think I have snails, although this is only started happening since I added some new plants. We did however wash the new plants well before adding them to the tank. IF we have snails, the puffer isn't doing his job very well. I've never once seen him eat snails since having him (year and a half). He's very picky about what he eats.. I talked to two members of the vancouver aquarium society and they suspected the guppy. They're known to graze on the newer parts of plants.
 
I'm experienced with several types of puffers and believe me, that's not isolated =)
They're like dogs, they get into as much trouble as possible.
I totally suspect the guppy though, I've noticed her "grazing" on my plants a few times today already. I think she's on her way to a new tank.
 
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