It's a fact. At least in my tank. Nerite snails are chewing up my plants, mainly Echinodoruses. But I also found their bites on Vallisnerias and even on thick leaves of Cryptocorine they leave whitish "scratches" here and there.
At first I wasn't sure, I searched the internet for this phenomenon, but I didn't find anything. People usually say that Nerites will eat the leaves but only those that are old or decaying. Not so. Many of the perfectly healthy leaves have bite holes and I'm 100% positive it's their business, not any kind of nutrient deficiency. I don't have any other fish/creature that could eat the plants. The plant they hang on the most is the same plant that has the most bites (Echinodorus).
I thought well - my tank doesn't have enough of algae they like. Possibly. But I also have a large Anubias Barteri that collected all kinds of "dust", from diatoms to green spot and stagghorn. They avoid this plant at all costs. They are almost never there, even though this plant offers many tasty meals. It's only when I manually pull them off the ground and put them on the leaf, then they eat algae and clean the A. barteri.
Now, what can I do there to prevent them ruining my plants? From time to time, I drop several spirulina tablets in the tank but never caught them eating. They are always hanging on my plants, glass or wood. I also gave them spinach leaves... some snails got interested and chewed it. But many didn't care at all.
So, what is your suggestion? Are my snails lazy, crazy or both?
At first I wasn't sure, I searched the internet for this phenomenon, but I didn't find anything. People usually say that Nerites will eat the leaves but only those that are old or decaying. Not so. Many of the perfectly healthy leaves have bite holes and I'm 100% positive it's their business, not any kind of nutrient deficiency. I don't have any other fish/creature that could eat the plants. The plant they hang on the most is the same plant that has the most bites (Echinodorus).
I thought well - my tank doesn't have enough of algae they like. Possibly. But I also have a large Anubias Barteri that collected all kinds of "dust", from diatoms to green spot and stagghorn. They avoid this plant at all costs. They are almost never there, even though this plant offers many tasty meals. It's only when I manually pull them off the ground and put them on the leaf, then they eat algae and clean the A. barteri.
Now, what can I do there to prevent them ruining my plants? From time to time, I drop several spirulina tablets in the tank but never caught them eating. They are always hanging on my plants, glass or wood. I also gave them spinach leaves... some snails got interested and chewed it. But many didn't care at all.
So, what is your suggestion? Are my snails lazy, crazy or both?
