Invertebrates vs Plants

agp

AC Members
Aug 8, 2010
239
0
0
USA
I'm thinking about getting some shrimp (red cherry, yellow, or blue) and some rabbit snails and have some questions... Will the shrimp and snails eat, damage, or dig up dwarf hair grass, Cryptocoryne parva, Rotala wallichii, or Ludwigia repens? What about if I were to put in some java moss? And where online can you buy rabbit snails?

EDIT: mod please move this to the invert sub board, sorry!
 
The shrimp will leave them alone but the rabbit snails might eat them/ They seem to like soft leaf plants. Mine have eaten Vals, moneywort, and dwarf sag. They leave the anubias and wisteria alone though. It's kind of a trial and error to see if they will eat it or not.
 
Is it true that rabbit snails are the only type that eats plants? I remember hearing that most ram/round-shelled snails do not eat plants.
 
rabbit snails do seem to have a taste for soft plants. Common snails usually leave them aloen if they are healthy. Another option is pomacea diffusa (formerly bridgesii) or the mystery snail which does not eat healthy plants and is a colorful and active addition. Also, in my experience with rabbit snails, some species seem more prone to eating plants than others.
 
yes, though if you have firm leafed plants like anubias, they will rasp on algae on their leaves which can cause microscopic damage.
 
Nope, I only have dwarf hair grass, Cryptocoryne parva, Rotala wallichii, and Ludwigia repens. I think I may get a 5 gallon tank for just for shrimps and rabbit snails :D
 
My RCS have actually helped clean some hair algae from a patch of fissidens. They did a pretty good job! I have noticed that my briggs seem to enjoy water lettuce, but ignore the other plants I have.
 
AquariaCentral.com