Did A Fish Do This To My Plant?

[SouthernCross]

I posted the thread below in the tropical chat forum - my blue stricta underwent a dramatic change (carnage!) overnight. I thought it was my bristlenose who'd done it, but there are some people in that thread who doubt he could have as he's still a juvie. I thought I'd ask the expert plant people here )) if there was something else that could have caused what happened to those leaves. I dose with Wardley plant food at water changes, I don't use co2.. I am thinking I need to get a new lighting tube soon though, I've had the current one since February. I just didn't think a lighting/ferts problem could have caused what happened overnight, which is why I'm blaming the BN. But I thought I'd check with the experts.

Pictures are in the linked thread.

http/www.fishforums.net/content/Tropical...-What-Hes-Done/

Thankyou

 

[gourami_fan]

Well I don't know what caused it, but I don;t think the pleco did it either. If it was the pleco, there wouldn't be such a pattern with all the leaves and would be more random holes. In your case the holes are concentrated towards the middle, so I would say something is wrong with the plant.

 

[SouthernCross]

It's not on every leaf though if you look at the rest of the plant...

?

 

[Themuleous]

Looks like something is eating it. Its to regular to be the plant dieing or anything like that.

 

[Nim]

Its definatly something eating the plants. I had a voracious gold nugget plec that could wreck havoc to a 4ft tank full of amazon swords overnight and it was only 2". However, I think stricta leaf structure is tougher then Amazon sword so its a bit unlikely but a sure possibility that the ancistrus could have been responsible. Do you have any other plecs?

Nim

 

[SouthernCross]

No, he's my only one. He was such a good little plec before this! I only added the stricta about three weeks ago - maybe it only just occurred to him to have a taste, and maybe its like plec chocolate, and now he's had some he's gorging himself... ??? I just came home from work and looked in the dar tank and it looks like he's at it again...*sigh*

My stocking is in my sig...

 

[Kevstir]

before my common bristlenose died i used to get holes (similar but not as big) on the leaves of my amazon swords and Hygrophila polysperma, since he has died it has all stopped , my starlight bristlenose doesn't seem interested in plants at all, he's always seen ether on the glass or the bogwood ..

 

[Nim]

Well they learn very fast. I have a Bristle nose cat in my main tank and the gold nugget in the 80cm one that did not have any echinodorous (coz it would not let them live). For some maintenance I had to move the gold nugget to the main tank for a day hoping it would take some time to create some havoc but it ruined my echinodorous overnight. More then that, now my Bristle nose cat does not allow Echinodorous to live in that tank either. It learned that these plants can be eaten and if I throw in a fresh bunch of swords on a evening, next day morning, I have only stems left.

Nim

Platies can cause some minor damage to plants but not even 1% of the damage that you have in the pic. I would vote the bristle nose cat. Once they know they can eat it, you are doomed.

Nim

 

[SouthernCross]

Do you think he might go after some of the other plants now he's got the idea in his head?

I've seen my platies have a bit of a nibble on the cabomba on occasion, but only if its a bit thats gone a bit old and soft.

I don't know what to do, I don't want my plants wrecked, but I have nowhere else to put him either... I quite liked the way the stricta looked, is there anything anyone recommend I could replace it with that he might not eat? I'm so annoyed with him! He gets an algae or spirulina tablet every night, and he gets into the sinking wafers for my cories too. I often give him a big chunk of zucchini (bigger than he is), which he frequently demolishes overnight. He is NOT starving. Why must he do this, silly fish....

P.S. Nim, if thats your tank in your sig it is BEAUTIFUL. And I am insanely jealous...

 

[Nim]

Well its a difficult question. Once he knows he can eat plants then I have never been able to transform them back to Not Eating plants

Its one of the reason I now hate plecs and I would not get one even if someone paid me to get it

Yep thats my tank but they are in shambles at the moment. The big one has been overtaken by Hygrophylla polysperma as I was yet again away on holiday for 3 weeks and came back on this weekend and the open top one has gone up to the big blue aquarium in the sky when a CO2 cylinder dropped on it from the top shelf one night (it was secured in its bracket so its still a mystry why it happened).

I am now moving to marine.

Nim

 

[SuperColey1]

Plecs will eat plants but it is bottom of the list as a norm.

This means that you're not giving him/her as much of the diet he/she needs

I have 4 pitbulls in my tank and I don't get much plant damage at all.

What you need to do is:
ensure there is bogwood in the tank (they rasp the outer layer off which also feeds them some algae)
Feed some algae pellets every now and again
Once a week or a little more put some courgette in the tank. Easiest way is to spear it with a spoon handle then let it sink. Remove after 24 hours if any is left.
When you cook your peas for your tea take a couple and remove the skin, crush them and drop them in (once a week or a little more)
Feed something nutritious once a week like bloodworm (Not more than once a week because the plecs will always take it before anything else and too much protein is not good for them although a little is needed.

Once they get this varied diet which will cost you almost nothing they should steer clear of the plants.

Order of importance:
Bogwood
Algae (pellets will contain the type of algae they eat)
Vegetables
Meaty Food

Andy

 

[Nim]

I had heard that too Andy but I feed mine blanched cucumber 3 times a week (usually every other day) and he still decides to wreck havoc on my plants I have him now in another tank that has just vallis but this is a fully grown Bristle nose cat at 4".

Maybe this one is just a glutton

But for SouthernCross, its certainly worth a try to see if he can leave the plants alone.. if it works its brilliant if not, you will need to make a choice between plants and the BNC

Nim

 

[SouthernCross]

Plecs will eat plants but it is bottom of the list as a norm.

This means that you're not giving him/her as much of the diet he/she needs

I have 4 pitbulls in my tank and I don't get much plant damage at all.

What you need to do is:
ensure there is bogwood in the tank (they rasp the outer layer off which also feeds them some algae)
Feed some algae pellets every now and again
Once a week or a little more put some courgette in the tank. Easiest way is to spear it with a spoon handle then let it sink. Remove after 24 hours if any is left.
When you cook your peas for your tea take a couple and remove the skin, crush them and drop them in (once a week or a little more)
Feed something nutritious once a week like bloodworm (Not more than once a week because the plecs will always take it before anything else and too much protein is not good for them although a little is needed.

Once they get this varied diet which will cost you almost nothing they should steer clear of the plants.

Order of importance:
Bogwood
Algae (pellets will contain the type of algae they eat)
Vegetables
Meaty Food

Andy

Bogwood - yes I put a small piece in there specifically for him when I got him. You can see it in my tank shot, its positioned in the middle of the tank behind the small sword.
Algae - He gets either a Hikari algae wafer OR a Nutrafin spirulina tablet everyday if he hasn't been given a chunk of veg.
Vegetables - He usually gets a chunk of zucchini bigger than he is (aka courgette - I prefer it to cucumber, there's more substance to it!) once or twice a week or so. He usually completely demolishes that, skin and all, in 24-48 hours.
Meaty food - I don't feed bloodworm, but I regularly feed my cories sinking wafers (high protein) and wardley shrimp pellets, and the BN regularly tucks into their food as well as his own.

So I don't think I'm doing something terribly wrong then. I hear about people who never feed their plecs anything extra other than what grows in it for him, but I make sure he gets something everyday - he's certainly not starving. He usually has a plump little tummy, not hollowed out in pictures I've seen of underfed plecs.

What seems so strange to me is that he's never touched the plants before, I haven't really changed anything dietwise or tankwise, and suddenly he's torn this plant apart in 24 hours... ???

 

[SuperColey1]

If he is eating all that other food are you sure that it is him that is doing that to the plants?

 

[SouthernCross]

It's the only fish I've seen on that plant... he doesn't seem to have done any more damage overnight (untouched leaves are still untouched)......fingers crossed it was a one-time thing....