Pleco Eating My Plants

[blackghostknife]

Hi All

over the weekend i stocked my tank with really nice plants, and all the fish really took a liking to it, but my pleco has some kind of plant fetish, he is eating them, making holes in the leaves, and its not like his hungry i feed him every day the algae tablets!

Has this happened to anyone else before?

Save my plants!

 

[raptorrex]

Hi All

over the weekend i stocked my tank with really nice plants, and all the fish really took a liking to it, but my pleco has some kind of plant fetish, he is eating them, making holes in the leaves, and its not like his hungry i feed him every day the algae tablets!

Has this happened to anyone else before?

Save my plants!

it will be uprooting them. the idea being it can come back, at a later time, and eat the rotting plant. I find plants and, common type plecos, are not really compatible. and if they like the taste, they can do a lot of damage rasping the leafs and stems.

 

[blackghostknife]

HI raptorrex

Thank you for the response, but the thing that really gets to me is my LFS told me that the fish i have will love the plants and noting will go wrong, so i when back this morning and he said pleco dont eat plants and that it must be that my light is bad, thats why my plants are dying! i think its time to find a new shop!

Thank you

 

[raptorrex]

HI raptorrex

Thank you for the response, but the thing that really gets to me is my LFS told me that the fish i have will love the plants and noting will go wrong, so i when back this morning and he said pleco dont eat plants and that it must be that my light is bad, thats why my plants are dying! i think its time to find a new shop!

Thank you

all i can say, as i dont know the tank is. Plecos do dig up and eat plants. I have plastic plants, and they are floating most mornings. or were, I passed on my Pleco as it would grow too big for a 50g tank. actually too bog for a 100g tank. cant speak for the advice you are given. except to say the advice from LFS is often more to do with sales, that fish welfare. most noobs here have more, apparent, knowledge than is offerd at the average LFS.

 

[KittyKat]

What's the pleco species and the plant species?

 

[blackghostknife]

that’s is exactly why i joined this awesome forum!

 

[RadaR]

Have you witnessed him eating the plants?
I don't know what plec species you have but the plants could be suffereing for another reason. Structural failures in plants is usually lack of CO2. When a plant begins to break down (internally and externally) it leaches ammonia which attracts algae to that part of the plant. The plec could be simply eating the algae off the plant but it looks as though the plec itself is destroying the plant. Just a thought as I've seen this before.
Having once worked at an LFS I try give them the benefit of the doubt sometimes as I know how customers can sometimes twist words etc, making the LFS appear to know nothing (I am not saying that you have done this by any means).

 

[blackghostknife]

that’s is exactly why i joined this awesome forum!

HI RadaR

Yes i have seen it, i just bought the plants on Sunday! i don’t remember the name of the plants but it’s got biggish leaves and a maroon rim on those leaves, I saw the Pleco sucking on the leaves and there is definitely damage to the leaves structure? As far as I know my water is correct, I checked it on Sunday before I added the plants, and the straight after as well! I must admit my LFS has sold me fish that were sick as well, but yes, I will try give him the benefit and check my water later on.

Thank you

 

[RadaR]

that’s is exactly why i joined this awesome forum!

As far as I know my water is correct,

The concentrations of ammonia that can trigger algae spores to bloom is so, so tiny. You're looking at 2 to 3 orders of magnitude lower than what can be measured on a hobby grade test kit. Still, it's good that you're checking your water.
How big is your tank? What type and wattage are your bulbs? How long do you have them on for per day? Is it just this one plant that's suffering?

 

[blackghostknife]

that’s is exactly why i joined this awesome forum!

HI RadaR

Yes i have seen it, i just bought the plants on Sunday! i don’t remember the name of the plants but it’s got biggish leaves and a maroon rim on those leaves, I saw the Pleco sucking on the leaves and there is definitely damage to the leaves structure? As far as I know my water is correct, I checked it on Sunday before I added the plants, and the straight after as well! I must admit my LFS has sold me fish that were sick as well, but yes, I will try give him the benefit and check my water later on.

Thank you

It’s just the one plant he/she is taking a liking to, my light is Blue Actinic 460nn HO T5, my tank is a 100L tank, working on a bigger tank! I have my light on for about 7 – 8 hours, i hope i got to all your questions!

 

[RadaR]

Not sure what wattage it is but anything over 40W-50W and I rekon you would need to be injecting CO2 or dosing liquid carbon. That is if you are keen on keeping a planted tank or instead just a fish tank with a few plants in (if it's the latter then don't worry).
You'll soon know if the plants need carbon because they will begin falling apart and you could get hair algae.

 

[blackghostknife]

that’s is exactly why i joined this awesome forum!

HI RadaR

Yes i have seen it, i just bought the plants on Sunday! i don’t remember the name of the plants but it’s got biggish leaves and a maroon rim on those leaves, I saw the Pleco sucking on the leaves and there is definitely damage to the leaves structure? As far as I know my water is correct, I checked it on Sunday before I added the plants, and the straight after as well! I must admit my LFS has sold me fish that were sick as well, but yes, I will try give him the benefit and check my water later on.

Thank you

It’s just the one plant he/she is taking a liking to, my light is Blue Actinic 460nn HO T5, my tank is a 100L tank, working on a bigger tank! I have my light on for about 7 – 8 hours, i hope i got to all your questions!

Thank you for all the advice, I will keep an eye on it!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

If the pleco you have is an algae eater, then what it is doing is trying to rasp the algae off the plant leaves. The problem is that those plants which have more delicate/thin leaves get damaged in the process. This is most commonly seen on amazon swords which have fairly thin leaves compared to other sword plants and the result is the pleco rasps the plant itself in its quest for the algae.

 

[raptorrex]

If the pleco you have is an algae eater, then what it is doing is trying to rasp the algae off the plant leaves. The problem is that those plants which have more delicate/thin leaves get damaged in the process. This is most commonly seen on amazon swords which have fairly thin leaves compared to other sword plants and the result is the pleco rasps the plant itself in its quest for the algae.

I know of no ALGAE only, eating plecos. they are, generally, omnivores. its a misconception that is common. actually, with the exception of BN's.(even they eat far more than algae) plecos are not algae eaters. though they will eat it. if you see what i mean. but i guess they could "rasp" to get at any biofim they plants have on them. but mostly to eat them, or gain some nutrition/vitamins or minerals.
to eat algae, there are far better fish/inverts, out there.

from my observations, they rasp at leaf and stem. then return as the plant suffers from the damage. they may dig them up, instead/as well.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

When it comes to algae, some plecos will eat it, and some wont. So my point was if the pleco the OP has is an algae eater, then etc. etc.

Wow- who knew bn ate more than algae?