Wow… who would eat almond leaves like this???

[Magnum Man]

So I added some extra large dried almonds leaves to several tanks, 2 weeks ago… I have some minor nibbling on the leaves in the tank with a large colony of Armano shrimp… but this is in my Asian tank and this leaf is almost gone
Fish in this tank are…
Tin Foil Bsrbs
Denison Barbs
1 Pink Grouami
Flying Foxes
Hillstream Loaches
And a few Cory’s that I haven’t moved yet…

I haven’t noticed anyone totally working the leaves, but obviously someone does, maybe at night???

It’s not a problem, as I have a bundle of 100… just surprising

 

[Magnum Man]

BTW… that s a 3 inch Cory, in the picture, for scale

 

[FranciscoB]

I am not sure who is doing it in your tank, but my money is on a combination of the effects of time, and the activity of Amano shrimp, flying foxes, and perhaps loaches. If you had a pleco, it would also be a culprit. And if you have snails, then them too.
I doubt the barbs, gourami, or cories are doing much of that, but may be helping some.
I use Magnolia grandifolia leaves (from my yard) in my tanks. Very similar, but much harder surfaces and thicker than Almond leaves. In the photo below, the effect of ~1 week can be seen (as compared to a new leaf). Leaves that I leave longer, or don't remove, always end up as in your photo. In my case, I blame mainly BN plecos, snails and time. In my experience, cories and other fish browse about and play under and around the leaves, but don't rasp on them as plecos and snails.

 

[Magnum Man]

Actually the shrimp are in another tank

 

[GaryE]

Pink kissing gouramis are fed corn stalks and other agricultural leftovers on food farms. And tinfoils can do some damage.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Dried leaves in water break down naturally. I have been using catappas in my Altum tanks for years. They are good for about 2 weeks before I remove them looking like yours with only the spines left. I also remove the ones where the leaves are staring to become see through. I know the fish are not eating them because thee are only 4 adult Altums in the tank, I feed them well and I never see them nibbling the leaves.

I use larger leaves (I buy wholesale in quantity). The tank is a 55 gal. and I generally have about 12-15 large leaves in it.

edited for a typo

 

[WhistlingBadger]

My guess would be the tinfoils. They love to graze.

 

[emeraldking]

Wow… who would eat almond leaves like this???​

Wow... Why would you even consider eating almond leaves anyways...?

 

[Magnum Man]

Everyone needs more roughage in their diet

 

[Magnum Man]

Still trying to figure this out… 3 new leaves in the other day… the only fish that seem interested are the hill stream loaches, seen them on the leaves, but nothing missing on the leaf itself… but maybe after it gets softer, after a week or so of soaking, or after it gets covered in bio film… the Gourami works all the plants, but surprisingly doesn’t damage anything, but he’s not interested in the new leaves ( I suppose no biofilm or algae ) the tin foils rarely mess with the plants, if they do, it’s usually, because there are sinking foods in them… if they are a food source for someone, that’s great… will just have to watch them closer, to try to see