My plants are getting eaten!!!!

[SasaC]

Alright here is what i have:
5 Dwarfs Gouramis (I know they can nip at plants but that much?! )
5 flasher barbs
10 amano shrimps
3 Zebra nerite snails
3 Tracked Nerite Snails
10 little red phantom tetra

Now my plants are not just nipped, they are being destroyed and eaten by the middle of the leaves. I suspect my snails to do that...Can it be? if they don't have enough algae to eat?

 

[DeirdreHoyle]

I would definitely guess the snails

 

[SasaC]

What can i do against that than?

 

[Dallascowboys16]

Nerite snails are completely harmless to plants... I would suspect the dwarf Gouramis. Have you observed them nipping at the plants?

 

[ASF07003]

Just a thought, maybe your plants aren't getting enough nutrients ?

 

[SasaC]

I havent seen my gouramis nipping the plants.. That's why i am wondering...
And no they get enought, we have Co2 for them.

Each time the snails goes on top of the plants it seems like the color is gone and than tho holes appears..

 

[schoeplein]

Hah. It isn't your snails. It is definitely your dwarf gouramis. I have a couple male DG's and the dominant one is a monster. He's ripped all the leaves off my moneywort, and will rip the leaves off any other plant that can't endure his "inhalation" technique for cleaning the algae off. I'm surprised at how monstrous they are when it comes to algae. He keeps all my stems clean. Watch your tank more often. You'll see them at work!

Also, a buddy of mine had to remove his because they kept uprooting all his plants. My plants are in soil, not fine lava rock, so it's a bit harder to uproot my plants.

 

[schoeplein]

Nerite snails aren't going to eat your leaves. They'll eat algae on leaves, but not like a DG would. Holes in your leaves could also be due to a lack in manganese. Supplemented by your DG's pecking at the plant's weakened structure.

 

[SasaC]

Hmm interesting,
I heard the flasher barb can be destructive at plants as well? Is that true? I cant cut neither of them doing that to the **** plants haha
I gave away three dwarf gourami last night. The two i have last was terrorised by the others... So i will keep an eye open see if it reduces the nipping of my plants

 

[schoeplein]

I have one DG and his algae nipping habits help pull out weak plants from the soil. He thinks he's helping me...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Mebbid]

That appears to be more of a nutrient deficiency than nipping. We need some more information. I am in agreement with the snails though, I am 100% sure it's not them.

What lights do you have over the tank?
What size is the tank?
What fertilizers are you using?

 

[wildroseofky]

I agree with the previous poster. It is a nutrient deficiency. Lack of phosphate will make the leaves discolor and start to get holes in them. I was given this advice by RiverCats and once I upped the Flourish Complete, what I was using at the the time, the problem went away. I switched to dry fertilizer so I can dose phosphates according to my tanks need. Phosphate helps make the leaves strong. What type of fertilizer are you using?

 

[Fresh2o]

I agree with the previous poster. It is a nutrient deficiency. Lack of phosphate will make the leaves discolor and start to get holes in them. I was given this advice by RiverCats and once I upped the Flourish Complete, what I was using at the the time, the problem went away. I switched to dry fertilizer so I can dose phosphates according to my tanks need. Phosphate helps make the leaves strong. What type of fertilizer are you using?

Excuse the hijack...With the dry ferts are you merely adding more phosphate to the macro bottle, adding it directly to the tank, or to a separate bottle then dosing?

 

[wildroseofky]

I am using this package from Green Leaf Aquariums. Estimative Index | Aquarium Fertilizer | Green Leaf Aquariums You mix into three separate bottles. The phosphates are in one bottle. You start out dosing 1 ml per 10 gallons of tank water. CHeck levels at the end of the week before water change. You want the phosphate to be between 1-3 ppm. If it is lower than that you up the dose until each week until the level is in that range. Rivercats was nice enough to email me the mixing directions. It has kept my tanks growing nicely. I can send you a copy of the instructions if you would like.

 

[Fresh2o]

I'm doing PPS- Pro at the moment; not sure if I can switch over with the dry ferts I already have. But I have had nutrient deficiencies in some of my plants that resembled fish taking small bites out of the leaves.