Plants and gouramis

[kyektulu]

I really do love my aqaurium planted.
I have worked very hard getting the plants to grow well, and now it is booming, I have to do gardening (taking out plants which have gotten 2 big enabling littler ones to grow, trimming etc) round about every month now.
However I also like to keep Dwarf Gouramis and they like to eat certain plants!
Is there any known way to discourage this activity?
They are definetly not ddoing it out of hunger as I have added more food and they have ignored it. I really dont want to get artificial plants as I like my tanks to look as natural as possible.

Thank you.

 

[workfortheman]

I'd say, just avoid using the plants they enjoy as food

 

[azn_fishy55]

I didn't know that dwarf gourami's eat plants, are you sure? But if they to try to stick with tough leaved plants such as java fern and anubias sp. Or you can provide lettuce or spinach to satisfy their hunger for greens,I read this technique in a book but I haven't tried it out yet.

 

[Zezmo]

DG's usually IME tear up plants, not to eat them, but to begin building buble nests. That said, for a long time I thought the holes in my sword plants were caused by some snails. But, I later discovered it was my female Splendid Rainbowfish. None of the other rainbows touch plants...but she munches whatever she can (like keeping Duckweed under control).

My point being, your DG may just want a bubble nest, or he may a rare vegetarian fish.

 

[azn_fishy55]

true but are DGs carnivores or omnivores?

 

[Tiffi]

Dwarf gouramis are omnivore, which still doesn't mean they eat plants. My endlers are omnivore, too and don't eat plants.

Instead they nip on the plants to eat some algae off of it. I guess they either do that or tear them up a bit to build a nest. I doubt though that they really eat the plants. By letting some loose plant pieces or floating plants stay in the tank they might only take those to build a nest, instead of tearing apart your other plants.

 

[kyektulu]

Eating the algae off the plant makes sense!

Pity they dont eat hair algae! lol

 

[Simpte]

I've never known DGs to eat plants, unless they are underfed.

 

[malkore]

my full sized gouramis would destroy fine, needle leaves plants like mayaca, rotala wallichi, foxtail, ambulia, cabomba, etc.

broadleaf plants weren't harmed by them.