Why Do My Tropical Community Fish Break The Plants?

Question

I have a tank that has fancy guppies, mollies, tetra neons, platys, gourmanis and a mystery snail all happily getting along. Water levels and temperature is good. We have only real plants in the tank. I was wondering why and who is breaking the plants in half?

Answer 1

It is most likely the Gouramis or the Mollies. Both the Guppies and Neons really aren't big or strong enough to do much harm to plant stems, but Mollies and Gouramis certainly have the ability to snap some leaves off...

Soop Nazi

EDIT: Mystery Snails do not eat plants, so it was definitely not the snail. The fish don't even have to eat the plant to break it, all they would have to do would be swim quickly, and bump it too hard, snapping or bending the stem (which only the Gouramis or Mollies are big enough to do).

Answer 2

a million. definite, that is incorrect with the aid of fact: - Corys choose a minimum of four in a team (of the comparable variety) - Kuhlis want cooler waters than the others - A 25 gallon is only too small for a purple Tailed Black Shark - A purple Tailed Black Shark will harass and kill Neons while its larger 2. Sand, Loaches and Corys want sand. Corys cant be stored in sharp gravel. they prefer to take a seat down on the floor so that they choose mushy, tender pebbles or sand. 3. What i might do is: - eliminate the Shark - eliminate the Loaches - set up a heater set at 25-26 degree C. right this is my 23 gallon inventory at abode in case you have an interest: - 10 x Neon Tetras - 7 x Amano Shrimp - 5 x Leopard Corys - 2 x Dwarf Gouramis - some Ramshorn Snails that have been given Hijacked interior. - a million Malaysian Trumpet Snail I made a 2 inch layer of sand wherein I planted some Anbuias Nanas (a million large one and a few small ones) and stored some driftwood products interior the tank (I intentionally chosen wood with a great number of holes in it to verify the shrimp can cover in it). I put in some floor plant life, and a few ornament. My clear out is a HoB (carry on back). I surely have thrown out the cartilages that comprise it, I put in some sponge and a few bacteria cylinders in basic terms. No Carbon Filtration. The clear out is rated at approximately 70 gph, yet would not create vast currents, so my tank is easily filtered and not a whirlpool.

Answer 3

It is probably the gouramis. Although they are community fish that just means they won't eat each other. They probably love the plants as a fresh food source. The flakes are partially made up of dried up plants so they are just opting for the fresh stuff.

I went through the same thing for a while after finally giving up on live plants. I was totally against plastic plants but when you are pulling leaves off the filter every day, it gets a little old. I went to plastic and you can find some very good looking ones.

Answer 4

I just asked my boyfriend who has been in the fish industry all his life. He named 2 possibilities:
1.) the snail is the only one with the mouth to do that, and could be chewing on the plants
2.) said the plant could be dying