Fishnerd Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 (edited) I have recently puchased in the last 2 months an L46 zebra and an L134 leopard frog they are small approx 2-2 1/2" and wonder if any one has noticed if they like to eat plants ? I have several giant vals slowly being chomped on. I first thought it was my 4" bristlenose and move him 2 weeks ago but I think it's continuing. The L46 and L134 are supossed to be more omnivorous and haven't actually observed them eating my plants but I wonder if they do it at night? Another possible culprit could be the 4" siamese algae eaters but they've never been known to eat plants as I understand. I do feed cucumber however not regularily. So long story short i'm stumped ? any suggestions ? also it would be very difficult to catch them in a planted 260gal if I had to move them unfortunately. Cheers :beer: Edited January 30, 2011 by Fishnerd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grunt031 Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Do you have any snails? I though once that my pleco was the culprit but ended up being an apple snail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 IME plecos prefer zucchini over cucumber. maybe try switching to that and feeding it more often to hopefully keep them away from the plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLake Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 or try some potatoe slices Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishnerd Posted January 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Hang on before this turns into a food debate lol.. they like the cukes just fine. I like the point about the snails however I don't have any so my question is if anyone has had or does have a leopard frog or an L46 zebra and noticed if they eat the plants? It may be also that the bristlenose rasped and chomped on the giant vals and they are still declining because of that previous activity? I must note that I have never seen the leopard or zebra anywhere near the plants so this is a mystery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLake Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 I have 4 leopard frogs. They live in a 20 long with two plants. I haven't noticed any damage. But I try to include lots of fresh food for them. So they wont want plants if they get that craving! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dk77 Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 It shouldn't be the SAE or the L46, I have both in a heavily planted tank and have no signs of eaten plants! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 A little more info would be useful. What are all the fish you have in the tank? Anything else other then the L46, leopard frogs and the SEA? What kind of damage is on the vals? Holes? Tips dying back? etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishnerd Posted January 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 Good questions Val sometimes I (we) proboably forget people arent right beside us seeing what we see lol.. So lets see for fish aside from SAE,L46 I have hemiodopsis gracilis, mascara barbs, cherry barbs, iridescent tiger barbs, red eye tetras, flasher barbs, rummies, a couple small bala sharks, a rainbow shark, a couple black mollies, madagascan rainbows and some clown and zebra loaches. For plants there are java fern, red tiger lotus, anubias, some crypts and swords and a few parrots feather as well as the giant vals, I use excell and some flourish in the proper amounts lol.. as well as regular water changes. the amazons have some damage also. At the end of Dec I got a leopard frog and within a couple weeks I started to notice holes appearing on the Vals all up and down certain leaves, there was no browning or tip die off and they were spreading rapidly until now that is lol.. I managed to catch by fluke the leopard last night and moved him to a tank with other giant vals and am monitoring just to be sure. There was no damage before I got the leopard and he was the last fish I added, at 2.5" if it is him he is quite the prolific chomper lol. I may have wrongly blamed the bristlenose by removing him before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Cassidy Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 It is the Mascara Barbs for sure. I know from experience. I have 12 of them. I had a beautiful 90 gallon planted tank and put them in when they were about 1/2 inch and in about 3 months they developed a liking to my plants. Within about 2 weeks all of my plants were gone. My dad had some as well at the same time however he didn't have as many plants but they did a number on them. I still have mine and they eat everything except for my Hygrophila difformis. They even eat my anubias and Bolbitis heudelotii, and Java fern and even mosses. Good luck catching those buggers as they are fast and I had a hell of a time catching them in my 90 gallon. I had mine in with flasher barbs they were easy to catch in comparison. If you want more let me know. They are like lawnmowers on steroids. Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishnerd Posted February 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Mascaras eh grrr I have 7 of them around 3" from .5 two months ago. The worst part is I never see anybody doing anything that's why it's such a mystery. It must be a nighttime thing I guess. I have noticed all the new shoots from the anubias are getting munched and also haven't grown in some time so I suppose that makes sense. now the questions is like you said good luck catching them and do I even bother.. Fish behaviour is unpredictable the last batch of mascara's I had didnt touch plants .. I'm gonna turn on the moon lights tonight and just watch a while to see exactly b/c now I'm gettin mad lol.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 try a fish trap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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