fish / plant incompatibility

[HarleyK]

Howdy,

I think we should put all of our experience together and compose a list of fish / plant (in)compatibility. This should include

- the common name and the Latin name (please look it up if you don't know it) of the fish

- the Latin name (ditto) of plants they damaged (or not) in your tanks. Let's not go with the literature, I want real-life experiences here

- degree and the extend of the damage on a scale from 1-3.
# 1: slight damage, hardly noticable, plants still healthy, growing and prospering.
# 2: moderate damage, noticable, plant growth barely compensates for plant loss.
# 3: extensive damage, plants cannot survive

- reason for incompatibility (herbivore, up-rooting, etc.)

- please state if other plants were left alone, and list those

If this list is a success, I could combine info from posts on the same species and structure it for optimal readability and make it a sticky thread. It all depends on your feedback
What are your experiences?
HarleyK

 

[HarleyK]

Let me get started:

Bushy Nose Pleco (Ancistrus dolichopterus)
damaged Echinodorus ocelot
damage #1 by eating leaves
left alone: Cryptocorynes, Vallisneria, Glossostigma elatinoides, Echinodorus tenellus

Red-Hook Silverdollar (Myleus rubripinnis rubripinnis)
damaged Echinodorus bleheri, Cryptocoryne ciliata
damage #2 by eating leaves
damaged Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes)
damage #1 by eating roots

Goldfish (Carassius auratus)
damaged Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes)
damage #3 by eating roots
left alone: Vallisneria spiralis

Your turn

 

[HarleyK]

C'm on guys, you can't tell me you've never had fish interfere with your planted tanks

HarleyK

 

[WyldFya]

Convict Cichlid (Cichlasoma Nigrofasciatum)
Damaged: Amazon Sword (Echinodorus amazonicus)
Degree #3: Ate leaves, stems and roots. Plant is gone.

 

[WyldFya]

I like the idea of the thread. We need more people to come to this thread and post. This could help a lot of people avoid making the mistakes others have already made. I know I have made a few.

P.S. We should also have a positive end. Like fish that helped the development of plant life, like corydoras and smaller labeos.

 

[HarleyK]

We need more people to come to this thread and post. This could help a lot of people avoid making the mistakes others have already made.

That's why I started this thread... However, we seem to be the only two who want to contribute ...
HarleyK

 

[WyldFya]

It's a shame... I was afraid of starting a planted tank at first cause I didn't want to waste all the money on plants just to have them die cause some fish decided it was tasty. But I learned from trial and failure, and now have the tanks I do.

 

[Timpon]

All my giant gouramies ate any plant materials in the tank. Have had 6, and they all did it

 

[Tai95]

Bristlenose pleco (Ancistrus sp)
Damaged: Amazon Sword (Echinodorus amazonicus)
Degree #1: Ate leaves.
Left alone: Water Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis), Red Melon Sword (Echinodorus barthii), Jungle Val (Vallisneria americana), Dwarf sag (Sagittaria subulata), Red ludwigia (Ludwigia mullertii), Java fern (Microsorium pteropus), And Anubias (Anubias nana)

Convict Cichlid (Cichlasoma Nigrofasciatum)
Damaged: Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides)
Degree #3: Ate the entire plant
Left alone: Never tried adding any other plants.

 

[ewurm]

My goldfish ate any plants I put in, especially those bulbs that you buy. Also, Apple snails devour wisteria.