What is eating my plants?

[DRteugelsi]

Okay so I have a 29 gallon tank set up and someone in the tank is chowing down on my plants because my bacopa did not have a huge chunk out of it last night here is the stocking list (pretty heavy stock)

Fish:
10 ghost shrimp (I think)
6 guppies
6 neon tetras
4 snow white danios ( i don't know if that's their common name that's just what they were labeled as)
3 albino cherry Barb's
2 corydoras
1 peacock gudgeon
1 oto cat
1 Bolivian ram
1 snail


Flora:
Amazon sword
Baby tears regular
Dwarf hairgrass
Ludwigia repens
Java moss
Combomba
Bacopa caroliniana
And a marimo moss ball

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

Cherry barbs are your suspect.

 

[DRteugelsi]

Actually after closer inspection I actually witnessed one of the guppies take a pretty decent chunk out of the stem. Cherry Barb's may be chewing on them as well I think I'm going to take both back and just stock up on neon tetras I think a large shoal would look pretty neat. Any suggestions? I'm new to planted tanks and am not too keen on what not to keep.

When I was researching cherry Barb's everyone said they didn't have any problems with them so I just want to stay away from anything that may be suspect.

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

Actually after closer inspection I actually witnessed one of the guppies take a pretty decent chunk out of the stem. Cherry Barb's may be chewing on them as well I think I'm going to take both back and just stock up on neon tetras I think a large shoal would look pretty neat. Any suggestions? I'm new to planted tanks and am not too keen on what not to keep.

When I was researching cherry Barb's everyone said they didn't have any problems with them so I just want to stay away from anything that may be suspect.

Neon Tetras always look good in planted tank but you might need to order/buy them from a good reputation sellers, most of Neon you seeing in any LFS really weak and carrying diseases.
You might need to take out peacock gudgeon, Bolivian Ram since 1 of each kinda look boring in your system and just add up the bio load. Also, while those Danios are peaceful species but they might over active and causing stress to your Neons, they might snip/chase Neons around.

 

[DRteugelsi]

As of right now I haven't seen any chasing or nipping. I went ahead and took back the barbs and guppies and got 5 more neons so now there are 11 and they seem to be really active already I got 2 more corys. So now I plan on adding 2 more otos and 2 more Bolivians. If the bioload becomes too much I don't have a problem going with a 40 gallon. (Actually really considering it so I have a larger footprint for scaping). Do you think the 29 will be okay for now with this stocking or do you think I'm over doing it.

I really wanted to keep tank stocked and busy because my 60 gallon only has a Texas cichlid, an EBA and a bichir. So not really a lot of movement. And that's want I wanted to get out of this tank...

As to the neons being weak and diseased the ones I have seem to be really happy and healthy. No deformities or anything. So we will see how things turn out

 

[fisheatfish]

That's a lot of fish in a 29 gal...imo. When your plants fill in, there will be even less room.

 

[LA58]

Regarding 'What's eating your plants?' : Good for your fish if they take a bite now and then! Planted tanks are a pleasure to observe and the right fish feel good in them. Any cichlid can masterfully maneuver plants around in a tank to their liking. Rammy buggers! Danios love to swim fast, so need space to do so. My question is this: What is your substrate and lighting? Those two things are primary to your planting success.

 

[plantdude]

My guess would also have been the cherry barbs, but you took them back. Are any other chunks missing now? If the plants are still being "eaten", it's also possible that the snail eats the AFTER the leaves get weak, or are dying. That is their natural function. They help keep plants "clean". The best way to not have leaves chomped on is to keep the plants growing well. The rest of the fish seem to be non-plant eaters. Watch the health of the plants and you should see diminished "damage". Good luck!