# Is my ram cichlid the plant-eating culprit?



## JESTERX626 (Sep 18, 2006)

My plants have been being bitten off for months or so, only now am I off my lazy behind to ask about it. I have amano shrimp, red cherry shrimp, corydoras, harlequin rasboras, black neon tetras, true siamese algae eaters, and one blue german ram cichlid. Out of them all the ram cichlid makes the most sense of eating my plants. What do you guys think?


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## HoustonFishFanatic (Feb 26, 2007)

It could most probably be the true SAE. Never heard of cichlids eating plants maybe uprooting and wrecking havoc is more plausible!!!!!!!!!!!


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

Sorry, it isn't the Ram.....what plant is being eaten? Specifically?


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## Jookie (Sep 30, 2003)

Eventually your ram will discover that shrimp taste good. Then it will be a masacre. That's pretty much what happened in my tank. Oh yeah, they also uproot plants when spawning, but with only one ram in the tank it may not happen.


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

Probably SAE. Add boiled cucumber to the tank to satisfy the SAE. I've seen SAE chewing on plants when there isn't sufficient algae to satisfy its appetite. Otos are better for cleaning most algae.


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## JESTERX626 (Sep 18, 2006)

The sae's are out of the question because they were added after the whole plant eating buffet time period, I barely got them a week ago and all this started happening 4-6 months ago, so there's no way it's them. Could it be the corys or tetra's?

The plants that are being eaten are my cabomba and rotala rotundifolia


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

I've never seen tetras munching on plants. Don't have any corys but I saw SAEs chewing on plants in several aquariums when they have no other food source. Bottomline...these guys have a huge appetite (up to 5 or 6 inches) and will devour plants if there is no algae to eat.

Fish will also learn bad habits from other fish. If you have one muncher in this tank, then the new SAEs could take after this muncher.


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## JESTERX626 (Sep 18, 2006)

furballi said:


> I've never seen tetras munching on plants. Don't have any corys but I saw SAEs chewing on plants in several aquariums when they have no other food source. Bottomline...these guys have a huge appetite (up to 5 or 6 inches) and will devour plants if there is no algae to eat.
> 
> Fish will also learn bad habits from other fish. If you have one muncher in this tank, then the new SAEs could take after this muncher.


As I said this problem happend 4-6 months ago, I recently added the SAE's a week ago, so sae's are out of the question as you can see, since they werent in my tank 4-6 months ago. Any other opinions people?


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## JustOneMore21 (Mar 19, 2007)

Do you have any pictures? None of the fish you have IMO eat plants. I have cories, tetras, and rasboras and none ever eat my plants. I think it could be a deficiency and not bite marks.


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## benjavan (Dec 10, 2006)

Have you considered the possibility of snails? Even if you dont see them during the day, they could be coming out at night.


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## THHNguyen (Dec 2, 2006)

It could be amano shrimp. With an insufficient food supply they will turn to plants to satisfy themselves. I've seen them eat Alternanthera reineckii and Phyllanthus fluitans in my tank. BTW how big are the amanos? I've noticed that bigger shrimp are more prone to plant eating.


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## Kelley (Aug 27, 2006)

I have seen my blue rams nibble on my Hygrophila polysperma. This is the only plant of mine that they have a taste for and the damage is minimal.


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## oliverredfern (Mar 27, 2007)

Ceratophyllum? I Have 5 Black Tetra's...I Turned On The Light One Morning To See They Stripped A Stem Of All Of Its Leaves! If You Want To Keep Plants Living Keep Cutting Off Stems And Sticking Them Into The Gravel, They Will Live And You Will Hopefully Have Lots Of Plants!


(5 Black Tetras,2 3 Spot Gouramis,2 Dwarf Gouramis) 160 Litre Tank


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