my aquatic plants (Vallisneria americana and, recently, swords) have been being torn apart by a mystery agent, with most probably culprit small (~4 inch) northern hognose suckers. snails have been eliminated as the culprit. the evidence consists of small pieces that have been excised from the plants (for Val americana, pieces are simply short sections of leaves). i have previously kept much larger suckers with plants with no problems. any one else had this problem?
plants and suckers
Started by
Guest_brgray_*
, Apr 19 2009 06:37 PM
3 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_brgray_*
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Posted 20 April 2009 - 06:27 AM
i'll add that whoever is tearing up the plants is largely leaving corkscrew val and Java fern alone
my aquatic plants (Vallisneria americana and, recently, swords) have been being torn apart by a mystery agent, with most probably culprit small (~4 inch) northern hognose suckers. snails have been eliminated as the culprit. the evidence consists of small pieces that have been excised from the plants (for Val americana, pieces are simply short sections of leaves). i have previously kept much larger suckers with plants with no problems. any one else had this problem?
#3
Guest_fundulus_*
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Posted 20 April 2009 - 07:33 AM
It could be that the shredded plants had colonies of small animals or algaes on their surface, and the shredding is the result of fish getting at a food source. Suckers usually poke around in the substrate looking for smallish food, but they'll go where the food is.
#4
Guest_brgray_*
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Posted 13 September 2009 - 05:32 PM
the culprit turned out to be common shiners. i witnessed them pulling plants by the ends. removing the shiners removed the problem
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