New anubias leaves being eaten, but what by??

[Roadkill]

Hi All,

I've had my planted tank setup now for about 4 months. All the plants and fish are going fantastically well except something is taking chunks out my anubias but only on the new developing leaves ie when they are still curled up. Once they have opened up they are left undisturbed. I have other softer plants in the tank that are all left alone. These incluse several crypts, e. tennelus, green lotus, several aponogetons that flower quite happily, ambulia and others that i can't think of. The fish list is Otocinclus, Real flying fox sharks, discus, congo tetras, Albino bristlenose, lacustris rainbows, black ghost knife and some dwarfs.

I've not seen anything come close to even having a nibble and can't find any literature suggesting any of the fish i have doing it. I suspect that it may either be the otocinclus or the flying fox sharks as i have never had this problem before and never kept either of these fish before either. There are no snails in the tank either.

Any one got any ideas or experiences they would like to share??

bEn

[ILLUSN]

in my tank its the rames horn snails that do it, I've also seen some MLS on them a t night, i have 3 saes, but i've never seen them touch a plant except to pick food off it.

[scuba123cliff]

Have a close look at your b/nose they dont mind a bit of a chew on plants when they are nice and young .
Cliff

[carnival]

I had the same problem until I removed the Congo Tetras from my tank, from then on no problems. I never saw them touch the plants but it seems quite a coincidence that once they were gone the anubias were left untouched.
Peter

[moldyform]

Hey, I also looked thismorning and it seems i too am having this problem!!
The new leaf on my anubias has 2-4 nice chunks taken out of it??
I havent seen any fish go near mine either????

[moneymike]

My bristlenose eventually stopped eating algae and moved on to my swords and then annubias. Once I started feeing him nightly, this seems to have stopped.

I see my ramshorn snails eating any part that is dying, but I couldn't tell if they were eating any of the living parts of the plant or not.

[moneymike]

Also, does anyone have any tips for catching a bristlenose in your tank? I am gonna find him a better home, one where he isn't tempted to destroy a garden of beautiful swordplants.

[lpiasente]

put an alge disc in the tank or a bit of cooked zuchini. While he is munching on that give it a go.

[seecuta]

I cant believe nobody mentioned discus as the likely culprits. I've personally seen my wild discus tear apart new and newish anubias leaves.

This is probably more commonly observed in wilds as they are omnivorous after all.