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This snail damage or pleco or other?

1515 Views 9 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  Crystalview, 
odie
I recently added some plants from my smaller 20 gallon to my 125 gallon I setup 6 weeks ago. It had plants from sweetaquatics that were in rough shape from shipping and a lot of snails.

I noticed the plants I added became the favorite of whatever is in the tank eating the plants.

I have some otto's and ancistrus 'calico' , lots of pond snails and some kind ramshorn.

Trying to figure out what caused it. Wondering if I need pull the ancistrus or add assassin snails.

Here are some pics
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odie
Anyone? Might be going out of town and can get assassins if needed!
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Wasserpest
Doesn't look like Pleco damage to me, and the snails you mention normally don't eat plants.

If it seems like the holes are expanding overnight, why don't you take a flashlight (or perhaps you have a moonlight) and see who is chomping away on your plants.

I find it rather uncommon that Crypts are the victim of plant eaters. Perhaps you have some new rare crypt-eating snailworm in your tank that hasn't been scientifically discovered. Let us know.
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odie
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I found a Ramshorn that was the size of a dime or nickel. It was in the backcorner of aquarium. Looked like it was shiny and gold/bronze, body was white. Tried to take a picture and they didnt turn out well. Went to grab it and then it fell into a large sword and couldnt find it.

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Wasserpest
I have a lot of Ramshorn snails and they only eat biofilm or dead leaves. Best bet would be to stay up and check on your plants via flashlight every 30 minutes.

That's how I found my plecos rasping away on Swords. Looks totally different though.
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odie
Wasserpest said:
I have a lot of Ramshorn snails and they only eat biofilm or dead leaves. Best bet would be to stay up and check on your plants via flashlight every 30 minutes.

That's how I found my plecos rasping away on Swords. Looks totally different though.
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Thank you for the advice.
If I see snails doing it would you go the assassin snail route or botia of some kind?
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Wasserpest
I have no personal experience with assassin snails, but they sound cool. If you like Botias (beyond their snail-eating capabilities) then a group of them are a good choice for a larger tank.

However, if you have seen one Ramshorn snail and quite extensive damage I wouldn't jump to conclusions.
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C
My pleco does not eat my plants, but my discus might nip one every so often.
I have a ton of pond snails and they will clump together on leaves and some of the leaves will dissolve. I just ordered assassin snails. They say their egg sacks are easy to see. I have not been able to get a pic of such. The assassin snail also grows very slow. Takes 4 months from birth to full grown, or so I have heard.
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O
if those leaves are starting to melt, your snails will eat the dead part of the plant.
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C
I am only talking Anubias barteri. There are so many snails on the leaves it is hard to tell which comes first the melting or the eating. Oh I do know I reduced my food amount to no avail. I even skipped days.
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