Is it common for guppies to eat plants? I keep noticing my guppies pecking at my plants Iāve had to replace them today because Iāve noticed small holes in the leaves. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.
Guppies eating plants?
- Thread starter Guppylover3x
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Livebearers naturally graze on algae and they pick algae off plant leaves. If there is no algae and they don't get sufficient plant matter in their diet they will eat plants.
You can use a plant based fish food (goldfish food or vege flake) and increase the amount of light on the tank to encourage algae. You usually only have to increase the light by an hour a day to get algae growing. Once the algae is growing on the glass you can reduce the lighting times to what they were before.
You can use a plant based fish food (goldfish food or vege flake) and increase the amount of light on the tank to encourage algae. You usually only have to increase the light by an hour a day to get algae growing. Once the algae is growing on the glass you can reduce the lighting times to what they were before.
OP
OP
Thank you for your reply. I did think it was an algae problem as Iāve been noticing a slimey texture on some of my ornaments. I thought this was beneficial bacteria until my pet store informed me today this is usually not on ornaments it lives in the water. He confirmed this sounded like algae, itās not visible at all it can just be felt when Iām cleaning the tank and moving things around. The fish get fed flakes at the moment however last week I give them dried blood worms. After a day or so my tank became really cloudy so I have decided to blame this on what I fed them. However the guppies have recently had a tank change to a bigger home so it could have been new tank syndrome also. It seems to have settled a bit now. Iāll also look into plant based food. Just to confirm from your post states ways on how to encourage algae. Is this beneficial in the tank? And is it beneficial on plants too? I donāt mind them eating my plants as long as itās not doing any harm or for any particular reason. As you stated above it could be due to a lack of plant based diet. Thanks for all your help!
The clear slimy stuff you feel on the glass and ornaments is usually biofilm. This is caused by bacteria, yeast, viruses, fungus and all sorts of microscopic organisms that live in the tank. When they are well established they produce a film over themselves to help protect them from external forces like water changes, medication and other types of microscopic organisms that attack them. You should wipe the ornaments and the inside of the glass down every week or so to try and remove as much of this as possible.
If the biofilm develops colour and turns brown, green, black, purple, pink, blue or any other colour, then it is blue green algae (Cyanobacter bacteria). This stuff lifts off in sheets and feels slimy and smells musty. It is usually caused by uneaten food, excess nutrients, lack of water changes, low oxygen levels and low water movement.
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A small amount of algae in the tank is not harmful to plants or fish. In fact algae is simply a single celled plant that grows anywhere there is water and light. The problem with algae is when it gets out of control, then it can smother plants and turn the water into green soup and you can't see the fish. The fish are generally fine in green water but it is a nuisance to us because we can't see the fish..
Increasing the light by an hour a day can improve plant growth. However, if there is too much light and not enough plants to use that light, then algae will grow and use the light instead of the plants. So you increase the light a little bit to encourage some algae on the glass and ornaments, but you don't want too much light so the plants get covered in algae and you can't see the fish.
The extra light will not harm the plants unless they get covered in algae, then the algae stops the plants getting light and the plants die. However, most healthy plants produce a chemical that stops algae growing on their leaves.
Another option is to grow algae on rocks and ornaments outside in a tub and bring them in each week to put in the tank. You set up a plastic container, pond or tub outside in the sun. Fill it with tap water and add 1 level tablespoon of lawn fertiliser for every 20 litres (5 gallons) of water. Put some smooth rocks or ornaments in the water and leave them there until they get covered in algae. Then bring one in and put it in the tank. When the fish have picked off most of the algae you put it back out in the tub of water and bring another one in to replace it.
If you add a bit of fertiliser to the tub of water every couple of weeks, and keep it topped up with water, the algae will continue to grow rapidly and you will have lots of ornaments/ rocks with algae for the fish to graze on.
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Freeze dry bloodworms do not cause the water to go cloudy unless you put heaps in the tank and it doesn't get eaten. Then it breaks down and you can get a cloudy milky appearance in the water, which is caused by bacteria feeding on the rotting fish food. You will also get an ammonia spike and the fish can die.
If the biofilm develops colour and turns brown, green, black, purple, pink, blue or any other colour, then it is blue green algae (Cyanobacter bacteria). This stuff lifts off in sheets and feels slimy and smells musty. It is usually caused by uneaten food, excess nutrients, lack of water changes, low oxygen levels and low water movement.
----------------------
A small amount of algae in the tank is not harmful to plants or fish. In fact algae is simply a single celled plant that grows anywhere there is water and light. The problem with algae is when it gets out of control, then it can smother plants and turn the water into green soup and you can't see the fish. The fish are generally fine in green water but it is a nuisance to us because we can't see the fish..
Increasing the light by an hour a day can improve plant growth. However, if there is too much light and not enough plants to use that light, then algae will grow and use the light instead of the plants. So you increase the light a little bit to encourage some algae on the glass and ornaments, but you don't want too much light so the plants get covered in algae and you can't see the fish.
The extra light will not harm the plants unless they get covered in algae, then the algae stops the plants getting light and the plants die. However, most healthy plants produce a chemical that stops algae growing on their leaves.
Another option is to grow algae on rocks and ornaments outside in a tub and bring them in each week to put in the tank. You set up a plastic container, pond or tub outside in the sun. Fill it with tap water and add 1 level tablespoon of lawn fertiliser for every 20 litres (5 gallons) of water. Put some smooth rocks or ornaments in the water and leave them there until they get covered in algae. Then bring one in and put it in the tank. When the fish have picked off most of the algae you put it back out in the tub of water and bring another one in to replace it.
If you add a bit of fertiliser to the tub of water every couple of weeks, and keep it topped up with water, the algae will continue to grow rapidly and you will have lots of ornaments/ rocks with algae for the fish to graze on.
----------------------
Freeze dry bloodworms do not cause the water to go cloudy unless you put heaps in the tank and it doesn't get eaten. Then it breaks down and you can get a cloudy milky appearance in the water, which is caused by bacteria feeding on the rotting fish food. You will also get an ammonia spike and the fish can die.
If by beneficial bacteria you mean those that remove ammonia and nitrite, then the pet store is wrong. These bacteria do not live free in the water. As Colin said, they live in the biofilm which covers everything in the tank.
OP
OP
I am assuming this is algae due to the fact that the guppies love these decorations that are slimy! They are constantly pecking at them so I will ensure that I rinse them thoroughly tomorrow during my next water change. Many thanks for your help
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