Do mollies dig up plants?

[SnowyzMom]

I haven't had any problems with live plants being uprooted in any of my tanks ever until I recently took some mollie fry from my niece(so natch they are suspects numero uno). Now they're a nice size 1 1/2-2 1/2 inches I would guess. What fries me is that when down south I bought some live plants(zip available here except java moss)...no I do NOT remember the names and I keep finding sections of the fine feathery fan like plant(victim #1) floating through both tanks...at first i thought oh it's just dropping leaves but now I'm finding sections, stalk and all....hmph! I am constantly planting the seemingly bitten or broken off bits. Tis a mystery I tell you!

Now today this entire clump of another type of plant, nothing like the first one, it grows tall with long stalks, well I find the entire thing with it's roots bare and some stalks uprooted entirely and floating at the tank top! ARGH. I replanted it all with a lot of heavy gravel at the base to discourage this happening again, but honestly what the HECK is going on here? I guess it's not fair to blame the mollies---or IS it? They are very aggressive when going after shrimp pellets. Mind you they need to be when the guppies are also after them. It's a wonder the cories get a nibble!

Before I blame the mollies does anybody have any ideas? I mean I thought plants just plain grew not dropped sections of themselves...could fish or snails be eating at the stalk sections of plant #1 and then it weakens, breaks off and floats? I am sooooo puzzled. And the second one? The corydoras have never been that aggressive and I don't have any bulldozing fish that I know of...or I didn't.

Is it possible that a shrimp pellet got buried somehow near the base of plant #2 and the mollies went after it and exposed the roots? Hmmm...that still meant moving gravel. What the hey??

Any thoughts, except hysterical laughter would be greatly appreciated!

The only fish I've got are the dalmation mollies, guppies, corydoras and some tetras (neons, glowlights) oh and some hiding ottocinclus somewhere.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Its unlikely the mollys.
Many plants sold in lfs are difficlut to look after and need certain strangths of lighting to survive or plant fertilisers and other things- this is realy a plant section thing. I've had some very fragile plants in past where their stalks break off if you handle them too much, leaves falling off the plants are a sign they do not like the conditions there are having to grow in.
Mollys need a bit of veg in their diet like algae wafers or blanched cucumber and similar things to stay healthy like many other livebearers and they will eat discarded plants from time to time but i have never wittnessed one breaking the stems or leaves off plants and i have kept mollys for almost 3yrs now.
I think your plants just need their roots to become more established to weight themselves down, if your plants are tied up at the base the roots/base of the stems could also be rotting- it would be good to get your plants ID'd in the plants section too to find out more about them .

 

[morgan]

Agree with Tokis-Phoenix, I have a tank full of Mollies (all bred in the tank!) and they don't dig up the plants. They sometimes nip at the leaves but don't do any damage.I had two YoYo Loaches and they did dig up the plants.

 

[SnowyzMom]

Thanks guys! I have always put algae wafers in the tanks for the ottos but now the wafers are disappearing much faster and mollies liking them explains that. They also get spirulina algae flakes so veggie wise they should be good. They love peas too.

Yeah, maybe it is just that I picked a very finicky plant...go figure. Well special lighting isn't in my budget right now so they'll have to deal or die. Thanks for the reference to the plants section....DUH me not thinking of that in the first place!