When This Happens You Know Its Time To Give Up On Plants In Your Tank

[humpy_the_humphead_wrasse]

so ive got an mbuna tank mostly yellow labs, red forst jewels, frontosa and a couple of peacocks and 2 sd+2plecos.

anyway i bought a large driftwood creation a couple of weeks ago followed by an obsession which has seen me buy 8 yellow labs.
anyway i woke today to see the last stem/leaf of the large anubis eaten and the last stalk being pulled out by my lil terrors LOL i couldnt believe it, it seemed to house them for a while and id turn the light on at night to see them sleeping in amongst the leaves. and the last few days theyve managed to absolutely eat the whole thing OMG.

so im thinking now it is probably time to give up on plants huh? ive got 2X3 plants i bought at a 1yr sale last night at my lfs which seems to be doing rly well seeing as everything was 50% OMG LOL. Think theyr getting rdy to upgrade stock too soon.

note to self find out what channel their new tv ad is on!

but yeah just wanted to share the story of my demolition yellow labs.

 

[fozziebear]

mbuna cichlids and silver dollars are known to ravage plants, SD especially.

 

[Loony Fish]

i'm a bust at plants but an ace at fish lol!

 

[SharonCC]

I've got Africans and I use silk plants. They don't do much for the water quality, but they do look nice among all those rocks!

 

[Mr Bliss]

I used to have a pair of rainbow cichlids (Herotilapia multispinosa) who absolutely hated plants, especially at breeding time, even though the species isn't supposed to be a notorious plant-ravager. They didn't really seem to eat them, they'd just uproot them and tear them apart. I tried getting tough plants and placing them in unobtrusive places like the sides of the tank, but the story was always the same: the pair would stare at the plant belligerently for an hour or two, then get to work until the plant was unrecognizable. Eventually they even tore java moss off the rocks and bogwood and sent it floating in pathetic shreds.

 

[Wolfenrook]

I used to have a pair of rainbow cichlids (Herotilapia multispinosa) who absolutely hated plants, especially at breeding time, even though the species isn't supposed to be a notorious plant-ravager. They didn't really seem to eat them, they'd just uproot them and tear them apart. I tried getting tough plants and placing them in unobtrusive places like the sides of the tank, but the story was always the same: the pair would stare at the plant belligerently for an hour or two, then get to work until the plant was unrecognizable. Eventually they even tore java moss off the rocks and bogwood and sent it floating in pathetic shreds.

They are removing any possible hiding places when they do that. Stops any other fish from hiding from them and nicking their eggs or young.

Ade