# Something to eat dead plants



## coco4pr3z

I've got a bit of new Vals that the last of the old leaves are melting away. Are nertile snails good for eating these dying leaves? Or is there something else that will do a better job?


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## aquarist

True Siamese Algae eaters are the best option if your aquarium is big enough for them, they need to usually be kept in groups of four or more, since they are social, I have them in a tank with Roseline's and they all school together its pretty cool.

They eat like crazy all day and all night, constantly looking for "tasty" bits of dead plants, algae, and left over food.


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## coco4pr3z

Its only a 60. Same dimensions as a standard 55 but a few inches taller. Already have a pretty heavy stocking in mind and think a small group will push the restrictions of the tank. It has the filtration power but probably not the space needed.

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## aquarist

I haven't had much luck with many fish cleaning my tank as well as the TSAE, I suppose if you are looking for something to eat dead plant material rather than just algae you could look into getting a couple Cory catfish, they are decent at scavenging, but not sure if they would eat dead leaves that are still attached to the plant or not, as to where TSAE will.


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## ua hua

coco4pr3z said:


> I've got a bit of new Vals that the last of the old leaves are melting away. Are nertile snails good for eating these dying leaves? Or is there something else that will do a better job?


A pair of scissors or pulling the dead leaves off with your fingers will do a better job than any critter and gets the job done quicker also.


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## LittleDear21

*Algae eating shrimp*

I have an Amano shrimp in my 4gallon and he eats old plant matter. He does great with very low load on the tank. I highly recommend them compared to other shrimp I have had. Beware of jumping though.


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## LittleDear21

*Snail*

Also, my nerite snail has been in that tank for sometime and did nothing for decaying plants.


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## the_Chad

Snails are the dead decaying plant cleaner workhorse in planted aquariums. *Malaysian Trumpet*, and "*Mystery" snails (Pomacea bridgesii)*. These snails won't usually eat live plants (unless starved) and do a heck of a job keeping tanks free of debris unless there is an excess. Then, normal tank maintenance is in order.


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## coco4pr3z

ua hua said:


> A pair of scissors or pulling the dead leaves off with your fingers will do a better job than any critter and gets the job done quicker also.


Yea but that's no fun to watch!

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## coco4pr3z

I picked up a bunch of MTS. I've had them in smaller tanks that we much better kept. They hitched along some plants and quickly reproduced. Ending up buying a pair of yoyo loaches. Those were pretty damn cool.

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## stratg5

My nerite snail never even touches plants, just cruises the rocks and glass sucking up algae.


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## rcs0926

Ramshorn snails love eating dead plant matter. My ramshorns can always be found munching on dead or dying leaves on my frogbit, vals and crypts.


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## ctaylor3737

Dead plants will likely, cause fouling of the water and killing your fish.just prune them off if they are dying. Its never good to let a plant melt in your tank. It's rotting and putting impurities in the water

-Chris


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## jmf3460

+1 for amano shrimp, I have 10 in a 46 gallon, they eat anything and everything, algae, dead plant matter, left over food, flying food that they grab, algae crisps, cucumbers, zucchini and they are awesome to watch. they are the first thing my nieces and nephews look for when they come over.


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## coco4pr3z

ctaylor3737 said:


> Dead plants will likely, cause fouling of the water and killing your fish.just prune them off if they are dying. Its never good to let a plant melt in your tank. It's rotting and putting impurities in the water
> 
> -Chris


No doubt. I'm pulling out small pieces day to day. But I expect more leaves to melt as there is still a lot of older leaves on all the new plants. I'll have some sort of algae eaters I just prefer they'll also eat dying plants.

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## ctaylor3737

Ah ok yea, had some plants foul the water.

-Chris


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## coco4pr3z

I'll be looking into Amano shrimp but I haven't seen them locally. Pricing for shipping fish, while I get it, really turns me off to ordering them.

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## alaskajeff

I change 1/3 of my water every week. When I do this I vacuum up as much of the dead leaves and plant matter as I can. I have a 75 gallon tank with 4 Siamese Algae eaters and 3 bushy nose plecos as a clean up crew. I have 3 nerites but they are more for diversity than serious clean up.


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## coco4pr3z

I picked up some MTS and dropped them in today. Most of them are buried now but there's a few going up the glass and wood already.

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