Aquatic Plants & Their Predators

Freshwater Turtles

• Freshwater turtles prefer to live in habitats where native plants live, including some types of algae. Turtles sleep among the plants, eat them and hide under and behind them. Some turtles can even mimic plants. The blanding turtle has a spotted shell that looks like duckweed. This conceals them from predators. It also hides them from their prey, which includes dragonflies that land on the duckweed and make it easy for the turtles to lunch on them. Turtles eat aquatic animals along with aquatic plants. They are omnivores. Some turtles only eat aquatic plants because they're vegetarians. The plants that the bog turtles like to eat include Juncus effusus, Onoclea sensibilis, Sagittaria latifolia, Carex stricta and Scirpus cyperinus.

  The diet of freshwater turtles can vary. The carnivorous types prey on fish, crayfish and insects while the vegetarians stick to the aquatic plants. Omnivores eat both the plants and animals.

Toothless Turtles

• Turtles are toothless. They use their sharp beak to catch, cut and slice their prey and to cut vegetation for food and to use when building a nest. Turtles lay their eggs in alligator nests, which are made of plant material and as a result are eaten by the alligator.

Fish

• Goldfish love eating aquatic plants and they also like to uproot them. When the goldfish spawn, the plants get torn apart. Goldfish do not like java fern, anubias or java moss. They also steer clear of hornwort and crypts and swords. Goldfish avoid anacharis, which is sometimes referred to as elodea densa, but they love duckweed, so don't put that into your fish tank. However, if duckweed is allowed to grow, it provides good cover and is considered a good nutrient absorber.

  The short-bodied catfish, found in South America, eats vegetable matter. The corydoras catfish eats all foods, including vegetation. Fish that will dig up and eat your aquatic plants include silver dollars, Buenos Aires tetras and tinfoil barbs. Tiger barbs, mollies and swordtails nibble on plants occasionally, but this doesn't hurt the plants. If you give these fish vegetable food, this will eliminate their need to nibble on aquatic plants.

Notorious

• An infamous plant eater is the African cychlid. The only plant that generally survives when there is African cychlid around is the vallisneria spiralis or jungle val, and this plant has to be in a pot. If you have vegetarian fish and want to use plants in your tank choose the toughest plants that you can find and pot them. Don't plant them in the substrate. You will have to change the tank's water more often to keep the algae in check.

  The white amur or grass carp is a vegetarian fish that is used to control aquatic plants that are a nuisance. It can take up to five years for the grass carp to get nuisance plants under control.

Benefits, If the Plants Survive ...

• Floating aquarium plants benefit the fish because they add oxygen to the water and they provide cover for fish that like to swim at the upper level. They can also provide a place for the young fish to hide and a place where new eggs can attach. Plants consume nitrite, ammonia and nitrate, which makes them part of the biofiltration of your tank. The plants also make the tank look pretty.

Algae Wafers

• Feeding your fish algae wafers may prevent them from eating aquatic plants in an aquarium.