Do algae eaters eat plants too?

[Emily in Everett]

Do algae eaters (specifically mid-sized reticulated or Siamese algae eaters) munch on plants as well as algae?

I put two brand new Amazon sword plants into my big tank which currently has val, java fern, and a few other plants but has never had Amazon sword before. Residents are red-head tapajos, clown loaches, pearl gourami, hillstream loach, and several roughly 3-inch algae eaters that outgrew my smaller tanks.

In 12 hours the beautiful amazon sword looked like this (see photo) on 3 of its 10 leaves (the other leaves were left alone).

Could this be the work of algae eaters? I thought they just grazed on algae on top of plants but it looks like someone's been taking chunks out of this. Normally the tapajos and loaches have left the plants alone (except for uprooting them during digging).

[lefty o]

pretty good odds a fish has been nibbling that. when fish eat plants, it is usually a decent sign they are not getting enough food.

[Fishguy]

As far as I can tell, no.

Also if you have aggressive fish the may be the culprit.

[MarkM]

My SAE have absolutely destroyed plants when there is not enough algae. Java Fern, Java fern Windelov, dwarf lily, red flame sword, and red melon sword are some of their favorites. I’ve even had them go after anubias before. 
 

I supplement their diets with zucchini’s and extreme bottom wafers. They eat both easily, the bigger issue I have is balancing it so they don’t stop eating the algae all together. 

[Fishguy]

 

On 3/30/2022 at 6:45 AM, MarkM said:

My SAE have absolutely destroyed plants when there is not enough algae. Java Fern, Java fern Windelov, dwarf lily, red flame sword, and red melon sword are some of their favorites. I’ve even had them go after anubias before. 
 

I supplement their diets with zucchini’s and extreme bottom wafers. They eat both easily, the bigger issue I have is balancing it so they don’t stop eating the algae all together. 

Well based on the picture that looks like Java fern to me, what kinds of algae eaters do you have in there?

Java fern or ama sword

[Emily in Everett]

It's definitely Amazon sword. I have java fern too which for the most part has suffered only minor munch-marks. I have both Siamese algae eaters and reticulated algae eaters. 

I also just caught the clown loach troupe (the juveniles not the big ones) ripping one Amazon sword leaf to shreds (despite having access to freshly blanched zucchini just a few feet away). So they are some of the culprits. Though I still am interested in MarkM's observation that the algae eaters may also be culprits. My tank has become very clean thanks to their help but now I'm wondering if it's too clean....who knew that could be a thing. 🙂