Rummy nose tetras can eat plants?

**Allan Asis** · 26th Nov 2014, 15:25

A week ago I introduced 2 adult rummy nose tetras in my low-tech tank. I don't really feed fishes in this tank except for some spirulina tabs to supplement the otocinclus and SAE's in case they ran out of algae to eat.
When I noticed that the tetras are ignoring it, I started feeding fish flakes but they also ignored it.
One morning I noticed that the hydrocotyle tripartita in the tank have a lot of bites in its leaves. I thought initially it was the SAE's, but later on I noticed that those 2 seem to be nipping on the plants so I immediately moved them to my high-tech tank to join other tetras that are used to eating fish flakes. They started to join the feeding frenzy once I feed the the fish there.

Is this something that can happen? I mean does anyone have experienced tetras like these will have appetite for soft leaves?

**5stars** · 26th Nov 2014, 22:02

Yup happened to me before. I had no algae-eaters except an otto (which definitely doesn't eat plants) but noticed that some of my plants were getting eaten. To cut the long story short, I discovered that it was my rummy nose tetras that were feeding on my plants.

From what I read online, certain rummy nose just have a propensity to eat plants, while others don't.

Interestingly, now I have a green neon tetra that somehow loves to nibble on my repens, (only repens, not other plants). But I don't mind it, because it gives a cute round-leave appearance to my repens.

**Allan Asis** · 3rd Dec 2014, 01:18

oh ok so I'm not the only one experiencing this haha!

Anyways I since moved the fishes in the other tank with the rest of the tetras and since they are well fed, none of them touches the hydrocotyle tripartita