Who are your favorite gardeners or plant tenders?

[bettaMagenta]

My Armano shrimp are like a pair of pruning shears, trimming my Java ferns to a fancy Madagascar Lace look - it's quite the sight, but it's stunted their growth, to be honest. They're all still kicking, just not getting much bigger... Still, I think they're a blessing for my African Water Lettuce, keeping the roots spick and span, and tidying up any dead leaves.

The second one's a bit of a surprise, though... I've got a pink kisser fish (helostoma temminkii) that's a total plant whisperer - no damage done, but it's a ninja when it comes to algae and biofilm on the leaves and stems. It's almost as good as a common pleco at cleaning up, minus the, ahem, "log" issues.

[muddywave]

My otos and nerite snails do a decent job keeping the biofilm in check and nipping at the algae. They're not perfect, but they're a big help. In my smaller tank, the corys are like little vacuum cleaners - they dive into the thick plant growth, looking for food and occasionally uprooting some of the plants in the process.

Right now, I'm struggling with a ton of algae in my larger tank, so I could really use some extra help from my aquatic gardeners. Unfortunately, I'm the one shouldering most of the workload at the moment. I'm hoping to get things under control soon, so my fish and inverts can get back to their natural role of maintaining the plants.

[TwinTankman]

I think someone mentioned Amano shrimp, but I'm guessing you're joking about Zorchnos - we were discussing plant-friendly tank inhabitants, right?

[graye]

I've seen Mr Kisser types fed a diet of plant matter in commercial farms, they're known to munch on stems and leaves, so who knows, maybe yours just needs a little encouragement to unleash its inner gardener. As for my crew, I've got no gardeners in the tank, not even the gardneri, they're all just happy to swim around and look pretty.

[MrGuppy]

I've got a rabbit snail that's a bit of a plant destroyer, chews right through them.