how to Keep plants with barbs

[anglerise]

My Tiger Barbs keep tearing up my Amazon Swords. Anyone got tips on keeping plants with these guys? Tank's a 40 gallon, planted substrate, and I do weekly water changes. They're not aggressive to fish but love nipping at leaves.

[Flynest]

Barbs can be rough on plants, especially softer ones like Amazon Swords. Try tougher plants like Java Fern or Anubias, they're less appealing to nibble on. Also, make sure they're well fed with high quality flakes or pellets to curb the nipping. What's your lighting setup like?

[anglerise]

Barbs can be rough on plants, especially softer ones like Amazon Swords. Try tougher plants like Java Fern or Anubias, they're less appealing to nibble on. Also, make sure they're well fed with high quality flakes or pellets to curb the nipping. What's your lighting setup like?

Thanks, I'll try Anubias. Lighting's a basic LED, on for 8 hours a day. They get fed twice daily, but maybe I should up the portions.

[Flynest]

Yeah, increasing food slightly might help. Just watch for overfeeding. Also, consider adding some floating plants like Frogbit to diffuse the light and give them something else to mess with. Barbs are curious, so distractions work wonders.

[fablett]

My cat just knocked over my tank. Now what?

[Flynest]

My cat just knocked over my tank. Now what?

That's rough, but this thread's about plants and barbs. Maybe start a new post for tank disasters? For now, save what fish you can and check if the filter's still running.

[anglerise]

Update: Swapped the Amazon Swords for Anubias and added Frogbit. The barbs seem less interested in the Anubias, but they're still kinda pecking at the Frogbit roots. Should I be worried?

[Flynest]

Nah, a little root nibbling is normal. As long as the Frogbit's growing faster than they're eating it, you're good. If it gets out of hand, try adding more hardscape like driftwood or rocks to break their line of sight and give them other stuff to explore.