Decimated hygrophillia

[Sammy Islam]

Hello everyone, i'm pretty sure my fish are eating my hygrophila polysperma and i cant stop them.

I have a 125l tank that has 13 pentazona barbs, i have had them for over a year now and they've only just started eating the plants couple months ago, they are all decent size now and i feed the tank everyday with the tetra pro crisp range (pro colour, pro energy, pro algae) and other stuff like hikari sinking pellets. I use to feed them with frozen bloodworms but stopped ages ago because they acted weird every time. I started to feed them about 2 hours before the end of my photoperiod but has not made a difference.

As soon as the lights go out they begin their feast on the fastest growing plants, they have destroyed my hygrophila polysperma and its starting to get on my nerves as ive just started EI and everything has been growing well.

Is there anything i can do apart from remove everything from the tank and catch them and donate?

 

[Zeus.]

Have you tried some nettles blanched in boiling water? It might just fill them up!

 

[Sammy Islam]

No i have not tried that, i have tried to feed peas, but they dont seem all that interested as they are use to feeding mid water column. Where do i get nettles? Is that a stupid question?

 

[Zeus.]

I normally just get them from my garden you can freeze them for the winter months also

 

[Sammy Islam]

So we talking "stingy nettles"? If so i will try that and try more peas. Do barbs tend to eat plants when mature? Theres chunks out of my ludwigia but i think they prefer the greener leaves than red.

Thanks

 

[roadmaster]

Sushi Nori found here in U.S. in grocery stores in Asian food Isle might be worth a go.
Comes in sheets that can be attached to glass with suction cup clip.
Basically it is dried algae.Works best if not overfeeding fishes with commercial foods.
Have found many herbivorous fishes to take this .
Would try small pieces attached with afore mentioned suction cup clip.Never use whole sheet.