I have one of these in a heavily planted 10 gallon tank. He is as hardy as hell and has managed to survive despite the fact that the tank is overstocked with fish, there is virtually no algae in the tank(perhaps he is alive because he has been keeping the tank free of algae) and he rarely gets fed. He has not harmed or uprooted any plant leaves. I read though that they can go to town cleaning algae covered sword plant leaves and damage them due to their rough handling of the leaves.