floating mushrooms

[andywoolloo]

I am having the hardest time feeding my big guy mushrooms!

No matter how I sink them when he starts eating it it comes off and floats up to the top.

It doesn't happen in the BN tank, I guess cause they are smaller and maybe daintier eaters? I have tried buying the whole mushroom and skewering that, I have tried the cut mushroom and none will stay put.

The synos wind up batting the pieces around the tank like it's a soccer match.

I usually slide them down the small end of the fork or spoon very carefully and it is intact when I add it to the tank but I guess he is a vigorous eater. Any ideas?

[MatsP]

I haven't tried feeding my big pleco mushrooms, but I have had this problem with several kinds of vegetable - sorry, I have no solution, just sympathetic similar observation.

If a food doesn't work, I usually try to find a different kind that DOES work.

[Also, cooked mushrooms will sink - and shrink in the cooking process!].

--
Mats

[andywoolloo]

Yeah I considered jut stopping the shrooms but he relishes them! well I guess he relishes everything.
You need to try the mushrooms, the common goes wacko for them, he even goes to them first over other things!
I have never tried cooking them. hmmm.

[Richard B]

There's gotta be a few ways to do this - with the combined brainpower of contributors on PC we can solve anything surely?

First off, how about mincing the mushroom up to fine pieces mixing with egg white & painting on a rock. After drying pop in the tank - maybe a bit messy? Whatd'ya think/

If you get a portabello style mushroom (Large flap cap) and press it between 2 bits of flat slate it mighy flatten the dorsal surface a bit more the glue the flattened dorsal surface to a bit of slate with silicone - pop in the tank when dry - the silicone wont get eaten & can be cut from the slate when the mushroom has gone.

What about threading multiple skewers through the mushroom, say, 3 parallel ones the another 3 at a right-angle to create an internal lattice & provide stability?

C'mon everyone - let's get creative!

[Mike_Noren]

First off, how about mincing the mushroom up to fine pieces mixing with egg white & painting on a rock. After drying pop in the tank - maybe a bit messy? Whatd'ya think/

You could always make a mushroom omelet.

[andywoolloo]

wow... all awesome ideas and Mike I so saved your link to the omelette!
It's very similar to the recipe on here kind of in concept with the painting the egg white on the rock and adding the smushed food which worked very well for my rubbernoses when they were new.

[Richard B]

First off, how about mincing the mushroom up to fine pieces mixing with egg white & painting on a rock. After drying pop in the tank - maybe a bit messy? Whatd'ya think/

You could always make a mushroom omelet.

Mike - i feel inspired (& strangely very hungry ) i am going to experiment with something along these lines for my synos soon

[Chrysichthys]

I swear by the fork method, whereby you stick the prongs of a fork into the vegetable of choice. It also gives you a convenient handle. I haven't tried it with mushrooms, but it works for zucchini/courgette and cucumber
It's also good for mussels, which don't float but are easier for a pleco to get a grip on when held in place. I've never heard of anybody feeding mussels to plecos, but my big Sailfin loves them.

[CanadaPleco]

I gave up trying to sink my mushrooms with my big panaque tank. They will go up to the top to get them and bring them down anyway.

The fish omlette looks awesome.

[hoplo]

Hi,

Thank you for the mushroom idea.

I never thought about giving fish mushrooms before.

Well i put one in one of the bristlenose tank and they have gone mad, they love it.

It was an old mushroom, had dried up a little. Put a strip of lead round the stem of the mushroom but it still floated, so i squeezed it and the air came out then it sank.

Vicky. xx

[Tracey]

My temporary solution (still haven't found a permanent one yet), involved a piece of stainless steel wire through the mushroom and a 10oz lead sinker. And that will only just keep a largeflat brown mushroom at the bottom, not on the bottom. I threaded the sinker onto the wire and crimped it on one end. Then I poked the other end through the stem of the mushroom and wrapped the wire around the stem a few times to try and keep it secure. For me, this has kept flat brown mushrooms up to aroun 10cm across close to the bottom of the tank. Actualyl the only bit that actually touches the bottom is the bottom of the sinker, as the whole thing still floats upright in the tank.

[andywoolloo]

more cool ideas, this is great!

Chrysichthys, yeah so far I have used the stainless steele fork and spoons succesfully with other veg and fruit , even the screwcumber implement, but for some reason when I feed the common the mushroom it rips apart and floats all over, prob cause he is so big and rough I guess? lol

My common in with my synos gets some mussells when I feed it to them. But they are pretty voracious eaters and he is sort of slow and lumbering. But if he gets ahold of something no way in you know what are they getting it from him!

CanadaPleco, what you say is true also, I shouldn't be so concerned re what floats away from being secured, I am sure he will get it if he wants it, right?

hoplo, you're welcome on the mushroom idea, I learned it here! There is an article well two articles on thsi site re feeding pl*cos with great lists of what food to offer! My commons fav tho is mango. then mushroom.

Tracey, your way sounds as secure as Richard B's idea. Thanks all! Keep the ideas coming!

[hotsauce48]

If I were you,I would'nt feed mushrooms.They are fungus.Suposeit grows and infects your fish or pollutes your fish.

[andywoolloo]

no mate, I am not concerned re that, but thanks.

[Birger]

The synos wind up batting the pieces around the tank like it's a soccer match.

Do you notice if the syno's are trying to eat the mushroom or just playing with it?

Birger

[andywoolloo]

Do you notice if the syno's are trying to eat the mushroom or just playing with it?

interesting, you may be right, them may have appeared to be pushing it around but were trying to nibble it. I will put one in tonight and see, floating. They are interested in all his fruit and veg but when they get too close he makes his top fin expand and they kinda go whoa.

[andywoolloo]

I put some in floating and they were very interested in it actually as in all the commons food. I couldn't tell if they were trying to nibble or not tho, definitely touching it and pushing it. Could have been attempting to bite it but then the big guy came up and they all dispursed. we'll see.

I guess sinking isn't always necessary, maybe Rex will get some more exercise for his belly.

[Chrysichthys]

If I were you,I would'nt feed mushrooms.They are fungus.Suposeit grows and infects your fish or pollutes your fish.

There's no danger of that. Of course feeding wild mushrooms which you collected yourself could be extremely dangerous if you didn't know what you were doing; some species have deadly toxins.

[Richard B]

Any terrestrial mushroom will not grow submerged in a fish tank. I'm with Chrysichthys on the note of being cautious with "mushrooms" you collect yourself - in the UK there are some deadly ones which look quite innocuous - panther cap & death cap particularly - some like the fly agaric are deadly but much more well known. If in doubt - go without!

However any of those purchased from a supermarket for human consumption should be fine

[five]

I am not sure about you guys. I am from Singapore, an asian country.

Whenever my parent cook mushroom for dinner, they will soak it over night in a tub of water before cooking. I reckon that is to soften it before cooking. In the process of soaking, the mushroom gives out a stench and I could see the tub of water turns a little brownish. Do you guys do these, as in soaking, before cooking? I am concern will this stench and browning of the water be detrimental to the tank water parameters of our precious little suckers?

[Richard B]

I strongly suspect we are taking about very different types of mushroom (?) The type we have readily available over here are english field mushrooms which are soft already & if soaked or boiled do not turn the water colour much. We do have dried mushrooms which are ceps i think) which do need soaking, do turn the water brown, but smell nice. Any mycologists out there?

[MatsP]

The brown colour from mushrooms is probably no different from the tannins coming from for example wood or leaves.

I suppose that is dried mushrooms - I've never heard of soaking fresh mushrooms, which I'm fairly sure is that Andy was taking of.

--
Mats

[inkyjenn]

have you tried just poking a fork through the mushroom? thats how we feed them to our gibby. or you can put a slice in a bowl of water and blanch it in the microwave for a minute (literally takes 45 seconds to one minute in the microwave). let it cool and drop it in. it sinks like a stone

[andywoolloo]

yes I buy them at the food store. I can buy them whole one at a time or sliced in a basket. They are whiteish? They do not turn the water any colour. He loves them as much as a mango.

I do slide it thru the fork or spoon end , it's just he is big and ha sa big mouth and eats rough and it breaks apart almost instantly.

[inkyjenn]

hmm. have you tried blanching them?

[andywoolloo]

no, not yet. I can try that.

[five]

Yes indeed we are talking about different types. What I have at home is the dried mushroom.

Probably I will go to the store to look for some fresh ones. Thanks for clarifying.