Frozen vegetables for clown plecos?

[MarlonnekeW]

Because pictures say more than words: this is what's left of the sprouts after approximately 24 hours.





In the aquarium are two P. maccus and (unfortunately) some snails.

[bekateen]

Okay, thanks for the pictures. Yeah, there's not much left on that stick.

[MarlonnekeW]

I thought my clowns would be the slow eaters compared to my Ancistrus (my clowns take a bite, swim away, come back, take another bite etc. while my Ancistrus seem to be stuck on the sprout for at least 10 minutes or more ), but it's the other way around now.

[Jobro]

I'm going to try that one for sure! Though they won't get too much of it, I love to eat those myself

[Jobro]

Tried the Brussels sprout today. I put some to my L260s, l168s, P. Maccus and my ancistrus. Always one half boiled for 10minutes and one half raw.
The others won't eat until night, but the ancistrus fry came out to take a bite. The upper half is the boiled one. Picture just says it all!

Looks like a great food for now!

[MarlonnekeW]

Great picture!
Also good to see that they prefer the boiled one. This vegetable is also very easy to prepare and then store in the freezer. When you put them in warm water, the sprouts are defrosted within a few minutes. They keep their consistency when you freeze them, unlike other vegetables that can get very soft after freezing.

Interesting to read that your P. maccus only eat at night. I have two P. maccus and one (probably) L448 and they all eat during the day. Not only the vegetables, but also for example pleco tablets. I had some 100% spirulina tabs, that I bought a while ago for my shrimps (that won't eat them ;) ). I gave them half a tablet Tuesday morning and before lunchtime everything was gone.

[Jobro]

I removed the sprouts this morning (except for the one in the Ancistrus tank, as they are still eating on it).
My Maccus didn't really touch it too much. But they don't seem to love any vegetables too much, they stay with their wood on me.
L260 and L168 did try a little, but they always need some attempts to start eating new vegetables.

I will try it again soon, think all of my plecos are going to like it, as the ancistrus fry are sitting on the sprout since I put it into the tank. The others probably need some more time.

[bekateen]

I tried the Brussels sprouts yesterday, one each (prepared as described elsewhere - boiled 10 minutes then impaled on a bamboo skewer) with my ABNs and with my Panaqolus albomaculatus (oddly, I did not try sprouts with my clown plecos... Don't know why, but not on purpose). The ABNs are actively working on the Brussels sprout (although their progress is much slower than you experienced); however the albomaculatus haven't yet touched it. If anything, the albomaculatus seem more interested in the bamboo skewer than the sprout.

Cheers, Eric

[MarlonnekeW]

Well, at the moment I really starting to get the feeling that my P. maccus were very badly malnourished before I got them.

Yesterday at lunchtime I put this piece of wood in their aquarium (it used to be in my Anatome Helena tank, that I'm now converting into a Shrimp tank):


This morning it looked like this:


When I put in a few pieces of algae wafer in this morning, my P. maccus rushed to them and have been eating on and off ever since, despite the fact that they probably have been eating all night on the algae on the piece of wood.
So I guess that at the moment they like everything 'green' I put in there...

[Hellspawn]

I saw mine eat slices of cucumber last year. Took them a couple of days to totally devour it (big slice, little fish), but it was gone. Trying with a zucchini this year, because they appear to have an appetite for green vegetables. And I can freeze the remaining parts which I could not do with the cucumber.

[bekateen]

I tried the Brussels sprouts yesterday... however the albomaculatus haven't yet touched it. If anything, the albomaculatus seem more interested in the bamboo skewer than the sprout.

I guess I spoke too soon. When I went to bed last night, there was a big chunk missing, and when I awoke today, the sprout was almost completely gone. As with past experiences, I guess the fish need time to realize that new foods are "food." Once they realize it's edible, they jump for it.

Cheers, Eric

[MarlonnekeW]