Properly Cooking the veggies/Other foods

[nvcichlids]

Hello,
I have been having problems with blanching my veggies. For some reason, none of my fish will touch them, which suprised me because I thought for sure that the oto cats would latch on. I was wondering how to "properly" blanch them. How long in the water then what other steps should be used?

I was also wondering what other types of foods I should try to feed my fish. I have L201's (1.25-1.5"), L129's (about 2" long maybe a hair bigger), parotocontos sp., albino bristlenose, and oto cats.

And the last question, will my apistogrammas eat the same foods that I am feeding the plecos, because I would rather the plecos get foods they and they only would eat.

Thanks so much for any attempt at helping me!

-NV

[Lornek8]

Feed them raw. No need to blanch them. If they don't eat them right away keep offering it (remove uneaten portions & replace). Sometimes it takes a few tries before they recognize it as food. What veggies are you feedng?

Once you get them eating a veggie its usually easier to get them to eat other veggies as well.

Apistos will eat some of the foods plecs eat, it just depends what you feed. If you have herbivorous or omnivorous plecs and feed veggies chances are the apistos won't eat it. If you have carnivorousp or omnivorous plecs & feed wafers/pellets/flakes, chances are the apistos will eat some.

[nvcichlids]

I have tried yellow squash and zuchinni ( I know that was spelt wrong). I have omnivorus plecos(according to this website.) L129's & L201's.
That is good to hear about the blanching, cause I am sick of cooking (21 years old and have already been an executive chef.)

I will post pics later tonight of the L129 plecos

[andywoolloo]

I microwave the peas and shell them, I freeze the romaine lettuce leaf before adding it to the tank on a clip. other than that everything else is in raw

zuchinni, cucumber, sweet bell pepper, apples, carrots, potato, nectarines, watermelon and honeydew melon rind.

Just a few that mine eat.

[MatsP]

Also, bear in mind that fish sometimes take a while to figure out new foods. Persistence can help here.

--
Mats

[nvcichlids]

I just wanted to update, my otos were eating raw zuc. last night, others still not noticably eating the veggies.

And do not blanch yellow squash and put it in there, it falls appart within 3 hours (did in my tank atleast.)

Also tried the egg white and other foods on the rock, but i dont believe i did it properly, all the food just fell off the rock when a fish swam by.

Thanks everyone for your help!

[racoll]

Otos tend to only eat vegetables that are going a bit mushy, and seem to prefer leafy greens.

I fed mine spinach or kale, and they would only eat it after it started to go yellow after about 24 hours.

Something to bear in mind.

Rather than keep changing veg to see what they like, just stick to one (sweet potato, zucchini or fava beans are good for the Hypancistrus). Given time they will eat it.

I feed almost exclusively broad/fava beans from a can. I just drain and freeze them in a bag, and drop a couple of frozen beans in every day.

Really convenient!

[nj2tou]

I had read on other sites that you should blanch the veggies too, but all it did was make a big mess in my tank. I tried zucchini and broccoli. The otos wouldn't touch it, even though I'd leave it in there for quite some time. I think the reason they recommend blanching, is that otherwise it tends to float. I stopped blanching and put plant weights on it instead. My last few otos suddenly discovered they really liked the broccoli (not long before they died, unfortunately) and would mow the flowers off the top of the broccoli. This batch doesn't. Also, if I left it in there too long, it stunk up the tank something awful, but they wouldn't eat it until it got somewhat mushy. However, this batch seem to LOVE the green marine algae strips. Again, it has to be in there for a while and then it seems like overnight it's GONE.

My last otos were really a learning experience for me (too bad for them ) These otos are thriving and have nice fat bellies and get along fine with their tank mates - two corydoras metae and a fire red betta.

btw, I was surprised to read that catfish will eat fruit! never thought of trying that.

[MatsP]

My main objective with blanching vegetables is to enable small (baby) fish to eat it, as the raw vegetables are generally too hard to eat directly.

Of course, depending on the species, they may be able to eat raw vegetables at different stages of life. But I generally serve them raw, unless they are newly released fry.

--
Mats

[nvcichlids]

thanks for the info guys.. i am still trying to get my L129's to eat them. they do some nights, then others they dont.

[MatsP]

thanks for the info guys.. i am still trying to get my L129's to eat them. they do some nights, then others they dont.

Hypancistrus I wouldn't expect show that much interest in veggies.

--
Mats

[racoll]

However, this batch seem to LOVE the green marine algae strips

Keep meaning to give those a try. Thanks for reminding me!

Also, I tend to find freezing and thawing softens the veg up a little bit, and is more convenient than having to have fresh veg around all the time.

[pictus_man_77]

I find that cutting a 4-5mm ring of cucumber, cutting it down the diameter, and then putting both halves one on teaspoon and leaving it on the bottom usually works for any friends plecos that don't get treated well!

[anglerfishuk]

I never blanch any of the veggies i feed, and i mainly feed zucchini, cucmber, potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, or marrow ( large squash looks like a zucchini) I usually dont have much to remove as i have a horde of Ancistrus sp3 and they can demolish half a cucmber in a few hours,
I also feed algae wafers, they will also nibble on mussels occasionally,
I also have a large Pardalis in another tank which also loves veggies

[nvcichlids]

thanks for the info guys.. i am still trying to get my L129's to eat them. they do some nights, then others they dont.

Hypancistrus I wouldn't expect show that much interest in veggies.

--
Mats

Ok, I am ordering some specialty meat/spirulia(sorry that was spelt wrong) wafers for them in the next couple of days.