First experience with feeding veg's

[Fishyfanatic]

Yesterday I purchased a 7 inch zuc, cleaned it well, sliced it in half, and then in thirds. I put one slice in the tank hung by a veg clip. I woke up this morning and found the pleco's attached to the zuc eating completly through the skin. They will not leave it alone. I had to push them off of it when I removed the slice from the tank. I didn't feed the fish in the 55 gal anything but the zuc. I put another slice in around 8:00 pm tonight and it is now midnight and it is more than half gone. Should I also be feeding the cichlid's something else other than the veg? I didn't think that 1 slice of the zuc was enough for all of them to eat on, that's why I put in the second slice. Should I still be tossing in an algae wafer for the pleco's?

At first none of them would even go near the veg. Now they go after my hand like I am stealing their child! The Ice Blue actually took a nip at me when I removed the skin from the first slice. I don't think I will have any problems with having any "leftovers" beacuse between the Cichlid's and the pleco's, they are eating the pieces down to the skin. How many slices should I put in at a time? How often should I feed them the veg? Maybe 2 slices per week? The first time I inquired about feeding zuc someone had said to put one slice on each end of the tank. I was going to do this but I only had 1 veg clip and I intend to buy another.

I want my fish to have the best possible care. That's why I started doing weekly water changes instead of the monthly and I am adding cc to up the pH. I haven't done this weeks pwc yet because we got about an inch of snow today (normal water change day) and it feels like it's 20 below zero outside. I haven't found an adapter yet to put on the gravel vac that hooks up to the kitchen sink. I still have our old gravel vac but it doesn't get enough suction to pull up the fishy poop. Hopefully tomorrow it will be warmer.

 

[xray]

I haven't tried zucchini yet (will soon). I have been feeding green lefy vegs. They love the romain but not iceburg lettuce. Tried mustard greens just for the hell of it(no go). A piece of Romain will go in about 30-45 min. As for how often I usually count it as one feeding. I would mix it up with food on some days and vegi's on the others.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I am thinking of feeding Veg's one day, then some blood worms the next time, and alternating like that. Maybe just two slices of zuc each week? I am thinking of putting one slice at each end. I mean, we do have 13 Cichlid's and 2 Pleco's in that tank. Two slices I think is sufficient at each feeding. Right?

 

[Menagerie]

I put in two good sized zucchini slices at a time and everyone gets some. This usually occurs once a week. Peeled peas are another favorite.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I think I will try the peeled peas option at another time. It was hard enough to get them to go after the zuc. I am thinking that maybe next week I'll try with the peas. Thanks for the help xray and Menegerie.

 

[Jchillin]

I put in two good sized zucchini slices at a time and everyone gets some. This usually occurs once a week. Peeled peas are another favorite.

I assume you use fresh and not canned?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

That's the next question I was going to ask. I should use fresh over canned peas? How many peas for the tank? 1 per fish? Will the pelco's eat peas?

 

[soonerbarb]

I feed peas once a week...is it so much fun to watch the fish steal from each other!!!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

haha. How many peas per fish?

 

[soonerbarb]

I usually feed 1/2 a pea per fish...I have 7 barbs that go nuts. One will always go to the corner with a pea in his mouth and just stay there. Then when the other fish have ate, he swims in front of them to "tease" them.

Should I feed more? Feed less?

 

[An t-iasg]

I give my small pleco half a pea too. I like frozen peas. For me, canned peas just turn into mush in the tank. I boil a few frozen peas for 4 minutes, let them cool (pour a little bit of cold water over them), peel and discard the skin, and drop in the tank. The frozen peas will easily fall apart in half after they are peeled, making it easy to figure out how much to feed.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I have 13 nearly full grown cichlid's in the tank (with the exception of the Parrots, they aren't near their full grown size). Is 6 peas enough to feed them all? They have been going crazy with the zuc slices. It's quite funny actually. I have one slice on each end of the tank and each pleco has attached itself to its own piece. The cichlid's are trying their hardest to get to the veg but the pleco's are getting so big that they almost take up the entire slice. Earlier I scared off the Marble Sailfin so the others could eat and I sat down to watch them and by the time I got to the couch the pleco was back on the zuc. It seems like it's more entertaining to watch them eat veg's than any other type of food.

 

[xray]

peas per fish?

thats just sounds funny

 

[An t-iasg]

I think a half pea per fish is fine. In my case, my little pleco isn't going to eat the whole half but if I cut it any smaller I won't be able to find it and take it out later. I don't have cichlids, though, so maybe someone with cichlids can tell how many peas per cichlid. A "general" rule is that the fish's stomach is about the size of their eye.

It is very entertaining to watch fish eat veggies! Once when I gave my pleco a half a pea, he was busy sorting through the gravel, and tossing aside each piece. I used a long pair of tweezers to drop the pea in front of him. He still threw it aside, but then realized that it was food! He spun around, grabbed the pea, and munched away!

 

[xray]

He still threw it aside, but then realized that it was food! He spun around, grabbed the pea, and munched away!

 

[An t-iasg]

Yes, it was funny! You know how plecos don't swim sometimes, they just "hop"? Mine just kind of hopped up and spun around in one motion. It was like the little light bulb went off over his head!