Melon for Plecos!!! (and other fishies)

[smallfry]

So the other day....I was looking in my fridge and noticed some VERY ripe cantaloupe in there that needed to be eaten. I got to thinking, cantaloupe has very much the same consistency as squash/zuchinni. I wonder if my pleco would eat it?? So I cut a wedge, attached it to the veggie clip and put it in the tank!

All I have to say is: WOW!!! 8O I thought my pleco loved zuchinni, but you should see the way he devoured that melon! 8O After I plopped it in the tank, THEN I thought maybe melon is bad for my fishies??? (I wouldn't think it would be, but does anyone here know for sure?)

This was a couple days ago, and none of my fishies have suffered any visible ill effects. (Even the rainbowfish and cherry barbs pecked at the melon!) 8O

 

[Fluff]

lol They love it. I've given mine canalope and honey dew melon. My fish have never suffered any ill effect from eating melon either.

 

[smallfry]

Kudos for the reassurance!

 

[Jchillin]

Wow...I would have thought the citric acid and possibly the small fibers would give them indigestion 8O . We always have some melon laying around. I will give Cliff a piece tonight and see what happens.

Kudos to you Fluff

 

[zacdl]

Yep I feed my fish that stuff too.

Watermelons, Cantelope, Oranges, those sorts of things fish just love, as well as Strawberries.

 

[smallfry]

STRAWBERRIES!?!?!?!? 8O
wow... 8O

 

[zacdl]

Yep, any type of citrus type fruit type thing like I listed there.
They might like lemon/lime, I have no clue, do fish have taste buds? lol.

 

[ahboy22]

I tried a slice of orange once, it makes the pleco poo sort of pale yellowish color. Makes me freak out one time. I always stick to veggies. Question for zacdl, how do you feed your pleco watermelon? does it makes your water cloudy or cause discoloration?

 

[zacdl]

I never tried watermelon in an indoor aquarium before. I normally cut a hunk too big for an aquarium, my pond fish love the stuff, they are big enough (and I have enough of them) to eat large peices.

My guess would be you can just cut the watermelon into smaller peices.
I guess you could tie a rock down, if that is what you mean. Watermelon floats.

Its never made anything cloudy for me, but I only feed that sort of stuff on a rare occasion, once a month or so for me, although 2-3 times a month wouldnt hurt them any (An all sugar diet gives you hyper fish, lol)

The main thing in fruits is... guess what? WATER! It really wont harm anything, neither will the sugar in it, but I dont possibly see how feeding it too them on a daily basis can be good (like feeding candy as the food for a 3 year old....)

 

[smallfry]

You can add grapes to the list of things Plecos devour. Cut a grape in half (keep skin on), attached it to veggie clip - 10 minutes later the only thing left was the skin! 8O

My Pleco didn't seem to like strawberries....I'm going to try orange. So far his list includes zucchini, cucumber, squash, cantaloupe, honey dew melon, grapes and peas.

 

[angelboyblue3]

Ho do you feed peas to them?

My fish like oranges, melons, zuchinni, lightly boiled lettuce, and sea kelp.

 

[Jchillin]

Toss peas in boiling water for a minute. Peel the skin off, cut to bite size portions and toss in tank...they will go nuts.

 

[happyhillbilly]

Thats so cool! I can't even get mine to eat cucumber.

 

[dskidmore]

So far his list includes zucchini, cucumber, squash, cantaloupe, honey dew melon, grapes and peas.

zucchini, cucumber, squash, cantaloupe, and honey dew melon, are all from the same family. Pumpkin and gourds are from the same family. When Halloween comes up you could try your pumpkin scraps on them. Unless you're growing them yourself, I doubt you can find fresh gourds for them.

 

[fearlessfisch]

I posted here once about a fight in my tank over a strawberry.

The fish I have now really seem to prefer veggies. I have noticed that they will often ignore a new food the first couple of times I give it, but then will suddenly decide they actually like it. They didn't eat spinach the first 2 times I gave it to them, but it is probably their favorite now. At least it is usually gone first.