Alternative food for Golden Algae Eaters

[atticus27]

I'm afraid he's not eating all the algae in the tank and/or not being able to find it so just to be sure, I would like to feed him.

At this time, I don't have any algae waffers so I was wondering, what else can I feed him. I have heard of Cucumber and when I tired that, he sucked on it a few times and left. I have also heard of orange slices but I kind of don't want to try that. What other types of food can I throw in there for him to eat other than algae waffers?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Zagz]

Cucumber or Zucchini are favorites of the CAG's. It may take a bit of time for them to realize it is food. Try blanching it first and then putting in the tank. Orange slices are ok but can get the tank messy. Here is an article that helps with feeding veggies to fish.

BTW they don't eat algae all that much so you will need to supplement with algae wafers and veggies anyway. They also get large and when they get large they can get aggressive. I have one that is 9". He is one of my favorite fish.

 

[atticus27]

Oh i c, what is it to Blanch it?

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Blanching is boiling the veggie for like 5 minutes and then quickly refrigerating it, it's like half cooking it basically.

I feed mine algae wafers and shrimp pellets and he loves them. Been doing that for almost a year and he is almost 4in now

 

[Zagz]

You can boil it for a couple of minutes or you can nuke it for a few seconds in the microwave. Either way works.

 

[czcz]

Ditto cucumber. Every fish in the universe seems to love this stuff. I toss mine in raw. By the next AM it is soft, not animals care about it so much anymore, and I can pull it out. It will leave some plant matter. In a planted tank you can ignore this. When I kept a (kid's) Ryukin goldie in a clown puke Anubias low light tank I would vacuum it up and do a water change, fwiw. That tank was low maint but I tried a little when I could to keep it that way.