fish & salad (? caesar perhaps)

[millym]

hi there
have a 33gal tank with tiger & green barbs,zebra & leopard danios, 2 peppered corys,neons,algae eater,red eye tetras & 2 pakistani loaches.

quite new to the fishy world & in attempt to vary our finned friends diet ive been trying lettuce in the tank. as i heard some fish (esp tiger barbs)love it......
just stuck it in floating on top at 1st - nobody even sniffed at it. tried pegging a leaf down in the tank with a stone - the barbs were more interested in nibbling the stone!!!
what am i doing wrong???? do they prefer it with caesar dressing & croutons?italian perhaps?
i did try cheese & they went mad for it(all our fish) but have since learnt that cheese is not a good idea as fish cant digest mammal milk & other stuff in cheese.
any tips greatly appreciated

 

[tkos]

Sometimes it takes awhile for fish to get used to new food. Try leaving it in for awhile (1 day) then remove it and replace it. Either they will soon learn it is food or they will just keep passing it by.

 

[Allivymar]

Heh, they can be fussy, just like people. I haven't tried lettuce yet, but I have done cucumbers and zucchini. The cukes they ignored. The zucchini (including the rind which they aren't supposed to like!) disappeared in 12 hours.

 

[jratuszn]

I regularly feed lettuce and celery (The parts from the top and bottom that I don't eat) to my plec. Just put a fiew pieces in a coffe mug and boil it in the microwave. Then I just stick it into the substrate to hold it down. The pleco ususally won't touch it for the first day, but then it's fun to watch him go to town on it.

Good luck!

-J

 

[An t-iasg]

do they prefer it with caesar dressing & croutons?italian perhaps?

Your tank sounds very pretty!

I tried giving my betta some lettuce. I used a clip with a little suction cup, and he was scared to death of it , so I took it out. I read a book that said they like lettuce. Then this book said they like a little bit of cheese too. I gave him a tiny piece of shredded cheese, and he ate it. But I agree with you about the cheese, so I don't think I'm going to give him any more cheese. Bettas are carnivores, so I'm not giving him any more veggies. Anyway, just experiment with some of the different veggies that were suggested, and see your fish like them. Also, if your tank is very new, the fish are still getting used to everything. My betta didn't eat for 3 days when I first got him. Maybe your fish just need to settle down a little, then they'll go crazy over the lettuce.

 

[i3k]

I tried feed my white tip catfish sharks some cucumber and they love it...they just swallow the large pieces I throw in there. I first boil the chunks for about a minute and let them cool down before I toss a few in the tank.

 

[Scottw68TN]

Ive been putting in cucumbers raw and they tear it up, Is the boiling/microwaving for bacteria? or to soften it up?

 

[notmuffy]

I put the tops of celery in there raw and no one cared. I will try the boiling, it should soften it up, make it more appealing!

 

[Neurotic_Fish]

Well,i use a fishing line with little pieces of cucumber on it.It's a nice way to have the vegetables in the tank waiting for the fish to notice them!I tried it for the first time a few days ago.My guppies and my swordtails don't care at all.Some tetras,not all of them,nibble them.
I think they just need time... or i have to "present" the small vegetable pieces during the feeding times..i keep on the experiments!
i enjoy it a lot

 

[millym]

at last our fish have realised the lettuce is to eat & is not there to eat them! barbs redeyes & algae eater munching away quite happily.

 

[An t-iasg]

Good! I'm glad they are finally enjoying the lettuce!