The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
LOL Allivymar, there isn't any fish in the hex, or the 29 for that matter. The hex was just to hold the plants until I could finish re-aquascaping the 55 (that's why there are cups of plants in there). The 29 held my CAE who died from an OD of Fluourish Excel (suffocation). I'm not putting any fish in the 29 for awhile, I'm playing with what I want and the chemistry of the tank first. The CAE died a terrible, terrible, death, and I still feel miserable
Yep, ottos (and apparently many other fish like corys and loaches, etc.) like to have some vegies in their diet. I don't blanche the cucumber, but I remove the rind. Some say to remove the seeds as well, so I may start doing that. Other vegies I've tried are frozen zuchinni and brocolli (just the florettes), and of course, peas. I defrost them in the microwave until just defrosted (not hot) and toss em in. Make sure to remove after a few hours what is left of it. The peas I remove the 'skin' off the pea revealing the mushy insides, and toss that in.
Ottos especially tend to die because of lack of food to eat in lfs and in Qtanks. Sometimes they are quite starved when they get to you from the LFS. Mine didn't like algae wafers too much, but are starting to nibble on them. A good idea is to "grow" some algae on rocks or driftwood in a window in a glass before you get your ottos.