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Check this guy out, munching away. Whoever first had the idea of giving cucumber to plecos was a genius and deserves a medal. First time I tried, was not a success. They complete ignored it so I removed it after a couple of hours (don't want rotting veggies in my tank). For some reason since then, they love it! Even my mollies will have a peck, but they soon tire of it. My pleco will just eat it, go away, eat it, go away, eat it.
Can't remember who gave me the idea of weighing the cucumber down with aquatic plant weights, but what a great idea! I was worried the metal bit would rust but I don't really leave it in there for too long so fingers crossed am not actually slowly heavy-metal-poisoning my fish trying to give them a treat!
And let's make sure we clean the underside too. That's right, we only believe in a thorough job.
Last edited by Chief_waterchanger; February 3rd, 2008 at 08:04 AM.
Reason: merging
Yes your Otos will love Cucumber or Zuchinni. It may tke a couple of times to figure out it's food but watch out when then do. I suggest you put it in at night to begin with and take it out the next morning. Then soon you can put it in anytime and they will come out for it
Carol
Carol. I'll have to go to the LFS and get a weight so I can try it this weekend... I have little 10 oto's and I can't wait to see what they do... thanks!!!
Ok lead aquatic plant wieghts. Lead is a wonderful substance. You can swallow lead balls and they will go straight through you withoug doing damage. Lead is only poisonous as a compound ie lead oxide, lead sulphide. Lastly lead metal is totally unreactive in water and wont poison the water. This is proved by the fact that they already use them to weight the plants, which to me suggests that they are safe. Oh and I suggest poking the lead through the flesh, this makes it harder for the vegatation to detach itself from the wieght. Sorry about the rant but science is my passion.
Actually the plant weights are specified as "aquarium safe lead" don't know what makes it aquarium safe. I do use them in my aquarium but prefer food clips.
On another subject- duck hunters can no longer use lead shot to hunt ducks because if wounded the ducks can get lead poisioning and die. The lead may go in the water, fish swallow them and make them unsuitable for consumption. They have to use steel shot now. SOOOO my point being it must be a different kind of lead- what makes it different ?
Yeah sorry I'm rambling this morning
Carol
That looks soooo cool. I love those pictures! I hope we get loads more!
I just really love that you get the feeling you've really given your fish a treat with something less artificial than pellets or wafers (which they also gulf down, but hey). It's so rewarding to see that they blatantly love the stuff.
Tried garlic yesterday but it only made my water stink, and only the mollies were (occasionally) pecking at it.
Oh absolutely. They weren't crazy about cucumber first time round either. The only thing is garlic really makes my water stink. Today, am trying aubergines! Just went to buy them.
Although I have a terrible memory when it comes to veggie names, and I keep confusing aubergines with courgettes. Is there such a thing as a courgette in American English? And is it different to Zucchini?
Courgettes is what I hear for zuchinni from my UK friends.
Lolagurl - thanks those are albino long fin bristlenose. Those are some of my fry grown up
Carol
Courgettes is what I hear for zuchinni from my UK friends.
Lolagurl - thanks those are albino long fin bristlenose. Those are some of my fry grown up
Carol
how big do they get.. i dont even like the look of plecos that much..but i love those
Courgettes is what I hear for zuchinni from my UK friends.
Lolagurl - thanks those are albino long fin bristlenose. Those are some of my fry grown up
Carol
Oh. I wonder what you call aubergines, then. They're the same texture as zucchini inside, but have a rounder, shorter shape, and their skin is dark purple. Actually, we also call that colour aubergine, but I guess that won't help!
I don't know of any veggie or fruit that will hurt your fish. Some are little more messy than others , like the melons because of the water content. But it's well worth the clean - up to see them eat.
Carol
I read somewhere on this site to avoid acid fruit/veg. No idea what fruit/veg would be acid, but am sure cucumber is a pretty safe bet. Doesn't look very acid to me.
Yeah, OK, I guess that was a dumb question. I am kind of staying away from fruit altogether, but citrus is the obvious one, you're right. There's a great pix of watermelon scoffing action up there, but as I hate the stuff, they don't get it either!
I was more wondering what veg are not safe. I can't think of an acidic veg.
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