maybet

I was reading posts today and 0morrokh said that she cooks and feeds her otos veggies, specifacally she said zuccini and lettuce. My questions are; Are veggies good for your fish? and Is there a specific way they should be cooked?

I think I am going to get two otos tonite on my way home from work. There is algea blooming in my tank since the loss of my pleco so they will have some to eat to start with. I am going to get some waffers at the store as well to supplement their diet, but I like the idea of feeding them veggies...that is if they are good for them.

by the way, the ick is gone and the levels in my tank have returned to normal, so* I decided it would be ok to get the new fishies. I am so excited.* * thanks again for all the advise on what fish to get to replace my pleco.

Jon

yep ive heard great reviews on veggies (especially dark green ones) but i dont think there is a certain way you have to cook them... just make sure that they arent too hard that your fish will have too much trouble eating them and make sure that you get the veggies to the fish that need them and they dont get eaten on the way down

fish_r_friend

one of my lfs feeds veggies to all the fish and rarely feed normal flake food to their fish

Jon

BTW-- veggies are great for fish but they cant live on just veggies... all fish need protein especially for gettin jiggy... lol pardon my word choice but when you have fish that birth a lot like livebearers they need extra protein... for any fish i would reccomend brine shrimp or bloodworms or any high protein foods

fish_r_friend

that stor also feeds lemmons to their feeder fish

Jon

lemons wtf? never heard of this... i would have thought adding lemons would greatly alter the pH but i guess its not strong enough... hmm wierd.

fish_r_friend

yeah its reallly weird its lemmon slices thought? so it wouldnt be as intens as a full lemmmon

Jon

hmmm ... maybe lowering the pH is a positive side effect... like if there are feeder tetras or other amazonian/ south american fish that prefer lower pH's

fish_r_friend

dont know Wat type of fish they were i was just paying attention to the cat fish

Jon

hmm it would be interesting to find out

fish_r_friend

i will not be going there for a while so it will have to wait

Jon

k... does he feed them lemons all the time or was it like a special thing to treat the fish for a disease?

fish_r_friend

it may have been a teat or they have a veggie day or somethin like that

Jon

probably.

vin

I too have read that Otos will eat zucchini and romaine lettuce, but that you should cook them until soft, but not mushy. Steaming them in the microwave in a little water is the easiest. This is done to make the veggies a little more palatable for the fish and easier for them to scrape with their little teeth. Veggies are often given as a supplement when there is not enough algae in a tank to sustain them on it's own. You can weigh them down with rocks or on little veggie clips......

Otos like Plecos CONSTANTLY clean and devour algae. When there is not enough to keep them happy, then veggies can be substituted.

Gunnie

Veggies are great for all your fish. Some won't touch them, and you will have to experiment on what your fish like, but it's great for variety. I feed mostly zucchini. Some cook it and some feed it raw. I prefer to drop it in the tank raw. It floats though if not cooked, so you will have to weigh it down. I weigh pieces down with a product called a screwcumber. It works well for me.

rob2uk

ooooh, a British device!

More proof that we're superior! lol :P