Checking on feeding BNs

Hey guys! I first want to say thanks for all the great information on the forum, it helped my husband and I decide on getting bristlenoses lol I have a couple of questions on feeding them, mainly about the veggies. So here we go lol

1) I've read some seem to feed raw, and others blanch veggies, is one better than the other? We figured blanching the veggies would make them soft & messy, so we were thinking of sticking to raw

2) Have any of ya'll frozen sliced zucchinI (squash, ect), thawed it & then put it in the tank? would that be ok to do? or would it decrease the nutrients needed? or do you think it would make it messy?

Thanks guys!

 

I use quality algae wafers. It is not often that I feed fresh veggies. But I do. I have done raw and blanched and it seems the BN's I have had like the wafers better.

 

I have used raw, and frozen, thawed squash with no problems. Cukes I feed raw, most vegetables that humans eat are fine. cabbage, brussel sprouts frozen thawed, broccolI florets raw, melon raw, seedless grapes cut in half, strawberry, dark leafy greens raw. Most things I just scrub under running water then stick a stainless steel fork in it and put it in the bottom. It can take a few tries before they decide that it is food. What kind and how many BN plecos did you get? My favorite fish by the way. Alison

 

Hello,

I stuff a raw slice (3" thick or so) of raw zucchinI for my Plecos and other bottom feeders. I stuff the slice with various food sticks and wafers. The Plecos will also eat the green skin.

Once the slice is stuffed, the sticks and wafers will absorb the moisture and the food will swell and soften. My Cory Cats, Rainbow Shark and Plecos all feed from it. At times, so will all the other tank mates but they have difficulty that the bottom dwellers do not have. This helps the bottom dwellers have a chance to eat before food is stolen by other tank mates.

If you freeze the zucchini, it may turn to mush as it thaws.

Ken

 

Cool, thanks for the info guys! Right now we're putting about 2" thick slices of ZucchinI in, but they haven't noticed. Tomorrow I'll add couple algae wafers to it. Part of it might be them munching on the slight amount of algae we have haha

Aliray- we have three baby (1/2, 3/4, & 1 inch) regular (I guess, they're the dark colored ones lol) in our 55 gallon.

 

Leave the veggies in for 24 hour and then exchange it for another piece. plecos do a lot of eating at night as well as the day. Those are some really small babies. Aren't they the cutest little things. Alison