Tropical Fish Forum

Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fish Food and Feeding => Topic started by: Pixiecatjo on November 04, 2017, 04:43:08 PM

Title: To blanch or not to blanch?.....
Post by: Pixiecatjo on November 04, 2017, 04:43:08 PM
Hi just a quick question, we have some fresh courgette, and I was wondering should it be blanched before feeding to our tropical fish?
Title: Re: To blanch or not to blanch?.....
Post by: apache6467 on November 04, 2017, 05:04:58 PM
Not too sure but most people reccomned to and then adding a lead weight, spoon or childrens  fork (not sharp) to make the veggies sink
Title: Re: To blanch or not to blanch?.....
Post by: fcmf on November 04, 2017, 05:18:15 PM
Raw courgette is quite hard, so I'd recommend blanching it, even if just to soften it a little and thereby make it more palatable. My tropical fish don't seem to recognise courgette as food; however, garlic seems to entice fish towards food, so, if I were you, I'd blanch it and then insert some crushed garlic into it to "teach" them to recognise the courgette as food.
 :fishy1:
Title: Re: To blanch or not to blanch?.....
Post by: Hampalong on November 04, 2017, 05:51:57 PM
I would never blanch any veg to feed to fish. As veg softens and breaks down naturally it releases different compounds at different stages, which means it tastes different at different stages, and fish usually have a preference as to when they eat it. I've had a few fish that wait till it's soft but most prefer to start on it unblanched, ime.

If it's Plecs you're feeding, most of them eat at least a little bit of wood, so they can easily manage unblanched veg.

:)
Title: Re: To blanch or not to blanch?.....
Post by: Sue on November 04, 2017, 06:51:56 PM
Freezing it also softens it.
Because we don't eat courgette (husband refuses to eat it  ::) ) when I fed it to the fish I would slice a whole courgette and freeze it on a tray, then bag it once it was frozen. I left a slice on a plate till it was thawed, skewered it on a teaspoon and put it in the tank.

However, I don't know if that does the same to the courgette in chemical terms as blanching it  ???