Tropical Fish Forum

Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fish Food and Feeding => Topic started by: fruitbat on October 25, 2016, 05:58:05 PM

Title: How to weigh down food (& how to get fish to eat veg)
Post by: fruitbat on October 25, 2016, 05:58:05 PM
hi guys, does anyone have any ideas on keeping cucumber and spinach etc down on the substrate, I've tried but keeps popping up,i even put it under a stone and kept coming to the top eventually , thanks
Title: Re: How to weigh down food (& how to get fish to eat veg)
Post by: fcmf on October 25, 2016, 06:07:32 PM
Hi Fruitbat,

You could either buy a screwcumber which is designed for that purpose, or else the cheaper (and possibly safer for the fish as they're less likely to get stuck) option is to use a spoon for the purpose ie push the cucumber through that. Unsure whether spinach would work in these, though.
Title: Re: How to weigh down food (& how to get fish to eat veg)
Post by: Sue on October 25, 2016, 06:29:01 PM
I've also heard of food clips which attach to the glass walls with a sucker. I haven't used these myself but there are various designs on Ebay, and other sellers will have them as well.
Title: Re: How to weigh down food (& how to get fish to eat veg)
Post by: fruitbat on October 25, 2016, 09:13:12 PM
thanks, good idea with the spoon :-))  ill check out ebay too to see if there is anything useful, cheers
Title: Re: How to weigh down food (& how to get fish to eat veg)
Post by: finn on February 13, 2017, 11:04:29 PM
I use a old plant weight, and a old piece of plant, stays there no problems. I'll post a pic.
Title: Re: How to weigh down food (& how to get fish to eat veg)
Post by: fruitbat on February 25, 2017, 06:02:05 PM
looks pretty cool  :cheers:
Title: Re: How to weigh down food (& how to get fish to eat veg)
Post by: Paddyc on February 25, 2017, 07:01:51 PM
I like that too! Quick Q, can we feed raw courgette to the fish or does it have to be blanched first?
Title: Re: How to weigh down food (& how to get fish to eat veg)
Post by: Matt on February 25, 2017, 09:08:53 PM
The purpose of blanching I believe is to soften it, its not a requirement, suggest you give it a go and see how your fishes get on with it  8)
Title: Re: How to weigh down food (& how to get fish to eat veg)
Post by: fcmf on February 26, 2017, 12:44:14 PM
Will be interested to read how you get on. While my fish love chopped peas, they don't seem to touch courgette, whether cut up into tiny morsels or a slice attached/hanging from a branch of wood, and I'm wondering how I can encourage them to eat it. Broccoli goes untouched too.
Title: Re: How to weigh down food (& how to get fish to eat veg)
Post by: Paddyc on February 26, 2017, 01:14:22 PM
The only fish who like he courgette are the female cherry barbs and the Bristoenose plec. I used a length of stainless steel wire to curl around the edge of the courgette skin and attached the other end of the wire to an old plant weight. The courgette was comically suspended in mid tank which gave us a few hours of entertainment last night before the lights went out... Still mostly there this morning and the bristlenose is still sucking away on it.
Title: Re: How to weigh down food (& how to get fish to eat veg)
Post by: Skittler on February 26, 2017, 02:47:36 PM
Hello All,

I feed blanched courgette to my amano and cherry shrimps. They love it! I secure it to the substrate with a stainless steel barbecue spear. It prevents the bigger amanos from stealing it (for a while).

The fish in the 125l with the amanos are interested in it, but can't compete with them.

                           Skittler
Title: Re: How to weigh down food (& how to get fish to eat veg)
Post by: Littlefish on February 26, 2017, 04:50:27 PM
So far I've only fed chopped peas (generally enjoyed by all), and blanched cucumber (enjoyed by plecos, shrimp, and nibbled on by tiger barbs and platy).
I'm planning to try a variety of veg when everything has settled down, so would be interested to hear what people have tried.
Title: Re: How to weigh down food (& how to get fish to eat veg)
Post by: fcmf on February 26, 2017, 06:17:13 PM
Just tried embedding some micro pellets into a slice of cucumber, attaching it to the wood branch, and am willing the fish on to take a bite. Unfortunately, though, the micro pellets are making their way out of the cucumber, and the cucumber remains untouched despite me sitting down next to the tank and letting them see me eat and chew a piece of cucumber in slow motion as a demonstration of what they ought to do...
Title: Re: How to weigh down food (& how to get fish to eat veg)
Post by: Matt on February 26, 2017, 09:11:44 PM
 ::)  ???  :o  :-\

 :rotfl:
Title: Re: How to weigh down food (& how to get fish to eat veg)
Post by: Andy The Minion on February 26, 2017, 09:37:55 PM
Oh for pity's sake @fcmf ! Close the curtains, the neighbours will have a coronary  :-[
Title: Re: How to weigh down food (& how to get fish to eat veg)
Post by: Littlefish on February 26, 2017, 09:44:11 PM
 :rotfl: