Tip for feeding your bottom dwellers veggies (cucumber, zuchinni, carrot)

[FrozenFins]

I see a lot of people on the internet when feeding their bottom dwellers they are using a skewer or a fork to make the veggie sink, the problem with that is you have to reach your hand in the tank and grab the fork when their done. And then your hand is all wet, and its dripping all over the floor. 

Heres my sollution

Boil the veggies in the microwave, simply fill a bowl of water up, add the veggie and microwave for 3 minutes. You are then gonna wanna run the veggie under cold water too cool it off. The veggie now sinks, and you don't have to reach your hand in to get anything!!

[EmeralDQueen]

oh thanks for the tip, I feed them cucumbers and just regular sink veggie pellets

[Nataku]

You still have to reach in and remove the remains if there are some after a day or so. I have a couple tanks where they don't  eat the skin of the veggie, or may only eat part of it. I find an easy way to remove it without getting your hands so wet is to have a line tied to the end of the fork or plant weight, so you can just pull that back up to retrieve the fork/weight and hopefully the remains of the veggies. 

Alternatively,  you can just keep an Aquarium  Co-op towel over your shoulder or next to your tank to dry off your arm. Because the aquarium hobby isn't a dry one xD

[FrozenFins]

9 minutes ago, Nataku said:

You still have to reach in and remove the remains if there are some after a day or so. I have a couple tanks where they don't  eat the skin of the veggie, or may only eat part of it. I find an easy way to remove it without getting your hands so wet is to have a line tied to the end of the fork or plant weight, so you can just pull that back up to retrieve the fork/weight and hopefully the remains of the veggies. 

Alternatively,  you can just keep an Aquarium  Co-op towel over your shoulder or next to your tank to dry off your arm. Because the aquarium hobby isn't a dry one xD

intersting, my swordtail. pleco and one of my angelfish will eat the skin and the cucumber within a day or so.

[Dandy Pearl]

@Nataku I was going to mention the string idea. I saw this somewhere and thought to myself, "why didn't I think of that!".

There is something called a "pleco feeder" out there. It is essentially a stainless steel corkscrew thing that hangs from the side of your tank. You screw on a piece of veggi however you like to prepare it and pull out the remains whenever you want to freshen it up. 

Happy Fish Keeping! 🐠

[FrozenFins]

15 minutes ago, Dandy Pearl said:

@Nataku I was going to mention the string idea. I saw this somewhere and thought to myself, "why didn't I think of that!".

There is something called a "pleco feeder" out there. It is essentially a stainless steel corkscrew thing that hangs from the side of your tank. You screw on a piece of veggi however you like to prepare it and pull out the remains whenever you want to freshen it up. 

Happy Fish Keeping! 🐠

I used the string method, and then the string fell in the water, probably because I didn't fasten it properly, lol.

[Nataku]

@James Black I leave the string long and keep either a piece of pvc (usually an elbow) or a metal washer tied to the opposite end of the fork. I prefer the pvc because it makes me less paranoid I'll ever chip the glass dropping that against it versus the metal washer. And I'm not the most coordinated person to have ever existed, so fumbling the string happens often. But the weight keeps me from losing the other end into the tank. The string is left long enough that the fork can sit in the bottom of the tank, but the weighted end hangs against the stand, not against the glass. Nothing to restrict view or stay against the glass to clack around that way.

[Fonske]

Microwaving works very well indeed.  My critters won't eat raw veggies, but gorge on slightly cooked ones. And it's extra easy to spare a slice of a carrot or zucchini while cooking for people. I always peel off skins and use small pieces so nothing remains after a day or two. 

[FrozenFins]

4 minutes ago, Fonske said:

Microwaving works very well indeed.  My critters won't eat raw veggies, but gorge on slightly cooked ones. And it's extra easy to spare a slice of a carrot or zucchini while cooking for people. I always peel off skins and use small pieces so nothing remains after a day or two. 

Yeah, when I boil the veggies other fish will eat it too, but not a the point where the plecos won't get any.

[Ken]

6 hours ago, Dandy Pearl said:

There is something called a "pleco feeder" out there. It is essentially a stainless steel corkscrew thing that hangs from the side of your tank.

I've seen those hanging in tanks on quite a few fishroom tour videos. I always wondered what in the world they were.

[Tanked]

I use the Skewer method. 

The next time you change the wipers on your car/truck, remove the stainless steel stiffener from the old wiper blade.   Bend a hook for the tank rim,  Poke the skewer through a pre-drilled wine cork  If you or your mechanic has a long enough wiper, you can plant one end into the substrate.  

Bending a small hook on the end will keep old food from sliding off and give you another tool for fishing out debris elsewhere.  They cannot rust or sink, but some of the stiffeners have barbs on the end so be careful.  

I use mine to add veggies to the tank at all levels.    Cucumber wasn't available so the Barbs refused to pose for an action shot.

 

 

[Fishmonger_X]

I plump a few cucs or green beans or what not slices. I don't bother to blanch them. My plecos always come up to the top at just devour them.

[Matt_]

I use a very inexpensive pleco feeder that I bought from a local breeder that is a rounded stainless steel hook CA glued to a coral frag disk.  It works extremely well feeding zucchini.  You can add fishing line and a bob if you don't want to get your hands wet.  I also feed frozen French cut green beans and those sink immediately and never come back up.  I am feeding Bristlenose plecos and L066 Tiger King plecos (who supplement their normal meat diet with veg.).  Photos of the feeder empty and with customers (it was in for under a minute before I took this photo).

Edited November 28, 2020 by Matt_