# Feeding blanched veggies



## JAXON777 (Jan 4, 2007)

Hello

I am planning on feeding my shrimp some blanched zuccini. The question is how long can I leave it in the tank. I did a search couldnt find anything. 

TIA for the help

JAX


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## bigstick120 (Mar 8, 2005)

overnight should be fine


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## crispo069 (Mar 13, 2007)

I tried the blanched zucchini thing for both my shrimp and otto's and they didnt touch it....is there some trick to it??? should they be sliced thin? peeled? chopped?


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## JAXON777 (Jan 4, 2007)

I put some in their last night and I just sliced it and trimmed off the skin and stuck it in a wet paper towel then zapped it for 20 seconds.


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## crispo069 (Mar 13, 2007)

I tried that....but I boiled it for about 5 mins. I did it when I had cherries. They didnt touch it, nor did my oto's. I recently added a couple of Japonica/Amano and they seem to eat everything I throw in there (including blood worms). So I guess I'll try it again sometime this week.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I bought extra zucchini from the farmer's market last summer and sliced it about 1/2" thick (maybe a bit thicker) and froze it. I left the skin on as I've found it helps hold the zucchini together and the ottos and snails like to munch on it a bit. When I want to use some I just defrost it, the freezing takes the place of blanching to soften it up. I've noticed my ottos are more occasional grazers on it. They don't stick around and really go at it unless they're scraping a bit of the skin.


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## JAXON777 (Jan 4, 2007)

My cherries and ottos seemed to get after it. I didnt give them much time to munch it tho about 3 hours b/c I didnt know how long to leave it in. Now I know thanks a bunch!


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Is there a huge benefit that people notice by feeding the shrimp/inverts fresh vegetables over just the daily allotment of an algae wafer? Guess I'm asking, why spend so much effort to prepare a fresh salad dinner for the shrimp and other inverts?

I used to do the blanched thing, but figured frozen bloodworms, algae wafers, and other type pellets were enough food diversity.

-John N.


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## JAXON777 (Jan 4, 2007)

My guess is they would be fine with just algae wafers and such. To me it is just a treat for them and I noticed the ottos being more aggresive eaters with the zuccini moreso than algae wafers. With the wafers they seem to just let the shrimp load up on it, but the zuccini is big enough for them to lay claim to it LOL.


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

uncooked or unprocess food are known to have more vitamins & mineral.


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## wolfbane (Aug 2, 2005)

My cherries love canned green beans!!


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## crispo069 (Mar 13, 2007)

canned green beans????? really??? If I can get one other person....just one...to substantiate that claim, I would be willing to give it a try....it sounds crazy.


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## duchessren (Sep 16, 2006)

After about six months, my otos are still oblivious to the fact that I spend time every day feeding them. They'd rather affix their mouths to the sides of their glass enclosure, the rocks, the driftwood or the broad-leafed plants. I tried zucchini and they didn't even notice it was there. My ghost, amano, cherry and crystal reds picked at it, but not with the verocity with which they devour the MicroCrabs...

EDIT:::I have used canned green beans. My amanos and cherries loved it. I had a lot of leftover green beans though.


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## DJKronik57 (Apr 17, 2006)

I just toss in some raw zucchini and my cherry shrimp swarm all over it. They ate an entire zucchini end (the part you cut off and throw away) overnight. I don't think there's harm in leaving it in the tank unless it's for days and days. Since it's raw, it's not going to fall apart or rot as quickly.

Now I'm trying tomatoes...hopefully the lycopene (what makes tomatoes red) will help to color up the cherries. I just tossed a raw tomato end in a few minutes ago and 2 or 3 cherries are already munching away.

I don't think there are many downsides to throwing in raw veggies unless you have picky eaters, and it's so much easier. Just toss in what you normally throw out!


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