# What veggies do you feed your fish?



## Laurel

So far they've gotten zucchini, cucumber, lettuce, spinach, peas(taken out of their skins), and small pieces of cut up garlic.

I've pretty much stopped feeding them light colored food like cucumber and zucchini other than the day before a water change, because their poo looks just like the veggies, and my sand is black. It's not very pretty having little blobs of white poo sitting on your sand.


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## TheFishGuy

Mine only get MEAT :lol: ......... Sorry, my Uaru loves water lettuce


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## Mistersprinkles

don't over do the veggies unless they are vegetarian fish and even then try to keep it to aquatic stuff if you can.

Watercress is excellent.

Noori (that seaweed stuff) is really good also


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## Laurel

"It is impossible to overfeed a tropical fish with vegetable matter. Ever. Any fish. Every omnivorous fish that will nibble at greens should also be given a round-the-clock chance to be grazing on vegetables, just as much as the pure vegetarians who depend on them...The range of vegetables eagerly eaten by fish is broad: spinach leaves, parsley, cilantro, watercress (well, this is New York!) or lettuce, broccoli stems slit lengthwise and the untidy outer leaves of brussels sprouts, slices or chunks of zucchini and yellow squash, beet tops and beetroot skins, cooked peas and lima beans popped out of their tough skins, cucumber or sweet potato, slices of plum, pear, apple, canteloupe and winter melon, halved grapes, even the tough ends of asparagus stalks, though their indigestible white threads remain to blow around the tank. "

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/f ... bles.shtml


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## Number6

It is impossible to overfeed the vegetable matter, but it is possible to underfeed on more nutritious foods if the vegetable matter makes the fish full...

With the exception of peas, and possibly one or two other veggies, they don't contain enough nutrition for many cichlids.

It is also unnecessary to feed veggies to the vast majority of cichlids and this includes mbuna. Mbuna are generally not vegetarians... despite what you might have read... to label mbuna as vegetarians would be a bad generalization born from not understanding what combing algae or eating plankton actually means...

with that said, the veggies that can be used as a treat without any concern whatsoever, are deshelled peas, dark green leafy veggies, etc.

Not wise would be fruit (high in sugar= heterotrophic bacteria fuel) or any veggie that is overly low in nutritional value (like cucumber - also high in sugars).

They can be fed, but it does little but mess your water...


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## fishlids

now can these vegetables be fed to them daily, or should be used as a treat?


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## bulldogg7

> Not wise would be fruit


just sitting here with my new jar of "^{$", which my fish despise, says,


> ...kiwi, apricot,pear,mango, apple, papaya, and peach...


. 
The birds eat it. 
I give mine dehulled peas, sometimes canned peas with hulls, they separate them. I've heard stories of corn being bad, from ******* trout fisherman, so afrain to try it. Lettuce mine don't care for. Collard and spinach greens they will eat if blanched. Cucumber/zuchini/squash they won't touch. But they like pumpkin and green beans.
I've just got weird fish.


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## convictkid

I gave my kenyi cooked corn. They loved it!


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## TheFishGuy

I cut zucchini and cucumber longways and rubberband it to a rock and the fish go nuts over it!


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## FishyFaceFriend

Hold on now. I can feed my cichlid as much vegetable as I want????

Is this true?


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## NJmomie

Do you have to cook the veggies or keep them raw?


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## b3w4r3

NJmomie said:


> Do you have to cook the veggies or keep them raw?


I'm not really a fan of veggies for my mbuna, too messy and they like their normal food better. If using veggies it's best not to cook them. Cooking removes some of the vitamins and minerals and reduces nutritional content. Most times freezing the veggies for a few hours is enough to make them digestible (thaw before serving).


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## FishyFaceFriend

But is it true what the article says ? You can't overfeed on veggies, including seaweed? My fish loves seaweed. He prefers pellets and flakes, but he loves seaweed too. If I can feed him more seaweed I can fit in more training sessions per day.

This is the article Laurel posted: http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/vegetables


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