40 replies to this topic

[bigjohnnofish]

bristlenose (ancistrus species) are IMO a herbivorous omnivore... meaning they eat plant based foods as their primary diet and can eat some meaty foods as a supplement...

foods i currently feed my b/n : pumpkin (partially boiled) , zucchinni (washed but raw) , watermelon (after i eat the best bit - raw and washed) , sweet potatoe (peeled and raw) , lettuce (raw) , tropical flake , algae wafers
fresh vegetables are without a doubt the best food... and for me are cheap as i grow most of my own (no pesticides or chemicals of any kind)... some advice when buying veg from the shops - steer away from imported veg if at all possible... buy local veg... lots of chinese vegetables have been found to contain toxic chemicals as of late so avoid buying this stuff as we dont want dead fish... VERY IMPORTANT - wash your veg well and dry if possible using contaminent free towel...

now all this is great but takes a lot of time to prepare veg for 30 odd tanks.... if its your only job then you may have the time to do this.... im always looking for a better food (nutritional value , cost factor and now the time factor also)

a lot of people feed algae wafers and flake food etc to their b/n which is all good.... when you dont have time to prepare fresh veg....
IMO this is like us humans eating fast food... good for an occasional change but shouldnt be your primary food....

i found some frozen veg food the other day while wondering through aquotix.... so i grabbed a few packs of frozen veg... and along with a few other purchases made my way home....
i decided to do a comparisson between fresh veg, frozen veg , algae wafers/flake food.... so i picked three tanks of commons, removed current fry and left adults in the tank.... then i thought wait i only need to do two tanks as i know what fresh veg does.... so 2 tanks are now under way... keeping in mind they have all been fed on fresh veg before today....

* 1st tank is fed wafers and flake.... b/n initially very slow to move to the food and prefered the flake before looking at the wafers....
* 2nd tank i fed frozen veg.... dropped cubes in and they sunk within 10sec and the b/n were immediately checking out the cubes even before they had defrosted and broke up.... definitely more interest than flake/wafers...
* 3rd tank would be fresh veg.... b/n would be straight out and munching away....

to be fair to each food i wont count any spawns over the next 2 weeks as the girls may already be carrying eggs....
i want to see which food out of the 3 produces the most fry and quality of these fry and their successful rate of survival and growth rates... all fry will be left with their parents in the tank....
all other factors will be kept as close as possible to equal... both will get water changes at the same time etc....
i'll update the post regularly as things occur....


what i'd like to know is what are people currently feeding their b/n? is anybody using frozen veg at the moment - if so what are your opinions on it ???

if anybody else wants to try frozen veg - i got them from aquoitix... blister packs... posaqua brand and the cost was ......???? umm not sure i didnt pay attention i just handed over the cash for quite a few items... can someone from aquotix post the price for me please??? with pcs discount and bulk buy options if you buy ten or more packs at once???

im definitely gonna like the ease of just dropping frozen cubes in....

[scottyhooton]

i leave pumpkin in the shed , when it looks dry and rubbish i throw it in , my bn breeding pond is 1000 ltr , so i can afford to pile it in without fouling the water.

cheers , Scott

[bigjohnnofish]

i also feed boiled broccolli stalks......

this morning there was reminants left of the frozen veg in the tank....

but there was all the algae wafers untouched in the other tank.....

[scottyhooton]

i use brockoli too but found no difference with the boiled /unboiled ??? can u shed any light ???

[Petert]

Good discussion topic Johnno, and looking forward to seeing the results of your food tests.

I feed my bns ordinary Pumpkin & butternut slightly blanched, Zucchini seeded, Bok Choy, watermelon - the white bit and wafers.

OS aren't too fussy and eat everything I give them.
Marbles love zucchini, pumpkin, watermelon and wafers. Not too impressed with bok choy so I don't feed it to them.
Commons eat everything and their tank is always hell messy.
Pepps go for pumpkin, zucchini, watermelon. Wafers aren't touched or only slighly eaten.
Albino longfins are the same as the pepps and also not keen on wafers.

[bigjohnnofish]

i use brockoli too but found no difference with the boiled /unboiled ??? can u shed any light ???

boiled its a lot easier for me to cut up!!!..... i havent tried it raw - will do that next time and see what happens....
when its boiled they tend to eat the skin also leaving very little waste... plus L397 fry like it also...

well i will say one thing for sure the tank being fed frozen veg cubes doesnt foul up at all... not even slightly... good plus!

the b/n dont seem too keen to change onto the wafers... flake food is gone though........

[Mr_docfish]

At Aquotix, we have been feeding the PosAqua frozen Veggie mix for years to nearly all the fish, particularly where L numbers are in the same tank to pick the excess....

it is easier for us to feed a frozen mix than have to prepare veggies for them every week... time is money...

[bigjohnnofish]

well must be good then...... lol.... how much per pack were they again??? i need to calculate cost/time factors involved with feeding also...

[Mr_docfish]

Top of my head..... not sure..... have to check the one for, and the bulk price, when Im back at work... Ill try to remember tomorrow....

[terboz123]

B/N diets: Wafers, Zucchini,Pumpkin, Water Melon ( not the pink part) and vege flake.



My Pepps seem to be the most fussiest, as they wont eat all of the above mentioned......

Commons, Albino and Albino Longfins all munch on what ever is given

I do admit and agree with johnno , the wafers are the least liked by all species...

[bigjohnnofish]

yep wafers werent even touched again.... i'll cut them down to one or two till they decide to eat them... (been spoilt on the fresh veg for too long)

with frozen veg cubes the b/n seem to be leaving the orange component of the food at this stage... i suspect its carrot.... but everything else is gone.....
im feeding 2 cubes for 4 adult b/n per day at the moment... they are pigs thats for sure.....prob cut that down to 2 cubes one day and 1 cube every other day....

[smellsfishy]

as soon as i find no preservatove gelatine im going to do what some one else sad on this forum.
blend up lots of veges and a lil garlic then set it in geletine and cut into cubes.

[Dr_Pat]

You can quote me in the future, Smelly :-P but yeah, works a treat....not entirely practical as a main food if you're breeding though unless you've got lots of time (so I've discovered).

[mattt]

agar agar is a gelatin alternative for vego's made from seaweed

[bigjohnnofish]

theres an asian shop 2 or 3 shops to the right of aquotix that sells agar agar..... bit of an art getting the ratios of your different veggies correct so the gelatine bonds good... had a few stuff ups before i got it right.... but its a fair bit of effort getting it all setup.... if your gonna do this you may as well prepare fresh veges..... actually a bit quicker and better for your fish....

[bigjohnnofish]

decided to test the water today for nitrates and do a 30% WC on the 2 tanks.... this surprised me!!!

30ppm on the flake/wafer fed b/n
20ppm on the posaqua fed frozen veg....

so i've had a bigger increase in nitrates for what reason???
fish ate more food and hence made more poo???
i think the uneaten food broke down into ammonia and contributed to the nitrates....

[smellsfishy]

interesting.
my last comment was copy right of dr pat there you go pat.

[MUZZYBEAR]

well i had troubles with zuhcinni, so my pepps and longfinns get hikari wafers, i tried them on the cheap stuff and they wont eat it.lol. they are always waiting morning and night, and on this food baby pepps have gone from 1.5cm to 2cm in 3.5 days:)

[terboz123]

muzzy bear, i agree my pepps dont seem to like Zuchinni that much, they do nibble on it. They seem to adore the flake/hikari wafers.....

everything eats anything i give them and that commons, albino and albino longfins.

cheers

[bigjohnnofish]

well i had troubles with zuhcinni, so my pepps and longfinns get hikari wafers, i tried them on the cheap stuff and they wont eat it.lol. they are always waiting morning and night, and on this food baby pepps have gone from 1.5cm to 2cm in 3.5 days:)

try some of the frozen veg and see what happens.... most pep fry have a growth spurt from 1.5 - 2cm anyway....

what is your ph in the tank???? too acidic and it turns your zucchinni into mush.... plus make sure it hasnt been on the shelf for 2 weeks waiting to be bought by you the unsuspecting customer.... and tell the supermarket to shove their chinese zucchinnis were they fit.... ... you want locally grown ones....