Zucchini - How Long In Tank?

[spudbuds]

I put some zucchini in my tank for the first time yesterday to give the otocinclus something else to eat. The other fish are loving it too.

My question is, how long should I leave it in the tank? I assume it will eventually get unpleasant to look at. Are there any negatives to leaving it in too long other then it making a mess if it falls apart?

Thanks,
- Bill

[Arkie]

when i put vegies in for my plecos i put it in at night then by the next night if its not all eaten (but it usually is with a sailfin pleco and five bristlenoses), i remove it then. if you leave it in too long it falls apart as you know and it floats around the tank going rotten and pollutes the water. my plecos also love cucumber, pumpkin and watermelon.
p.s, most of my other fish will eat it too, ive even seen my albino oscar chase the plecos away from the cucumber!!!!

[2manyfish]

Yeah about 24 hours is right but like Arkie it never lasts that long in my tanks!

[nanaglen2001]

I keep Zucchini max 12 hours in my tanks, after this time they get slimey, and I fear about my water quality.

Cucumber can stay for 24 hours in the water.

[sergo]

i leave mine in for up to 48 hours after that it starts to come apart. rarely does it make it to the full 48 hours before it's completely gone though. i keep mine frozen and thaw it before i put it in. it ends up being a little softer for the fish when you freeze it.
cucumber on the other hand shouldn't stay in the tank long at all and don't freeze it because it will come apart quick if you do (found out the hard way). i don't know how long for sure because my fish won't eat it

[Algenco]

my oto's don't touch it for 24 hrs, after that it softens up and they attack!

[spudbuds]

Yeah, my otos took a day before they even went near it. I don't know if it wasn't soft enough or if it was just something new to them. Now only one of them is around it constantly, but he was the skinny one, so that's what I wanted.

It's been a couple of days so it sounds like it's ready to come out. I put in way too big of a piece, so I would have been shocked if they ate it all.

Thanks for the info.
- Bill

[sergo]

if you freeze it first, thaw it and then put it in it will be a lot softer than fresh cut and your fish will be able eat it down faster. they can't get anything off it when it's fresh cut and they lose interest because of it.

[zackish]

Is it important to cook the zucchini?

[2manyfish]

I've never had the problem of a fish not being able to eat the veggies as I am giving this to plecos who have no trouble with it.
It sounds like if you have otos that you should soften it up a bit and freezing will do it. The added bonus is the frozen food will stay usable for quite some time. If you don't want to freeze you can always blanch the veggie (boiling water for a very short period of time like 30 seconds) first. But of course you will have to do this each time. At least with the freezing you can pre-cut the veggie and just freeze the whole thing. Then just put the piece of frozen veggie into a small cup of tank water and let it thaw out before giving it to your fish!

[digital3]

Take it out before it gets "furry!" :hmm3grin2orange: