Bristlenose

[Full3R]

I read somewhere that in order to keep a healthy brsitlenose catfish it would need lettuce, zuchini, peas ETC but would this food effect the wayer in anyway, the barramundi wont try to eat anything unless its alive, the slamon tail will probably scavenge a bit and the gouramis well im not sure any problems with feeding them such food with the other fish in the tank that i mentioned

[William]

They dont pollute the water much as long as you don't leave them in to long. Give them a lettuce leaf (It is easier for the catfish to eat if you put in the freezer for 30 min first) and remove it after an hour or so.

[Full3R]

whats a reasonably large sized catfish that can be kept with a 17 gallon tank

[rollie]

lettuce, zuchini,peas and els. how much of this do they get in the wild, oh wait maybe they plant a garden!!! if you got live plants growing in your tank, they will eat them. i had never fed lettuce,zuchini or peas!!!

[William]

It't not necessary but good if one want to avoid that they eat of the plants ;-)

[Full3R]

well whats a largeish not to large catfish that i could keep with an oscar? just say the oscar will be full size

[William]

Pleco type or predatory type.

[Full3R]

yay, predatory type he he he

[William]

Red tailed cats = grows very large and can become very tame.
other options includes Mystus cats, Wallago cats .....

[Full3R]

im not sure wheather red taileds are allowed in Australia and i havent heard of the other two ill look into it

[William]

I only drop names out there. I have no idea about which predatory cats thats legal in Aus;-)

[SCOOTER]

This may be a dumb question, but how do you sink lettuce/cucumber/peas to the Bristlenose? I have tried all of them and they float.

[Full3R]

i cant help ya with the first two, im still confused myself, but, with peas i squish them between my fingers they get smooshed yes but the sink, i think also if u flatten the lettuce it should sink

[Full3R]

dont feel dumb i was gunna ask to

[SCOOTER]

I'll try crushing the peas and sinking them tonight.

[Full3R]

nice
tell me if it works

[William]

I always recommend frezing vegetables before using them (Let them warm up again before using them) This makes them easier to eat and redue boyance. Lettuce often sink after tis treatment but if it doesn't I recommend using a rock to keep it pinned down on the bottem.

[mululah]

Red tail catfish - I know my local garden centre! - they have a lovely fish section have had a red tail catfish for at least 27 years (used to visit it every week when I was kid) and it's massive. I actually saw some for sale in a different shop and the advice they gave was -grows very large - they were only about three inches long and the one I have seen is at 28 inches and now very very old - definately a long term investment and for someone who has a really huge tank!

[CoryCat]

I feed my corys and plecos veggies all the time, I use a marine steel scewcumber - (thats the trade name, slam it into ebay and you will see :)) to weight down the veg and it gets removed after an hour or so to prevent polluting the water. Oto's go mad for peas, as does the bristlenose, cucumber is the fave of everyone including the gouramis. I have never had any problems feeding veggies, and the plecos love tomato too.. dont put intoo much or leave it more then half hour please, as it is very acidic and should only be fed in small amounts. You can thinnlyu slice any sort of veggies really and the fish will eat them - well mine do anyways. It can also help if you get them used to it, if you ever have problems with constipated fish as the vegetable matter helps flush their systems through and relieves constipation :)