How Long Do You Leave Cucumber In The Tank For?

[raptorrex]

cant help on the cellulose though as far as i know it needs pressure or chemical/bacterial action.

So there actually might not be any point in me microwaving the cucumber in the hope that it might help break down the cellulose in the cucumber? Apart from cellulose issue question, is there any other point in heating cucumber apart from maybe making it a little softer and so easier for the pleco to eat quicker?

well heat does change the fibre, breaking down the polymer matrix of some forms of fibre. however the bodily use this fibre has seems, for the most part, to be nothing more than to bulk out the digestive tract. this would appear to be the same for most animals including fish and inverts. heat does seem to reduce the effectiveness of fibre, well many fibres, making it necessary to eat more cooked fibre, than you would need if it were uncooked. though the amount of time the food is cooked for has an effect too, part cooking, or blanching, will have far less, destructive, effects on the fibre than full cooking. it would appear that cooking in any way, has only a negative effect on the fibre in veg, however small. in effect blanching does nothing more than soften the veg, and result in a tiny decrease in the effectiveness of the fibre.

now looking as fibre in relation to just plecos. many Plecos are, actually low level omnivores, few if any are pure herbivores. lol and some are even pure carnivores. but in the main these fish are designed to eat large amounts of low nutritional value food. this makes fibre very important( and incidentally makes my comments on the nutritional value of the food, largely, academic, as the fibre is the thing that benefits the fish, to a far greater extent than its pure nutritional value). chomping on drift wood, would seem to be nothing more than the pleco seeking dietary fibre missing from its diet. as far as i can find, no pleco could exist by eating just bog wood, which has close to zero nutritional value. but in the right sized tank, the pleco could satisfy its nutritional requirements with algae, and use the bog wood to acquire its fibre, thus requiring no feeding by its keeper.
not sure if any of this babble is any good, but hope it may help.

 

[Bungy]

Erm.....ive been told that Cucumber holds little to no nutritional value to the fish whereas Courgette is better in this respect.
From my experience the Courgette is munched up pretty well after 24 hours by my Bristlenose and 2 x sucking loaches whome cannot leave it alone. The remains are removed after 24 hours and replaced 2 to 3 times a week. I slice a 3 inch or so piece down its length, use a metal screw to keep it on the bottom and throw them in. Job done and no dodgy water.
BTW the Cucumber wasnt liked anything like as much as the Courgette.

 

[raptorrex]

Erm.....ive been told that Cucumber holds little to no nutritional value to the fish whereas Courgette is better in this respect.
From my experience the Courgette is munched up pretty well after 24 hours by my Bristlenose and 2 x sucking loaches whome cannot leave it alone. The remains are removed after 24 hours and replaced 2 to 3 times a week. I slice a 3 inch or so piece down its length, use a metal screw to keep it on the bottom and throw them in. Job done and no dodgy water.
BTW the Cucumber wasnt liked anything like as much as the Courgette.

yep that seems to be the case. however if you peel the cucumber or courgette nether has any real value. as, especially with vitamins, the vast majority is held in, or just below. the skin. thus it is lost almost totally when peeled! but as i pointed out, especially with plecos, its not the nutritional value of this veg that's important, this can be provided by the other foods that go into the tank, its the fibre it contains that seems to be most important.


as a aside, i am aware that not all fibre is dietary, some can be, and is, broken down by digestion and its contents used by the animal. this does require the stomach of a mammal, or more correctly, it requires the action of the hydrochloric acid, bacteria and time to break down this is something most fish can't do as the food is simply not in the digestive tract long enough.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

well heat does change the fibre, breaking down the polymer matrix of some forms of fibre. however the bodily use this fibre has seems, for the most part, to be nothing more than to bulk out the digestive tract. this would appear to be the same for most animals including fish and inverts. heat does seem to reduce the effectiveness of fibre, well many fibres, making it necessary to eat more cooked fibre, than you would need if it were uncooked. though the amount of time the food is cooked for has an effect too, part cooking, or blanching, will have far less, destructive, effects on the fibre than full cooking. it would appear that cooking in any way, has only a negative effect on the fibre in veg, however small. in effect blanching does nothing more than soften the veg, and result in a tiny decrease in the effectiveness of the fibre.

now looking as fibre in relation to just plecos. many Plecos are, actually low level omnivores, few if any are pure herbivores. lol and some are even pure carnivores. but in the main these fish are designed to eat large amounts of low nutritional value food. this makes fibre very important( and incidentally makes my comments on the nutritional value of the food, largely, academic, as the fibre is the thing that benefits the fish, to a far greater extent than its pure nutritional value). chomping on drift wood, would seem to be nothing more than the pleco seeking dietary fibre missing from its diet. as far as i can find, no pleco could exist by eating just bog wood, which has close to zero nutritional value. but in the right sized tank, the pleco could satisfy its nutritional requirements with algae, and use the bog wood to acquire its fibre, thus requiring no feeding by its keeper.
not sure if any of this babble is any good, but hope it may help.

Thankyou for all this information boboboy, interesting stuff !

So basically, when it comes to me microwaving cucumber for a minute or so before feeding it to my plecos, it doesn't really matter much either way for the pleco's since they are evolved to cope with eating a lot of fibre in their diet, so it wouldn't really matter to them if they got their cucumber microwaved or untouched/raw?

The bulk of my pleco's diet focuses on algae wafers and more omnivorous protein catfish wafers/tablets/pelets, i also feed the pleco's cooked prawns from time to time or some other type of seafood (like cooked mussels, squid, cockles etc) to help ensure they are not lacking in protein in their diet. Cucumber has to be the most commonly feed food i feed to my plecos other than algae wafers/catfish pelets etc .

 

[Debbie gruwell]

I don't blanch mine. I put a chunk in and leave it in until it's gone. 3 to 4days. All of my fish love it. My pleco feeds on it even during the day. It actually makes my water crystal clear