Feeding bottom feeders veggies or fruit is easy, and you have a couple of options.
1) You can put a slice in a plastic veggie clip. (available at fish stores) This method works well for feeding small amounts. (you want to be careful not to try to wedge in too thick a slice, I've snapped several of these things in half!) This method would be good for introducing a fish to a new food, sometimes it will take a fish a few tries to see that that big green chunk over there IS food.
2) For feeding bigger fish larger chunks of veggies or fruit, use a spoon. By which I mean, get a stainless steel teaspoon from your kitchen, skewer your chosen piece of produce through the handle, and sink it. You need the spoon because a lot of veggies float. I tie a piece of fishing line to the spoon, and leave the other end out of the tank for easy removal. Makes mornings much easier, not having to reach down the the bottom of a 2 foot tank!
You can try several things in addition to cucumber. My 11 inch Pleco likes cucumber, zuchini, cantaloupe, kiwi, peach, potato, pumpkin, etc. Most fish will at least sample some sort of fruit or veggie.
Frozen peas are great for small fish, cook a few in a small cup of water in the microwave, pop the pea out of the skin. Smush the pea in your fingers and rinse your fingers in the tank. Even my Bumblebee Gobies eat peas!
A few other points, don't leave it in the tank longer than overnight.
Scrub veggie well, some fish will prefer the tough outer skin, others, like my Pleco, eat the insides, never touching the peel.
Serve the food raw. (for most foods, I cook potato and pumpkin, (which he only gets once a year, at halloween)
You can also push in a few catfish pellets into the veggie, so your fish will get 2 foods in one meal! A good idea to try this when the veggie is unfamiliar to your fish, so he will be attracted by the familiar smell of a food he's already eating.
Hope that helps!
Stacey
