Feeding fish with lettuce or broccoli

[justmee]

When I was over seas in Asia, I saw a lot of fish stores feeding either romaine lettuce or broccoli to the fishes... I was thinking of trying the same. Does anyone know of advantages and disadvantages of this type of feeding? Has anyone tried?

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

Not sure where I read this, but a few days ago I read an article stating that lettuce has very little nutritional value compared to things like kelp. I'm not sure how accurate that is though

 

[Bbfishb81]

Have you ever seen lettuce or broccoli in the ocean. It's not part of their natural diet so I wouldnt suggest it.

 

[justmee]

Have you ever seen lettuce or broccoli in the ocean. It's not part of their natural diet so I wouldnt suggest it.

True, but the fishes I see in those tanks were pretty fat and chowing down on the lettuce quite happily....

 

[Goodair]

If you clean the vegetable thoroughly from potential pesticides, I dont see anything wrong from mixing it up if they show interest. I wouldn't make it thier main diet though.

I've tried things like carrots, spinach, broccoli out of curiosity but my urchin and fox ignored em.

 

[justmee]

If you clean the vegetable thoroughly from potential pesticides, I dont see anything wrong from mixing it up if they show interest. I wouldn't make it thier main diet though.

I've tried things like carrots, spinach, broccoli out of curiosity but my urchin and fox ignored em.

I probably wouldn't try carrots since it's kind of hard...

Yeah, thinking about trying, and another reason is that it's a bit cheaper then nori...

 

[MrsBugmaster]

I see the aquarium at our zoo feeds broccoli.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

Have you ever seen lettuce or broccoli in the ocean. It's not part of their natural diet so I wouldnt suggest it.

Same can be said of pellets, flakes, and misc seafood we feed our tangs. They eat almost none of that in the wild.

 

[User1]

It is cheap. That is why you see it.

It is not terrestrial or native to them so their stomachs and digestive system may not process it the same as their natural food. Somewhat similar to worms or other food some feed. Worms are a bit different though in that both fish and humans (survival training and/or cub scouts - who hasn't eaten an earth worm or cricket) can survive on them.

It will be a personal or business decision I guess but not one I would do.

 

[dwest]

When I was over seas in Asia, I saw a lot of fish stores feeding either romaine lettuce or broccoli to the fishes... I was thinking of trying the same. Does anyone know of advantages and disadvantages of this type of feeding? Has anyone tried?

I used to feed my tangs broccoli. Back in the day, it was believed that broccoli could help prevent and maybe even reverse hlle in tangs. I believe there was even an article written about a large aquarium that succeeded in hlle reversal with this method. My tangs were fat and healthy, but now get nori instead. 20 something years ago getting nori in Kentucky was difficult

 

[Halal Hotdog]

It is cheap. That is why you see it.

It is not terrestrial or native to them so their stomachs and digestive system may not process it the same as their natural food. Somewhat similar to worms or other food some feed. Worms are a bit different though in that both fish and humans (survival training and/or cub scouts - who hasn't eaten an earth worm or cricket) can survive on them.

It will be a personal or business decision I guess but not one I would do.

Broccoli is terrestrial, but you are correct in the fact it is not native to wild marine fish.

 

[User1]

Broccoli is terrestrial, but you are correct in the fact it is not native to wild marine fish.

That is what I meant but probably didn't word it right.

 

[Goodair]

I probably wouldn't try carrots since it's kind of hard...

Yeah, thinking about trying, and another reason is that it's a bit cheaper then nori...

Are you buying nori at a fish shop or a asian market?

 

[justmee]

Are you buying nori at a fish shop or a asian market?

I still have a bunch of Two Little Fishes nori that I bought in bulk for about $50 online, but it's dwindling down, so I'm considering an alternative...

 

[Halal Hotdog]

My biggest gripe with nori is how easily it breaks down into very small pieces that float around until getting trapped somewhere to breakdown. I have tried a little of everything including cutting striations to allow cleaner breaks. I started trying other foods such as spinach, but it wasn't as popular with my fish. I think I will try out broccoli and see how it does. Right now I remove algae from my refugium and place in my DT. The fish love it, it does get a bitt messy as well.

 

[Goodair]

You might get a better deal with human grade nori, with no additivies.

 

[Guy714]

I’ve been feeding my blue tang with lettuce along with pellets and frozen mysis. He is fat and happy!

 

[justmee]

You might get a better deal with human grade nori, with no additivies.

Yeah, but some of the human grade nori has oil that I'm not sure about...

 

[Bbfishb81]

Same can be said of pellets, flakes, and misc seafood we feed our tangs. They eat almost none of that in the wild.

You're right, biggest difference is that the pellets and flakes we are feeding should be ones made for our tanks. I feed one mysis pellets and nori. They may not fine pellets in the ocean, but they find the anims made from it.

 

[icomplii]

I live in Beijing, china and work for a lfs here, I can confirm that the reason that most fish store feed fish lettuces is because its cheap. But this is becoming less common though because the cabbage in most of asia is covered in pesticides which can cause issues for the fish.