Take seeds out of Zucchini?

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Dekk

Keeper of Hybrids
Mar 31, 2009
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Florida
Do you guys take seeds out of Zucchini? I have a 1.5" candy stripe pleco and he just started eating zucchini, was wondering if I should de-seed or not? I've also been microwaving a slice for 60 secs in water, is this necessary?

Was wondering because i've had this pleco for 5 or 6 days or so, and I think I finally got him to eat. He lays on top of the slice and looks like hes trying to eat it, but when I take it out, im not sure if any is missing from the slice. I dont know, maybe I dont notice any is gone because he's so small...


Thanks.
 

pinkertd

Moderator
May 29, 2007
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Most of the time I do not take the seeds out before feeding. They plecs eat around the seeds and you will undoubtedly have some floating seeds here and there. If it is a young plec, try microwaving the zucchini for 10-20 seconds without the water so that the zucchini flesh actually softens up a bit. I do this for my plec fry, otherwise the zucchini is too firm for them to suck loose. Even a small plec with leave tiny marks where they've sucked in some of the zucchini, I think it's not soft enough for him. When he gets bigger, no need to microwave any more.
 

swinneyw

AC Members
Feb 1, 2008
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i micowave my zucchini fo 90 seconds after i wash it and slice it down the center i leave the seeds in i have 4 plecos and they love it even fight over it after 24 hours its nearly all gone i put it on a clip that i got at petsmart if it don't eat it at first put a fresh piece in every day or so he will get the idea that its good stuff
 

inkyjenn

AC Members
Jun 15, 2008
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southern california
if your fish is not eating, you can get him started with this:

get some rocks
crush up some of your favorite fish foods
separate an egg yolk from the white (keep the white, toss the yolk)
mix up the fish food (now a powder) with the egg white
pain the rocks with the egg/fish food mix
let the egg white dry completely (takes a few hours if you use a fan to blow on it)
drop in the rocks with the food on it either right before or right after lights out.
 

Sploke

resident boozehound
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Oct 20, 2005
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I usually cut the seeds out and the skin off, I got tired of chasing them around the tank afterward and having them clogging up powerheads.
 

toddnbecka

AC Members
Dec 17, 2004
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Cumberland, MD 21502
My BN's eat skin along with the rest, though they do eat around the seeds. I don't microwave, just stick in a skewer to sink it.
 

Dekk

Keeper of Hybrids
Mar 31, 2009
85
0
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40
Florida
if your fish is not eating, you can get him started with this:

get some rocks
crush up some of your favorite fish foods
separate an egg yolk from the white (keep the white, toss the yolk)
mix up the fish food (now a powder) with the egg white
pain the rocks with the egg/fish food mix
let the egg white dry completely (takes a few hours if you use a fan to blow on it)
drop in the rocks with the food on it either right before or right after lights out.
Hey I saw this suggestion in my other thread, I was going to do this until I found my pleco sitting on a slice of zucchini I put in there (finally), so I think he's finally trying to eat, will keep this suggestion in mind thanks!:thm:


How do you guys de-seed your zucchini? I usually just cut about a 1/2" thick disc and been putting it in that way. Then I tried to de-seed the darn thing, and was told the best way was to take a whole zucchini, slice is longways into 1/4s, then take a knife and slice downwards to take the seeds out, but after I did this, there didn't seem to be much left of the actually inners.

Thanks for the replies!
 

Sploke

resident boozehound
Staff member
Oct 20, 2005
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Matt
thast how I did it, but I was dealing with a zucchini that had about a 6" diameter at the widest part...yeah it was huge.
 

LeahK

AC Members
Jul 5, 2007
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Iowa
How do you guys de-seed your zucchini? I usually just cut about a 1/2" thick disc and been putting it in that way. Then I tried to de-seed the darn thing, and was told the best way was to take a whole zucchini, slice is longways into 1/4s, then take a knife and slice downwards to take the seeds out, but after I did this, there didn't seem to be much left of the actually inners.

Thanks for the replies!
I don't usually take the time to do this, but to de-seed a zucchini, first cut it in half the long way. Then take a spoon and scrape against the seeds until you remove them all. If you do it right, you won't remove any of the seedless flesh.
As for the egg whites and powdered food thing, I tried doing that for my otos once, but my barbs picked the egg white mixture off the rocks in about 5 minutes flat :irked: --the otos never even got close.
 
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