# Cucumber or Zucchini



## mmccarthy781 (Jul 7, 2011)

So I'm confused, what are you supposed to feed shrimp, cucumber or zucchini? Is there a difference in nutrition? Also, is it OK if it's not organic?


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Either is fine. Spinach works too. See what your shrimp prefer. Non organic is fine as long as there are NO pesticides. If you aren't sure organic is the way to go.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

wash them real well and you should probably steam/blanche them. i think zucchini might fare better.


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

Dunno about nutrition, mine prefer zucchini.


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## shrimpzoo (Sep 27, 2011)

I'm a fan of cucumber lol. Just slice a circular piece and blanche it.

In detail: What I do is I cut a slice then peel the outer skin of the cucumber (just to ENSURE that there are no pesticides) and boil it in the microwave (it'll be sitting in a small shadllow dish of water and I usually set my microwave to 35~ seconds [your choice really as long as it's squishy]), then I put an ice cube on top of the slice then after it's done cooling off I impale it through a shish kebab stick and put it in the tank.

After 2-3 hours I come back to take it out, and the middle of the cucumber is eaten through lol. Pretty neat to see imo.

GL on using cucumber or zucchini. Some people's shrimp tend to be picky eaters lol.

Here is an old thread from a few weeks back about veggies + shrimp if you're interested:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/s...es/150913-verify-shrimp-veggies-once-all.html


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

if it's not grown and labeled organic the best thing to do is skin the veggie
prefer zucchini and go through 2 a week here adding them to the tanks uncooked and the skin is eaten along with the meat. Shrimp and LFABN eating on the same slice LOL


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## CrazyCatPeekin (Aug 15, 2011)

I haven't had much luck with zucchini or cucumber. My shrimp and plecos just don't seem to care for them and I end up having to fish out mushy pieces from all my tanks. Oh...Except the tiger barbarians' tank...those guys will eat ANYTHING!


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## BillV (Aug 27, 2011)

*try sugar snap peas*

my RCS like those too


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## mmccarthy781 (Jul 7, 2011)

Wow so much information. It would be cool to have a poll for this to see what people prefer


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## RandomMan (May 31, 2011)

I give both. The shrimp seem to prefer Zucchini, but chow down on both.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

organic spinach lightly blanched. its gone in less than an hour. my shrimp dont like zucs or cucs


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## Bahugo (Apr 18, 2011)

I had blanched skinned non organic zucchini a long time ago and my shrimp didn't touch it. Recently Wkndracer recommended organic zucchini with the skin on just cut out the seeds for my pleco fry and I fed a slice too my shrimp and they devoured it, skin and all.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

If you slice your cukes or zucchini thinly enough (this works for spinach leaves, as well), you can just place them in the freezer until solid. Then thaw them before dropping in the tank. That breaks down the cell walls just enough that blanching isn't required.

I'm all about less hassle and this has been a big time saver for me.


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## Alyssa (Sep 16, 2011)

Wow great tip about the freezing! Thanks!


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## zdnet (Aug 13, 2010)

mmccarthy781 said:


> So I'm confused, what are you supposed to feed shrimp, cucumber or zucchini? Is there a difference in nutrition?


Zucchini is more nutritious than cucumber. According to the nutrition analysis done by USDA, zucchini and cucumber share a similar nutrition profile. But zucchini has roughly 1.9x protein, 1.5x sugars, 1.5x minerals, 3x vitamins, 2x fatty acids, and 2x amino acids.

However, spinach has even more nutrition. Compared with zucchini, spinach has roughly 2.4x protein, 0.2x sugars, 5x minerals, 4x vitamins (but 47x beta carotene, 47x vitamin A, 17x vitamin E, and 112x vitamin K), 1x fatty acids, and 3x amino acids.


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## crazstar (Sep 29, 2011)

my shrimps don't enjoy zucchini very much .__. Haven't tried cucumber yet but they do like baby spinach : D


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## mmccarthy781 (Jul 7, 2011)

I would think that spinach would float? Do you tie it to something?


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

You can just wait until enough shrimp pile on and it sinks


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## crazstar (Sep 29, 2011)

^ lol nice!
mine tends to float down right after I put it in : D


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## Katie92 (Jun 29, 2011)

Mine don't really like cucumbers. The babies might pick at it a little, but everyone else just ignores it. Spinach, however... XD Everyone goes crazy for it.

I also occasionally drop a blanched and skinned bit of a pea in there. They inhale that stuff like no tomorrow!


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## zdnet (Aug 13, 2010)

Katie92 said:


> Mine don't really like cucumbers. The babies might pick at it a little, but everyone else just ignores it. Spinach, however... XD Everyone goes crazy for it.


Mine were vicious when fighting over spinach.




Katie92 said:


> I also occasionally drop a blanched and skinned bit of a pea in there. They inhale that stuff like no tomorrow!


Exactly what type of pea? I want to see how well its nutrition compares with spinach.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

zdnet said:


> Exactly what type of pea? I want to see how well its nutrition compares with spinach.


How would you know how much better the nutrition is :X? See if the shrimp have more endurance or somethings ?


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## zdnet (Aug 13, 2010)

diwu13 said:


> How would you know how much better the nutrition is :X? See if the shrimp have more endurance or somethings ?


I have the shrimp version of a mouse wheel to gauge their endurance :hihi:

Seriously, I have a system analyzing the USDA data.


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## sleepswithdafishez (May 23, 2013)

shrimpzoo said:


> I'm a fan of cucumber lol. Just slice a circular piece and blanche it.
> 
> In detail: What I do is I cut a slice then peel the outer skin of the cucumber (just to ENSURE that there are no pesticides) and boil it in the microwave (it'll be sitting in a small shadllow dish of water and I usually set my microwave to 35~ seconds [your choice really as long as it's squishy]), then I put an ice cube on top of the slice then after it's done cooling off I impale it through a shish kebab stick and put it in the tank.
> 
> ...


What does "blanche" mean?


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## 0live (Jun 8, 2013)

sleepswithdafishez said:


> What does "blanche" mean?


From Wikipedia "Blanching is a cooking process wherein the food substance, usually a vegetable or fruit, is plunged into boiling water, removed after a brief, timed interval, and finally plunged into iced water or placed under cold running water (shocked) to halt the cooking process."


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## Jadenlea (Sep 15, 2011)

My shrimp eat zuchinni over cucumber and spinach over both. Unfortunately, they just nibble at any real vegies. They prefer the shrimp made food. Especially Jakes!

My ottos on the other hand love zuchinni and go into a frenzy over the blanched spinach.


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## oblongshrimp (Jul 26, 2006)

I have just thrown sliced cucumbers in without blanching or freezing. They work on it for about a day or so but they leave only the outer skin.


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