# feeding zucchini to shrimp



## Razorworm (Jul 24, 2011)

Should I cook ( soften ) zucchini before feeding it to my rcs?


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

You can either blanch it or freeze it. I do not think they will readily go after it if you drop it in uncooked or anything.


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## Mr. Appleton (Jul 1, 2011)

I cook mine in the microwave in some water. They definitely love it.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

I noticed that they like it more blanched than frozen, but they do wait a while before they eat it. I guess they like it a little more mushy....


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

Mr. Appleton said:


> I cook mine in the microwave in some water. They definitely love it.


be careful of microwaves. still cooks AFTER you take it out. Plus its healthier to blanch it. actually steamed is better.


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## Razorworm (Jul 24, 2011)

I blanched it on the stove. Its in there now...we'll see.


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## fresh.salty (Jul 2, 2010)

No difference in steaming or using the microwave as long as you don't over cook it. Heat is what is changing the nutritional value and not the method. There have been studies done that might suggest otherwise but the way they performed them isn't relevant to the way we use the method.

BTW, I just drop it in. Fish and shrimp don't seem to mind and it doesn't fall apart in the tank nearly as fast.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

fresh.salty said:


> No difference in steaming or using the microwave as long as you don't over cook it. Heat is what is changing the nutritional value and not the method. There have been studies done that might suggest otherwise but the way they performed them isn't relevant to the way we use the method.
> 
> BTW, I just drop it in. Fish and shrimp don't seem to mind and it doesn't fall apart in the tank nearly as fast.


I have to disagree on microwaves! when you cook anything in a microwave, you are changing the molecular structure and losing nutrients in the food. after all, you are cooking food with radiation! everything is debatable but why take that chance.... 
"The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture in 2003 found that broccoli cooked by microwave — and immersed in water — loses about 74 percent to 97 percent of its antioxidants. When steamed or cooked without water, the broccoli retained most of its nutrients."

Im sure this can be said with any veggie...

so I personally think that its better taking an extra few minutes to steam


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Gonna have to agree with johnny313. It's the same reason why people recommend steaming over boiling for spinach for human consumption. When steamed you retain all the nutrients and vitamins but when you boil you lose a majority of it.


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## fresh.salty (Jul 2, 2010)

They cooked that broccoli immersed in water so that study was flawed. The nutrients are being lost to the water and not the radiation.



> When steamed or cooked without water, the broccoli retained most of its nutrients.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

which sounds healthy? 

1 - cooked in RADIATION

2- cooked by steam

cooked by RADIATION.. does that even sound healthy?


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## nilocg (Jul 12, 2010)

johnny313 said:


> I have to disagree on microwaves! when you cook anything in a microwave, you are changing the molecular structure and losing nutrients in the food. after all, you are cooking food with radiation! everything is debatable but why take that chance....
> "The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture in 2003 found that broccoli cooked by microwave — and immersed in water — loses about 74 percent to 97 percent of its antioxidants. When steamed or cooked without water, the broccoli retained most of its nutrients."
> 
> Im sure this can be said with any veggie...
> ...


When you boil in water you loose some of the nutrients into the water, I really doubt it has anything to do with radiation changing the molecular structure. Anyways I really dont think you are going to have more or less healthy shrimp if you boil your vegies versus steaming.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

nilocg said:


> When you boil in water you loose some of the nutrients into the water, I really doubt it has anything to do with radiation changing the molecular structure. Anyways I really dont think you are going to have more or less healthy shrimp if you boil your vegies versus steaming.


but I'd steam or boil rather than NUKE veggies


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## fresh.salty (Jul 2, 2010)

Radiation refers to the way the microwaves move and not radioactivity. No different than radio waves just a different frequency. Your skin emits infrared radiation and that's why you can be seen at night with night vision goggles. Visible light is nothing more than visible radiation.

Point being is that radiation by definition isn't a bad thing.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

like I said. there are a lot of controversy on microwave ovens. just doesn't sound healthy to me


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## Jorge_Burrito (Nov 10, 2010)

johnny313 said:


> I have to disagree on microwaves! when you cook anything in a microwave, you are changing the molecular structure and losing nutrients in the food. after all, you are cooking food with radiation! everything is debatable but why take that chance....
> "The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture in 2003 found that broccoli cooked by microwave — and immersed in water — loses about 74 percent to 97 percent of its antioxidants. When steamed or cooked without water, the broccoli retained most of its nutrients."
> 
> Im sure this can be said with any veggie...
> ...


You are not changing the molecular structure. Microwave cooking works by inducing rapid motion in the molecules, a byproduct of which is heat generation. It works best in highly polar molecules like water, which is extremely difficult to split anyways, but even if it wasn't, the radiation in microwaves is non ionizing, which means it has no effect on molecular structure.

Loss of vitamins and nutrients have been tied directly to leaching into water and damage due to heat. Microwave cooking could conceivably be healthier than alternative methods as it tend to cook more quickly and uniformly, minimizing the amount of time that degradation due to heat could occur. It is best to avoid boiling vegetables, whether it be in the microwave or on the stove top.



johnny313 said:


> like I said. there are a lot of controversy on microwave ovens. just doesn't sound healthy to me


Only in the sense their is still controversy about whether we landed on the moon. These things have been around since the early fifties and how they cook and there effects on food are very well understood.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

so are you saying a microwave oven is just as safe as steaming? no better or no worse?


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## mmccarthy781 (Jul 7, 2011)

Jorge_Burrito said:


> You are not changing the molecular structure. Microwave cooking works by inducing rapid motion in the molecules, a byproduct of which is heat generation. It works best in highly polar molecules like water, which is extremely difficult to split anyways, but even if it wasn't, the radiation in microwaves is non ionizing, which means it has no effect on molecular structure.
> 
> Loss of vitamins and nutrients have been tied directly to leaching into water and damage due to heat. Microwave cooking could conceivably be healthier than alternative methods as it tend to cook more quickly and uniformly, minimizing the amount of time that degradation due to heat could occur. It is best to avoid boiling vegetables, whether it be in the microwave or on the stove top.


Agreedroud:


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

better be safe than sorry....


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Jorge_Burrito said:


> Loss of vitamins and nutrients have been tied directly to leaching into water and damage due to heat. Microwave cooking could conceivably be healthier than alternative methods as it tend to cook more quickly and uniformly, minimizing the amount of time that degradation due to heat could occur. It is best to avoid boiling vegetables, whether it be in the microwave or on the stove top.


If you are preparing the vegetable for your fish tank you're not going to just straight up microwave it in a bowl. Generally you put tank water with your veggie before microwaving so you're losing the nutrients to the water, since that's dumped out afterwards. That's why imo its "healthier" for the shrimp/fish if you steam since they get the full nutrients of whatever you're feeding them.


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## Jorge_Burrito (Nov 10, 2010)

johnny313 said:


> so are you saying a microwave oven is just as safe as steaming? no better or no worse?


Yes, provided it is done properly. Probably don't have access to the article, but the abstract provides some info to back this claim up. IF you PM me I can provide the full article if you are really curious.



diwu13 said:


> If you are preparing the vegetable for your fish tank you're not going to just straight up microwave it in a bowl. Generally you put tank water with your veggie before microwaving so you're losing the nutrients to the water, since that's dumped out afterwards. That's why imo its "healthier" for the shrimp/fish if you steam since they get the full nutrients of whatever you're feeding them.


This is a reasonable point as I know most people add water, which pertains to the idea of not boiling vegetables. The water is not necessary though. 15 seconds for a thin slice of zucchini, no added water works perfectly fine in the microwave and should retain as much or more vitamins/nutrients as steaming.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

Jorge_Burrito said:


> Yes, provided it is done properly. Probably don't have access to the article, but the abstract provides some info to back this claim up. IF you PM me I can provide the full article if you are really curious.
> 
> 
> 
> This is a reasonable point as I know most people add water, which pertains to the idea of not boiling vegetables. The water is not necessary though. 15 seconds for a thin slice of zucchini, no added water works perfectly fine in the microwave and should retain as much or more vitamins/nutrients as steaming.


so if you had the choice, would you prefer to steam or nuke your veggies?
I used to nuke everything until i bought a steamer. nuked food is soft colorless and the taste is average. steamed veggies are crunchy, colorful and taste amazing... can you HONESTLY tell me that the veggies you cook in your microwave looks, feels and tastes the same? if so, I want the model of your microwave


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

I think he's saying to microwave without any water. Which could be healthier than steaming (who knows)? Which is something I have never tried for food going into the fish tank.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

diwu13 said:


> I think he's saying to microwave without any water. Which could be healthier than steaming (who knows)? Which is something I have never tried for food going into the fish tank.


I know but he is saying that nuked food has the same exact nutritional value as steamed... impossible


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## fresh.salty (Jul 2, 2010)

Why, it's just energy, it's not plutonium. lol


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Unless you plan on drinking the water or cooling it and dumping it back into the fish tank (not even sure if they would get those nutrients if you were to do this) my impression is that steaming is much better.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

fresh.salty said:


> Why, it's just energy, it's not plutonium. lol


but you didnt answer my question....

so are you saying a microwave oven is just as safe as steaming? no better or no worse?


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## Snowflake311 (Apr 20, 2011)

I drop veggies in uncooked. My crs eat it My snails and ottos like it to. I feed pealed uncooked cucumbers. I feed that mainly for my otto but snails and shrimp like it. Even the Cory cats had a taste. 

Why bother cooking it at all? After being in the water for an hour it gets soft my shrimp had no problem eating it.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

Snowflake311 said:


> I drop veggies in uncooked. My crs eat it My snails and ottos like it to. I feed pealed uncooked cucumbers.


they eat it all?


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## Snowflake311 (Apr 20, 2011)

No they don't eat it all. I put a big chunk in and don't have enough shrimp to eat it all. I end out taking it out after they all had some. But they do eat it.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

Snowflake311 said:


> No they don't eat it all. I put a big chunk in and don't have enough shrimp to eat it all. I end out taking it out after they all had some. But they do eat it.


Thats the best way to feed it to them! uncooked!


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## Jorge_Burrito (Nov 10, 2010)

johnny313 said:


> I know but he is saying that nuked food has the same exact nutritional value as steamed... impossible


Please provide a science based argument on why this is impossible. I have a Ph.D. in Chemistry so keep in mind you are not going to easily bs me. 

I am saying they are the same for all intents and purposes. Some vitamins have shown to be slightly worse for microwaving, some slightly better. The differences are small though. Here is some articles in peer reviewed journals saying it is possible and absolutely true.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7047080
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889157506000561
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2621.1981.tb14579.x/abstract
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1453972&show=abstract

and a link to a webpage explaining why the Broccoli study you quoted was flawed:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art52758.asp


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## Jorge_Burrito (Nov 10, 2010)

johnny313 said:


> so if you had the choice, would you prefer to steam or nuke your veggies?
> I used to nuke everything until i bought a steamer. nuked food is soft colorless and the taste is average. steamed veggies are crunchy, colorful and taste amazing... can you HONESTLY tell me that the veggies you cook in your microwave looks, feels and tastes the same? if so, I want the model of your microwave


Not sure how much taste matters to shrimp :flick:...and I thought we were talking nutritional value, not taste. At any rate, sounds like you were overcooking your vegetables in the microwave, which I fully admit is very easy to do, much more so than when you use a steamer. I have a steamer, and often use it. I have no problems though if I am short on time microwaving my vegetables as they are just as healthy and safe as when I steam them...it is just more difficult to get the correct texture that I like.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

Jorge_Burrito said:


> Not sure how much taste matters to shrimp :flick:...and I thought we were talking nutritional value, not taste. At any rate, sounds like you were overcooking your vegetables in the microwave, which I fully admit is very easy to do, much more so than when you use a steamer. I have a steamer, and often use it. I have no problems though if I am short on time microwaving my vegetables as they are just as healthy and safe as when I steam them...it is just more difficult to get the correct texture that I like.


so your actually saying that a microwave is just the same as steaming food? steamed is as close as you are going to get to eating it raw.....


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

I dont have a PH.D in anything, but I can cut and paste articles too:

http://www.health-science.com/microwave_hazards.html THIS ENTIRE ARTICLE SHOULD BE READ. no BS in this article! 
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/18/microwave-hazards.aspx
http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100914065629AAN1U98

I can keep going if you want.....

http://www.helium.com/items/622877-the-effects-of-microwave-cooking-on-your-food
http://www.createyourhealthyhome.com/microwave-ovens.htm

do you think microwave ovens are safe and healthy after reading these articles?


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

nilocg said:


> When you boil in water you loose some of the nutrients into the water, I really doubt it has anything to do with radiation changing the molecular structure. Anyways I really dont think you are going to have more or less healthy shrimp if you boil your vegies versus steaming.



http://www.health-science.com/microwave_hazards.html

QUOTE...

a microwave oven decays and changes the molecular structure of the food by the process of radiation. Had the manufacturers accurately called them "radiation ovens", it's doubtful they would have ever sold one, but that's exactly what a microwave oven is.


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## fresh.salty (Jul 2, 2010)

lol

This is at least entertaining.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/djBAMazLy0I


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## Jorge_Burrito (Nov 10, 2010)

I provide you with links to peer reviewed articles in respected scientific journals, and you provide me with links to yahoo answers ...

Do your search in Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com/ and post some articles from there, I will be more than happy to read them and consider your evidence.

This alone from your health-science source is so painfully wrong it is not even funny.

"Radiation, as defined by physics terminology, is "the electromagnetic waves emitted by the atoms and molecules of a radioactive substance as a result of nuclear decay." Radiation causes ionization, which is what occurs when a neutral atom gains or loses electrons. In simpler terms, a microwave oven decays and changes the molecular structure of the food by the process of radiation."

At any rate I am done with this discussion unless you can provide me with a primary source from a well respected scientific journal.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

I noticed you ONLY picked the yahoo answer!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA 
scientific journals are as usless as wet paper towels!

and ... i guess you didnt read this one...

http://www.health-science.com/microwave_hazards.html .. this isnt YAHOO ....Mr. PH.D


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## fresh.salty (Jul 2, 2010)

Then you should be bowing down to my Youtube link. lol


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

i cant get youtube at work


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

Jorge_Burrito said:


> well respected scientific journal.


thats funny.... science provides more confusion, like all of your statements.


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## nilocg (Jul 12, 2010)

johnny313 said:


> I noticed you ONLY picked the yahoo answer!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
> *scientific journals are as usless as wet paper towels!*
> 
> and ... i guess you didnt read this one...
> ...



???


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## fresh.salty (Jul 2, 2010)

johnny313 said:


> thats funny.... science provides more confusion, like all of your statements.


When dealing with things like this that's how it's done. It's science and not Fox vs CNBC. lol The literature saying it's bad is just opinion with no science to back it up. In the study that says it's significantly worse to microwave they boiled it in the device. That's no different than stove-top boiling.


Thanks for the links JB. I read all the free parts. At $35.00 and up that's all I can afford. lol

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889157506000561


> Based on these results, microwave cooking is recommended for chickpea preparation, not only for improving nutritional quality (by reducing the level of antinutritional and flatulence factors as well as increasing in-vitro protein digestibility and retention rates of both B-vitamins and minerals), but also for reducing cooking time.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7047080


> In conclusion, no significant nutritional differences exist between foods prepared by conventional and microwave methods. Any differences reported in the literature are minimal.



http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2621.1981.tb14579.x/abstract


> Neither method resulted in significant changes in the fat, protein, β-carotene and ascorbic acid content of the peas. Microwave cooking resulted in significantly greater losses of several ammo acids, but resulted in significantly greater retention of thiamin and riboflavin than the conventional treatment. Although each of the mineral components exhibited different magnitudes of loss by the two cooking methods, different due to method of cooking were not significant. Both Fe and Cu were completely retained in the peas cooked by both methods. Both cooking methods (15-60 min cooking) resulted in 92-97% loss of trypsin inhibitor.



http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1453972&show=abstract


> Several studies have shown that microwave cooking, if properly used, does not change the nutrient content of foods to a larger extent than conventional heating. In fact, suggests that there is a tendency towards greater retention of many micronutrients with microwaving, probably due to the shorter preparation time.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

fresh.salty said:


> When dealing with things like this that's how it's done. It's science and not Fox vs CNBC. lol The literature saying it's bad is just opinion with no science to back it up. In the study that says it's significantly worse to microwave they boiled it in the device. That's no different than stove-top boiling.
> 
> 
> Thanks for the links JB. I read all the free parts. At $35.00 and up that's all I can afford. lol
> ...


 LOL and there is no cure for cancer! .... all this scientific research on nonsense... see what I mean?


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## fresh.salty (Jul 2, 2010)

Jorge_Burrito said:


> At any rate I am done with this discussion unless you can provide me with a primary source from a well respected scientific journal.


^^^^


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## Ozydego (Aug 29, 2011)

wow, I would say this discussion has been plainly decided, unless there are any other articles to quote from???


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## nilocg (Jul 12, 2010)

johnny313 said:


> LOL and there is no cure for cancer! .... all this scientific research on nonsense... see what I mean?


I have no idea what you mean. Because we havent cured cancer, we shouldnt be studying anything else??


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## Razorworm (Jul 24, 2011)

Sooooooo, As I said, I steamed the zucchini on the stove, and put it in with the rcs yesterday, it hasn't been touched. Any thoughts?


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## Moe (Jan 22, 2004)

there not hungry, it may take a few days of not feeding them to force them to new foods.
before long they go crazy for it.


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## Ozydego (Aug 29, 2011)

thats kinda what I think, there is probably other stuff in the tank that works just as well, so they are not into exploring and swarming new food, I guess you could take that as a good sign, that your shrimp are happy with what they already have.... thats the way I take it when I introduce a treat and I get just a few that decide to check it out


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## Snowflake311 (Apr 20, 2011)

Or maybe uncooked cucumbers are better. 

Here are a few of my new RCS eating a uncooked cucumber with my oto. This was only a few minutes after dropping it in. I never understood why people cooked for their fish. Raw is just fine.










The shrimp ended up pushing the oto off.


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

my guys prefer cucumber over zuchini. however i thought zuchini was liek a delicacy.


my thoughts on microwaves. they rapidly cook items. we all know it tastes better to cook with an oven or grill because these things cook at a slower pace.
microwave something on a lower setting and it begins to taste better.. still not the same but.
do i believe radiation changes the nutritional value. absolutely. how much? i can't say.


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## Chase.b (Sep 5, 2009)

I get a bowl of water up to a boil( in the devil box of radiation and painful death) and blanch thin slices of Cucumber, no complaints from my CRS or RCS.


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## Razorworm (Jul 24, 2011)

My wife in her infinite wisdom suggested rubbing the zucchini with some olive oil and garlic, sprinkling some parmesan cheese and putting it under the broiler for 3 mn.:tongue:


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## Moe (Jan 22, 2004)

that would go good with shrimp, LOL


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## 1987 (Jan 27, 2007)

Razorworm said:


> Sooooooo, As I said, I steamed the zucchini on the stove, and put it in with the rcs yesterday, it hasn't been touched. Any thoughts?


This happened with some rili I had. I didn't feed the tank for about 2-3 days. Put in a freshly blanched zucchini, and they ate it down to the skin in about 4 hours.


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## mmccarthy781 (Jul 7, 2011)

roud:


Jorge_Burrito said:


> At any rate I am done with this discussion unless you can provide me with a primary source from a well respected scientific journal.


roud:


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## Jameshack31 (Oct 24, 2017)

johnny313 said:


> I have to disagree on microwaves! when you cook anything in a microwave, you are changing the molecular structure and losing nutrients in the food. after all, you are cooking food with radiation! everything is debatable but why take that chance....
> "The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture in 2003 found that broccoli cooked by microwave — and immersed in water — loses about 74 percent to 97 percent of its antioxidants. When steamed or cooked without water, the broccoli retained most of its nutrients."
> 
> Im sure this can be said with any veggie...
> ...


Well yes, it's cooked in water. The nutrients leach out into the water no matter what method you're cooking it by. There are thousands of studies showing that microwaves may keep more of the nutritional value in food than stove top, oven, etc. due to the relatively short cooking period. As for the radiation part, all food is cooked by radiation in one way or another, that's what heat is derived from, thermal radiation.


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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

microwave engineer here. 
heating and microwaving does exactly the same to food. 
both make objects molecules move faster and collide more frequently. 
if what microwaving heats up object more evenly avoiding overheating-->damaging it than cooking.

on the subject.. i put cucumber or zucchini in a bowl with water and put it in microwave oven. when water starts to boil i take it out and let it sit and cool down for like 15min befor serving it. if i dont let it sit for a while, it wont sink.


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## Vohlk (Apr 8, 2016)

Interesting article, ummm.... there is much to say but probably not worth it as much has already been said.

But for myself I just drop zucchini in raw, used to blanch but found it wasn't worth the effort, used to freeze but found it softened the zucchini too much and it would fall apart.


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## arcticwolf (Mar 12, 2014)

my rcs prefer zucchini over cucumber
i feed 1/4 of a raw slpit zucc attached to a fishing casting weight to hold it down, small length of fishing line out the top, real the weight back up to add another piece. Even after an hr of feeding a preferred shrimp food, within minutes, the zucc is covered up in shrimp ... once they learn they like it ... there is always shrimp on it ... even with most not being hungry... something they constantly graze on. It lasts a couple days before there is nothing left. Then i add another to keep them and ottos happy.
Yellow squash they love as well, but, the squash has giant seeds that don't get eat even with the smallest i can find. Seedless cukes, they seem to like better then regular cukes, and no giant seeds making the tank look horrible.
Zucchini is preferred 5 to 1.
Hard squash, butter, acorn, pumpkin, only small interest if raw. Blanched so is softer, and they like it pretty well. 

As an experiment
Thinking about trying a small piece of hair algae from the reef tank, would likely die and decompose fast. But might make it softer and palatable to the shrimp. They might get some different minerals they not get from the normal algae growing in the tank. And i see no reason it would hurt them. Just not certain they would have any interest. And the refugeium on the reef grows it in mass amounts i have to pull out often, why not find a way to use some instead of throw away.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Wow! Glad I missed this bunch the first go. I am a big fan of making the hobby fun so cooking the veggies is not part of the fun for me. I go raw as I rarely see an underfed fish in tanks. More often overfed than starved. 
Amazing that somebody is worried about using RADIATION to cook food for their shrimp while setting in front of a screen passing radiation through their bod and likely pressing a cell phone to their ear! 
Even the Russians have found how easy it is to mislead folks who believe anything they read!


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