ZebraPleco.com • The complete Hypancistrus zebra resource

hi all, a few questions for ya
i have 11 zebra's in a species tank with the caves etc. all seem really happy in there caves and hanging out infront of them with there fins erect. normally i would be really happy with this but there fins (especially dorsal) have started to take on a blue tinge??? is this bad and what should i do? also i have hardly ever seen them eating )although i presume they do) how can i tell if they are full or not?
and lastly i made some of the homemade food you all rave on about to see if it would whip them into a frenzy. i used prawns mussels and some frozen lance fish my oscars normlly eat along with carrot peas and spinach. my problem was when i had put it through the processor it wasn't solid enough. i added plain flour to thicken it before putting it in blocks in the freezer. they seem to like it and get excited when i put it in tank but will the flour harm them?

Thanks all

Firstly, the blue tinge means they're happy



Look at their tummy, if it's round they're getting enough food. Several people never see their Zebras eating, so that's not unusual at all. They mainly feed at night, or when nobody is around to disturb them.

About the flour.. I don't know if I would put flour in the mix, it depends on how much you put in, but I can imagine it *could* be a bit hard to digest, maybe even cause a blockage if you put a lot in it. This is pure speculation on my part though, as it never occured to me to put flour in the mix...

If you add some boiled vegetables you'll get enough moisture to make it form a paste before freezing it, but if you put too much in it will become runny, and foul your water. If the mix does become runny I would add more prawns to thicken it rather than flour.

it's a trial and error thing

Hi AndyAps.com,

When making my version of the frozen mix, I let the ingredients thaw and threw the excess water away, before processing.
After making the mix, which was a little"runny", I put a "mugful" into a 6 X 10" plastic bag, flattened then frozen. This then is easy to break off into appropriate sizes.
It does not disintegrate if a frozen piece is placed into the tank.
I too would be very wary of adding flour. Not too sure about the lance fish ,since I have never used it before. Does it not contain sharp bones?.

Regards,
Des.