4 days ago I fed my fish cooked broccoli for the first time. Unfortunately he did'nt like it, and now it has all disintegrated in the tank and I cannot get it all out. Bits of it are floating around everywhere. I have continually used a fish net to catch some and have done 4 water changes but there are still bits of it everywhere. Can it do any harm? will it just degenerate on its own and does it mean I will have to keep doing water changes because of it? I wish I had never tried it now

Are you using a gravel vacuum when changing the water? That should get the majority of it after it settles on the bottom. You can also use it to get the suspended bits. I imagine the filter would get anything left over.

Thanks greenhands, have been using the vacumn, plus a net and water changes, will wait and see if filter gradually gets rid of some as well then........I hope it doesnt block up the filter!

I never feed them cooked brocoli! I just chop the tops off of clean fresh brocoli & put some in the tank! I sometime chop up the brocoli & other times I just cut of the very tops......kind of shave off the dark green "bead-like" pieces!

Fresh brocoli doesn't muck up your tank & is probably better for the fish. Cooking removes some of the vitamins & goodies!

Try it raw, see if that helps!

It depends on the filter you have but I would just leave it and let it degenerate on its own. I think broccli is hard and bitter so you should try a clip with lettuce or peas.

HOPE THIS HELPS!

Thanks for all your advice, am not going to feed broccoli again after this, will stick to the other veggies ha ha. Just one more question, have done another water change again and think have got most of it now, but with all the hoovering of the gravel each time, notice that there are always bits floating about afterwards. I can never seem to get it completely clean with just hoovering. The water is brilliant, first time I have got nitrates down to 0 and everything else is perfect. Is the only way to get gravel completely clean by removing it and washing it? would it be better to remove some of the gravel so it could not accumulate so much debris, or am I just whittling too much. I do hate to see stuff floating about though

Gee I eat brocolli & find it tastes good! Especially raw! Don't give up on it! My goldies really like it! Since I use lots of veggies in my diet my goldies get a good bit EVERYDAY. I chop raw veggies daily for myself & as I go I drop some in the tanks. So they get chopped brocolli, baby carrots, squash, zucchini & etc. I even give them pieces of cooked chicken or tuna (in spring water only the oil kind is well....oily! )

I have noticed that when I am in the kitchen chopping veggies they gather at that end of the tank waiting for their share!

Oh! I often use my electric chopper to prepare MY veggies! I find at the bottom of the chopper smaller pieces collect. I take pinches of that & put in the tank it ALWAYS causes a feeding frendzy!! The fresh veggies never cloud the tank. And have all the good minerals & vitamins!

Miaowen- how much did you give them? I only feed like the size of half my littlest finger nail for a tank of 3 fish .

Whoops!................. Trinket, I think you have just solved the question about why I was left with it all over the tank, I obviously put far too much in, possibly about 10 times that much, well i know for the future now

It's very easy to overfeed fresh veggies to goldies, we forget about their little digestive tracts!

Once you get the measure right they'll love their veggies