When giving my Mbuna a romaine lettice leaf I always took it out after a few hours to avoid contaminating the tank.

My baby BN Plecos never stopped munching on one I put in for them, so I left it until they reduced it to a couple of skeletal veins in about 5 days.

Did I use bad judgment by leaving it in that long? Do I overprotect my Mbuna?

This is advice I got from an LFS in about 1976, so I realized I should double check!

Maybe the title should have been: "Lingering LFS luddite asks: Lamentable to leave lettuce leaves languishing in liquid for lustrous Labidochromis?"

LOL! the Clap

I'll feed a lettuce leaf to my lads'n'lasses once or twice a week to supplement the NLS & occassional Spirulina tablets/frozen brine shrimp treats.

I typically clip a lettuce leaf in place mid-evening, though by the morning there is little left but the bare stem to remove!

What the Mbuna don't eat, my 3x Syno's go crazy for, then at lights-out, my Plec gets the chance to feast before returning to his staple...

Long and short? I'm not sure what the adverse affects of leaving vegetation in the tank are - my guys'n'gals don't give me the chance to find out!

Sorry - I just read this back and realised that my diatribe was absolutely no help to you whatsoever, was it?!? I liked your alliteration though! :blink: blinky :blink:

Cheers!

Like WL, my fish eat the veggies pretty quickly, so I don't really know how long is safe to leave it in the tank.

I don't think I would leave it in more than a day or so though, but I have nothing to base this on. idunno

I just think of vegetables sitting in warm water spoiling quickly and polluting the water. If you had your lettuce for five days and the fish were still working on it, it must have been okay.

I think (if I'm not mistaken, and I often am!) it's the temperature of the water with the food that causes the bacterial growth and potential problems.

I wouldn't leave veggies in more than a few hours. As soon as mine tend to stray away from it and the frenzy dies down, I remove it.

Kim