Corn?

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Energy

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MFK Member
Dec 4, 2005
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Tropical Minnesota
We have some pretty nice corn fed women here in Minnesota:naughty:. I thought maybe I would try it with my Stingrays. Today was the first attempt. I thawed out some frozen corn and mixed it in with the stingrays normal slurry. I let it all soak for about 15 minutes before attempting to feed them.

About half of the stingrays have mouthed the corn and eaten the soft parts out of the kernels. I will keep it up and see if they will start accepting it on a regular basis. I think I will also incorporate peas and possibly carrots.

MY RATIONAL: The rays have eaten every single plant (including Anubias and Bamboo!!) in my 1700 gallon system so I think some vegetation must be a part of their diet in the wild.

Anyone see a concern or possible health issue? NOTE: I do wash the corn first to eliminate possible pesticides.

Has anyone tried anything similiar?

Cheers

Stan:thumbsup:
 
Most predatory fish ingest plant matter through the gut contents of the herbivorous species they prey upon,i dare say it is benificial if you can get your rays to eat greens but im not sure about corn,this is one of the foods that we as people eat but apparently has little nutritional value as it passes straight through the gut undigested.
 
Personally i would never give corn to my rays, for the reasons listed above... But i belive that it`s a good idea to add some kind vegetabiles to their diet. - I use peas, spinach and spirulina in my home made mix. Don`t really know if this is the ideal combination, but i do have a good feeling...
 
i agree greens are probably quite good for them as for the corn have you ever eaten sweetcorn and then not seen it the next day?
sorry to be grim but it goes straight through so is probably the same for the rays.
 
Anyone see a concern or possible health issue?
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As already mentioned, corn is very difficult to digest, especialy in a raw uncooked state, as is a lot of terrestrial based plant matter.

While peas are easier on the digestion system, in an uncooked state they are also a poor food choice for fish. Peas contain anti-nutritional matter, such as tannins, protease inhibitors, and phytic acid. The presence of these anti-nutrients in untreated foodstuffs normally results in anorexia, reduced growth and poor feed efficiency when used at high dietary concentrations. For review see NRC (1983), Hendricks & Bailey (1989) and Lovell (1989).

Also, the anti-nutritional factors found in peas can vary greatly from crop to crop & season to season. Something as simple as dry weather, or a cold spell, can push tannin levels up drastically. Overall raw uncooked peas are not nearly as healthy for a fish as many people believe.

There are far better alternatives, such as wafers/pellets that contain algae meal, spirulina, etc, or in a frozen mix spinach, spirulina, algae/nori, etc would also be far better than using raw uncooked peas.
 
Well I tried Peas and the Rays liked it about as much as my kids.:nilly: They have sucked the soft part out of the corn but of course neither has been there first choice.

I will continue with the corn and pea feed as a supplement to see if they will adapt as long as I don't see a negative health reaction. I understand about digestion issues but corn must have a softer husk than the shell of a live shrimp or crab which is part of their normal diet. They may benefit from a little "ruphage" in their diet.

Would chopped spinach then be a good alternative?
 
Gshock;4934164; said:
The outer layer of corn is pretty tough to digest. Might not be a good idea if they were to swallow those too.
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i would have to agree. It's not even good for us
 
You can lead a horse to water ........
 
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