I tried mussels today. Both the SH and bichir snatched it immediately once it lands into the water. The SH grabbed and ripped it with such amazing force. Never seen it so enthusiastic with food. The particles from the mussels attracted all the fishes in my tank: Angelfish, Discus, Cory, Panda Gara, Goldfish, German Ram, Molly. I am surprised that discus is attracted as my discus are extremely picky. It took me 10 days to get them to eat.
A rough guide to mussel preparation:
Get to a supermarket.
Pick up a box of cooked mussels. Getting fresh mussel shells are not advised as it is tedious and messy to cook and remove it from the shell.
Run home immediately. Do not place it in your car for too long as the smell really stinks.
Wash them.
Cut them into small bits. Make sure they are small as ripping by the fish causes lots of tiny particles.
Wash again.
Shake it dry.
Store it immediately in the freezer.
Note:
Cutting is messy, be warned.
The juice from the mussels are smelly and dirty, try not to get it into your tank.
Ensure freshness by making it as cold for as long as possible, even during transport as mussels spoil real quickly even when cooked.
Do not use mussel shells that opens wide after cooking, it means that mussel is not fresh before cooking.
Must always wash as the juice is evil stuff.
Try to split it into separate portions before freezing as you do not want to refreeze mussels, it's real bad!
Seems like mussels are rather filling, try to use it in small increments.
Always remove excess food from the water.
From what I know, mussels are very nutritious, this applies for humans too! I meant mussels are very nutritious for humans, not humans are very nutritious.
PS: My friend didn't have such luck. Her bichir and SH did not eat the mussels.
Cheers.
