Teaching fry to eat flakes.

[mand]

I think i read on here somewhere that putting a newborn baby guppy in with the Betta fry will help the fry eat crushed flakes. They follow the guppy's example. Is this true?
I just managed to catch a newborn guppy from my community tank, first time i've managed to catch one as the female bettas get them before i do. It looks about the same size as the Betta fry. So is it safe to add in with the Betta fry? will it help them to accept non live food? Anybody tried this?

[indjo]

If the guppy is smaller than the betta, it is safe to put them together. But IME most betta fry won't eat flakes (or pelets). I've often tried this hoping the betta's will eat man made food. But the fact is, the guppies will out ..... eat .... guppies would eat anything. Perhaps if you only used one or two guppy fry it would work.

Perhaps it's best to wait another month before you introduce non living food (if they're as big as a guppy fry). I usually give very small amounts of non living foods with also a small amount of living food. Then I add more non living and reduce the living food as the fry are more used to them.

If you ever try this, keep us posted on how it goes.

[mand]

Thanks indjo, i've managed to catch 3 guppy fry so i'm going to give it a go. Now that i've compared sizes the betta fry are definantly larger than the guppy's.

[Oldfishlady]

After reading about an experiment by a Betta breeder years ago and how she seen a marked improvement in Betta fry growth and change in eating habits when she added guppy fry to the Betta fry grow-out tank...I had to try it myself......and I have to say I did see a slight change...the Betta fry are forced to become more active and be more aggressive at feeding time if they want to eat and would eat the crushed flakes earlier or at a younger age and they did seem to grow a bit faster than their siblings in a different tank...the guppy fry need to be smaller than the Betta fry to start and exchanged on a regular basis because the guppies did out-grow the Bettas

I noticed this behavior with Betta fry in a different setting too-when I kept the male and female long term with their fry for multi spawns....when I fed my homemade food he would blow some of the food out his gills and mouth and the fry would eat this non-live food at a younger age...I can't really say he was feeding his fry....but it sure looked like it...lol.....

[mand]

Thanks Oldfishlady, i'm going to add them in with the Betta fry and see how it goes.

[leeb62]

I have also tried this with my black plantium frys and it does help the betta fry get used to other foods. Good luck though.

[indjo]

You guys are lucky - your betta fry would eat man made food. In my experience with guppy fry as "teachers" most betta fry loose in the struggle for food and die or become very small. But then again I usually put in a whole batch or two. I should try putting in only a few of them........

[leeb62]

Yeah, I only used 1 guppy fry with my 3 babies and the guppy fry helped my 3 get used to the first bite. I was feeding them bbs and they only touch that until I added the guppy in and he was eating anything so they just copy him lol it was funny watching it.

[Dragonlady]

The majority of betta fry will accept non-live foods better after at least 3 weeks old. Pulverized pellets and crushed flake are usually accepted by all betta fry by 4 weeks old.