IAL and feeding questions

[osromatra]

Ok, two different questions. I keep seeing stuff about Indian Almond Leaf. I don't know what it is, where to find it, what it's for, etc. My betta is not sick or injured, does he need it to prevent illness or is it more for when they get sick/injured? Will the tannins hurt his tank mates (mollies and platies)?

Second, he is a pig. He is eating their flakes in addition to his own food (NLS, I feed him 2-3 pellets 2x a day, normally, but he just keeps eating their food, so now I feed him 2 pellets in the AM and that's it, and he eats some of their tropical flakes.)

Since he does this, and I can't train him to stop, I've thought about maybe getting a high quality flake. He has no qualms about eating flakes. He does love his pellets, but really, he eats anything. What is a good quality flake that would be ok for everyone? I can give them veggie matter as a separate feeding, I know they definitely need some vegetation in their diet.

Thanks!

[Laki]

IAL is very beneficial to bettas. The tannins it releases helps to strengthen their immune systems and toughen them up (Plakat fighters in Asia use IAL) and they're used for breeding.
I don't know about their affects on mollies. Someone else might.
I get my IAL from AquaticMagic on ebay, most other members here buy from Kim (just search Kim's Cattapa leaves)

Flakes should generally be avoided because of the amount of air the betta sucks in while eating them. While, yes technically they breathe from the surface, while thet eat they would swallow the air (not through the labrynth organ) and it could cause bloat. Since those flakes are a general tropical fish flake it might not be high enough in protein. You might consider feeding him in a separate bowl, like those betta cups they're sold in. He will willingly go in for food. Then feed the other fish and re-release. Someone might have a better idea but I don't keep a community tank so I don't know how others do it.

Pellets are the way to go though. A high protein one like NLS is great. No, they don't need vegetation. Whatever "non-meat" sources they need is in the pellet- some people feed pea to reduce a bloated betta but that's on occasion. Bettas are carnivores and as such, do much better on a carnivore fishy diet.

[osromatra]

I was thinking it might be more stressful to cup him to feed him than to use a flake. The only thing I haven't tried is feeding the mollies late, they go to "bed" late, and he tends to go to bed early. Maybe that can minimize it. Of course, the one platy (was told it was a molly, but now I know it's a platy) goes to bed early, so she'd not get much food.

Oh and I meant the mollies and platies needed the veggies, I know the betta doesn't.

[Laki]

Oh! lol I know with my bettas, there's no "sneaking" food in there! No matter lights on or off. I used to try to hide bloodworms in pockets I created in the gravel and covered with a decoration for my assassin snails but the bettas just.. Well, they tried EVERYTHING to get that food. I eventually had to remove my assassin snails from the tank.

[aemaki09]

Omega one tropical flakes are probably the best flake option that is easily available.
Otherwise if you want to take pellets completely out of the equation, you could go with omega one betta flakes and add some veggies here and there for the mollies and platies.