Feeding Questions - Fasting 1day/week? Feeding daphnia as a preventative?

[DreamOn]

Hi everyone!

I'm still doing my research to make sure I do things right. :) I've picked up some Hikari Bio-Gold pellets for my future betta - these have been recommended by a lot of people from what I've heard, and 1-2 pellets 2x a day is a good amount to feed the little fish as well. Hope this is all right so far! So here are my questions:

Do you always fast bettas one day a week? So no food at all for that day?

Also, I've read a lot about bettas getting bloating issues or blockages in their little digestive systems, at which time you'd try feeding them daphnia. Does anyone give their betta daphnia once, like, weekly or every 2 weeks as a preventative measure and to kind of clean their systems out? Let me know if this is a good or bad idea.

Thanks so much!

[Vikki81207]

Hmm well this is my feeding schedule..
I feed 2 pellets every 12 hours. About 11 am & pm. Tuesday & Saturday morning I feed bloodworms. Sunday I fast them then Monday morning I feed shrimp (does same thing as daphnia) to make sure their tracts are cleared completely. So I guess if I could get my hands on some daphnia I would feed my bettas it every Sunday morning. Hope this helped a bit.

[Jupiter]

Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays I give my bettas 2 pellets in the morning before i leave for school (Usually between 7-8 ) and then feed them 2 pellets after dinner (again usually around 7-8 ). Wednesdays and Fridays I feed them freeze dried brine shrimp as a treat (which Felix doesn't seem to like, for some reason...). I fast them during the weekend, which is no feeding at all.
Saturday mornings I may feed them a pellet or two if they give me puppy eyes, lol.

[DreamOn]

That's very helpful, thank you! So freeze dried shrimp is fine? (no need to pursue frozen instead?) So many different options for fish food! But I'm pretty sure freeze dried is the most readily available in pet stores near me.

[dramaqueen]

I fast mine on Sundays, Mondays they get daphnia in the morning, wednesdays they get brine shrimp in the morning and Friday they get bloodworms in the morning.

[Jupiter]

Originally Posted by DreamOn

That's very helpful, thank you! So freeze dried shrimp is fine? (no need to pursue frozen instead?) So many different options for fish food! But I'm pretty sure freeze dried is the most readily available in pet stores near me.

Really, it's your preference...your bettas will love either.
I'm terribly squeamish and hated using frozen bloodworms to feed a newt I used to have...so I went with freeze dried this time. Even then, I still handle it with tweezers, lol.

[dramaqueen]

lol! I didn't even like to handle the freeze dried bloodworms when I first started feeding them to my bettas. They were too gross looking! But I got used to it.

[kelly528]

Hehe I still remember the time I politely declined a LFS manager's encouragement to try frozen food on my fish... 3 months later I am feeding my guys frozen daphnia, brine shrimp and bloodworms nearly every other day!

I strongly prefer it to freeze-dried foods because
a) They take on tons of moisture in the fish's stomach, causing them to bloat.
b) The freeze-drying process takes a good chunk of the vitamins and nutrients out of them.

So in effect, they are simply a treat. If you are feeding them with the intention to beef up your betta's diet, you have got the wrong food.

I am quite squeamish too (not to mention a germophobe), but I have managed not to contaminate anything to far using a few tricks:

1) Keep the pack (I like the blister pack format from Hikari) in a ziploc freezer bag so it will not come in contact with any food/surfaces in your freezer.
2) When you feed, pop a cube out of its blister straight into a brine shrimp net. Do this over your laundry-room sink.
3) Turn the tap on as hot as it will go and pour it on the cube. This will melt the cube and rinse all the yucky juice out at the same time.
4) Carry the net full of squirmies to the tank with a disposable cup under it to catch any drips.
5) Feed to your fish using tweezers or a pipette (hard to explain what it is lol. Google image it) designated espescially.
6) Seal the bag, throw it back in the freezer and rinse and dry your 'feeding kit' (net, cup and tweezers) out for next week.

[dramaqueen]

I always rehydrate my freeze dried food to help prevent digestive problems.