I keep finding conflicting information on the best foods for Bettas. Here a lot of people seem to say that pellets are best, but other places say live and/or frozen is best. My mind tells me that frozen would be good, as it is the natural food (larvae) rather than pellets. That, and my Betta is very reluctant to eat any pellets yet. (I remove them after 15 mins so as to not foul the water, and I do pre-soak.)
So, can you feed Bettas solely on frozen (thawed before feeding of course) foods?
I'll be making yet another trip to the pet store today, and I plan to get some frozen food for my new Betta. I need to call and see what they have in stock though. I really want to try this, as he seems so listless. My thinking is maybe a better quality food (one he will actually eat) might help him perk up a bit.
I heard that feeding solely frozen blood worms can cause constipation but it is okay to feed a few a few times a week.
Something that Oldfishlady recommends, and something I tried yesterday and had great results with, is live mosquito larvae.
It may be getting too cold in some areas, but if you have standing water outside, you should have some in there. They are just little wiggling things. I pick em out carefully with tweezers (try not to kill em, and make sure you get the live ones) and dip then in de-chlorinzied water (I used a cup full with his tank water to rinse) and feed him! My betta lllllooooovvveeeedddd it!
It's okay if you accidently kill them with the tweezers, he didn't react any differently to the live to dead ones. Just make sure they are fresh.
It's kinda gross, digging around in nasty green water, but it REALLY made a difference for him. :]
Would mixing up different frozen foods keep the constipation issue away? Like not just bloodworms, but brine shrimp and Daphnia as well? All in moderation of course. ;)
Thanks for the tip on the mosquito larvae. I think it is too cold here now (I am in West Virginia), but I can check for critters. lol!
The key is variety really. You don't want to feed JUST frozen bloodworms, that'd be like you eating steak every day. Healthy once in a while, but not something you should have daily.
You CAN use just frozen foods, but you want at LEAST five different foods to mix it up with regularly, and you'll also still want to incorporate a good pellet food into their diet. Theres a lot of god beneficial stuff in pellets ;)
bad food only to be used sparingly----> freeze dried.
With any of those you need a mixture. You can not just feed one single food, you need a variety of foods so you get your fish the best possible nutrition you can. Feeding solely frozen blood worms will not make your fish healthy, however, they are better than feeding crappy pellets or freeze dried.
But, getting this picky boy to eat any pellets I feel is going to be a real challenge. He took one once, and spit it right out. This was even after pre-soaking.
wystearya, my first betta did the same thing with the pellets. I bought it at walmart (I don't remmeber the brand) and he hated them. So, I went and got frozen bloodworms and New Life Spectrum pellets from petco, and he loves the new pellets and of course the bloodworms :P I may have to go back and get daphnia and brine shrimp for some variety.
How long have you had the fish? It can sometimes take up to 2 weeks for the fish to feel comfortable enough to eat. Sometimes you have to practice tough love and not give them anything extra until they accept the pellet.
Good news! Not only is Topaz (my Betta) eating the frozen foods, he will now eat the pellets! I soak them in the liquid of the thawed brine shrimp, I think this makes them 'smell' more appealing to him. ;)
Anyway, he is active now and seems to be adjusted to his new home. I'm so happy about it, I always worry when they don't act right.
I can't wait to pick up some frozen bloodworms for Twinkle. Up until our new Petsmart opened up in town, nobody around here sold them. I'm really glad that we actually have a place nearby to buy them now.
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