So, trying to get my betta to eat a more varied diet. I gave him bloodworms yesterday, and he's decided that he never wants to touch pellets again, but will rush over when he sees a blood worm.
What could I do to entice him to eat pellets and things?
What do you feed your fish to get a lot of variety? I know flakes aren't considered the best, but are the acceptable as a form of variety in a mixed diet? Want to give him as many food options as possible. If I can get him to eat anything else!
Considering what he's going through(read my thread in the emergency/sick betta section) what would be the best staple for his diet right now? I know I'm supposed to get daphnia to help constipation, but is that something that is also sometimes fed as a snack? Or is it pretty strictly SBD medication?
Swim Bladder Disease (SBD)/Bloat
•Symptoms: Betta has trouble swimming, maybe he can’t stay upright and can only swim on his side.
•Treatment: This is not a contagious or fatal illness. If it isn’t congenital (aka a condition that he/she has had since birth), then it is caused by over feeding or feeding the wrong foods. Bettas will typically recover after a day or two of Epsom Salt treatments (1-2tsp/gal) and fasting. You can help prevent a reoccurrence by switching to a better pellet food, feeding less and offering a more varied diet. To make it easier for the betta to eat and breath, you can make the water shallower. You can offer him/her frozen daphnia (sold at Petsmart) as daphnia will help him/her pass stool. DO NOT FEED THEM PEAS.
Hi purple,
You will need to ensure you are fasting him as per above treatment. Have you been feeding him whilst treating with ES? If so halt that for now unless it is daphnia.
Once he has recovered from SBD you can try garlic juice soaking pellets, flakes and so on. It entices them, although I have never had a problem with my Bettas and the pellet food I use thus far. *knocks wood*
Also, food may have been the cause of his SBD if it isn’t of good quality. If the food is good quality be careful not to overfeed. Once he has recovered, I highly recommend Hikari pellets. They are relatively small, I usually feed 2-3 pellets once in the morning, repeat in the evening.
Bettas can go without food for up to 2 weeks, so don’t panic about fasting him for more than a few days. It is a critical part of this treatment, fasting stops overeating, ES and daphnia gets rid of what is stuck in him and causing the SBD.
So in summary, do not feed him whilst treating for SBD. Daphnia is ok, but nothing else. Once recovered you can then go back to normal food, but be careful to use quality food to prevent a reoccurance. Hope this helps :)
Ah, see I was told to feed him after a few days. I fasted him for a few days. I'll stop for now. The pellets are the hikari bio gold. Should I change them?
Once all is well again try garlic juicing them to reintice his interest. But I wouldn't be suprised if he is just feeling worse for wear with SBD and not really interested in food unless it's high protein.
I never heard to fast them the entire treatment period as it can go for over a week.. It's the freeze dried foods that are treats, as they can bloat if not properly pre-soaked in tank water.
Wait him out if the garlic juice doesn't work. He knows pellets, has eaten them and when hungry enough he will eat them. He just won't when he knows if he waits long enough you will offer him a worm. Pellets have the different types of nutrients needed for them, why they are considered the proper staple food, with frozen being right behind it.
It is true that they can go without food for two weeks, but that is only for healthy bettas, not ones that are sick or weak in any way, and even when healthy, at the end of the two weeks they are very near death. It's best to keep their strength up and nutrition. So I believe your prior advice on fasting them for 2-3 days was correct and you should definitely be trying to feed him now.
People say there is a jar of garlics you can buy.. use the juice that is in the jar. (I've never had to use this treatment, so unsure exactly what it is called)
Or you could buy fresh garlic cloves, crush them up and put it in some water and let it sit for a little bit then soak the pellet you are about to feed in the water with the garlic in it for a few seconds prior to feeding it.
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