[Piyoteru]

So I just got my betta this:

It's a mix of bloodworm, daphnia and mysis shrimp. He loves his pellets, but they're not very nutritious (they are Hikari Bio-gold). When I did his first feeding on frozen live foods he loved the bloodworms, but kept spitting out most of the shrimp. I can't just feed him these pellets and bloodworms. I know people have trouble getting betta onto pellets, but this time it's with shrimp.

What can I do to make him appreciate the goodness of shrimp?

 

[LittleBettaFish]

To be honest, none of my bettas have ever liked frozen mysis shrimp (or daphnia). I have a whole packet of mysis shrimp sitting in my freezer because my fish won't touch it, and these are wild bettas whose diet is made up solely of frozen and live foods.

While Hikari Bio-gold may not be the best quality pellet ingredient wise, it most likely still contains the necessary nutrients your fish requires.

Fish can be particular about food. Some of mine have very distinct likes and dislikes.

Usually the preferred method for transitioning a fish over onto another food is to basically starve them. However, I wouldn't want to take him off the pellets for the sake of frozen mysis shrimp as that alone is not a nutritionally complete diet.

You could just keep giving it to him and hope that familiarity breeds fondness.

 

[Piyoteru]

Thanks!

I'll keep that in mind, I had originally thought that the pellets were not so good because of discussion online about wheat being the main ingredient. Fish meal is listed first, so I guess it's not as bad.

I'll just interchange between the frozen mix and pellets throughout the week to see if he gets used to it. That packet is more than enough to last him for the rest of the year, I'd hate to see it wasted. ;p

 

[jessriggy]

I feed my betta exactly this (probably from the same store since we're both in Melbourne ) but haven't noticed which he prefers. I dont feed it often because it really dirties my tank. I'm actually defrosting a cube now to pick out some goodies, I'll let you know how it goes

 

[fish monger]

The pellets are probably the most balanced and nutritional staple diet you can provide for your betta. For a nutritious treat, I'd give him the frozen bloodworms. I wouldn't spend any effort on trying to force anything but the pellets.