I feed mine freeze dried blood worms once a week or once every other week. Never an issue. What I do is rotate the treat. I rotate between bloodworms and mysis. Daphnia occasionaly the day before I fast and you don't need to feed your betta a pea. You don't really need to feed it a Pea ever for that matter.

 

I heard of "Daphnia" but have no idea what it is, or how to get it..What exactly is it??:-?

 

What I do in more detail. I alternate for 5 days a week between flakes and pellets. 1 day a week they get a treat of either bloodworms, mysis or daphnia (sometimes live ants) and 1 day I fast them.

I am not recommending this I was just trying to illustrate that bloodworms are okay as long as you use them as a treat once a week. You can even buy them in flake form.

 

Yeah I heard about pea's and such being bad. I wonder who her local breeder is then. She was also feeding them 6 Bloodworms a day.

 

Yea thats a little to much in my opinion. I feed mine like one or two depending on the fish. Some of my piggys can eat. I don't think they are necessarily bad. I just don't use them. People use them for bloat. I use daphnia for that instead. Peas are unnecessary.

 

Well, it depends on whether you were buying freeze-dried, frozen, or live bloodworms. Each comes with their own set of problems. Some bettas get constipated after eating the freeze-dried ones (especially if they're fed FD bloodworms as a main part of their diet), and live bloodworms always have the risk of parasites coming in with them. Frozen would probably be your best bet, but they don't keep for long, and if you only have a few bettas to feed, it'll be a massive waste of money. Personally, I've never had issues with feeding my fish freeze-dried bloodworms, but then again, I only give the bloodworms twice a week in very small quantities as a treat.

There's a big argument of sorts when it comes to feeding bettas peas. Some say that it works for them, but personally, I'm in the camp that says it's not good for them. It irritates their digestive system enough to expel any blockage, but ruins their delicate stomachs bit by bit.

 

Well, I'm assuming these were freeze-dried bloodworms. They were in cubes, so I'm not sure how I was actually supposed to feed them... I have three betta's so it probably would be okay for the cost. Plus, I would only feed them bloodworms twice a week.

Yeah, everyone around seems to have a different perspective on pea's. All in all, I hate that petstore, the Betta's were practically sitting in their own waste.

 

If they are cold and in cubes they are frozen. I sugest the ones you find in the fish food aisle (the freeze dried) once a week. Just one or two depending on how much yours eat. They will eat the poo out of the flake version. it doesn't have to be in wormy form.

As mentioned by deso, the frozen ones don't keep and the live ones can have nasty's. I personally wouldn't risk it. Plus I prefer the freeze dried since they last a long time.

 

Sounds better than the frozen ones. I havn't seen any freeze dried ones in Aus, but hopefully I'll be able to find them soon

 

I no longer feed freeze dried to any but Hannibal. Risk of constipation is too great but he seems to have an iron stomach.

This is the diet I feed all but Hannibal:
- Pellets
- Frozen blood worms. You can cut/break small amounts to thaw that way you don't waste any. This is what I used to do but now I have enough that a cube is used up within 24 hours.
- Frozen mosquito larvae
- Live/frozen brine shrimp
- Frozen daphnia if constipated.

I feed 2 different kinds of pellets. Most get the NLS betta pellets. Hannibal, Odin, and Uther get a bigger pellet (I forget the brand at the moment).
I vary their diet from day to day and they have 1 fast day a week, The only time they don't fast is when I am conditioning for breeding.

 

Thank you Enkil! I'll try and follow the same feeding methods you have in place for your bloodworms and so forth.

 

Thank you Enkil! I'll try and follow the same feeding methods you have in place for your bloodworms and so forth.

Enkil's is a good place to start. She's got the brains for this for sure. You can try it and revamp as necessary until you develop your own methods. :-D Now you can go back to the store and get those blood worms! Don't ever let a store keeper tell you they know more than you. Trust your instincts and you have us to back you up.

 

It works for me. Everyone has their own methods.

I thaw the frozen foods in a little tank water.

 

You can get it at the petsore in these wheel things.

Daphnia is a tiny crustacion (I know I didn't spell that right)

I get the zoo med dial a treat wheels for mine. http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Labs-Betta-Dial-A-Treat/dp/B003ZWCTZO

 

here's a link about daphnia http://lhsfoss.org/fossweb/teachers/materials/plantanimal/daphnia.html

 

Honestly I feed some of my wild species of bettas nothing but live blackworms, whiteworms, frozen bloodworms and frozen brineshrimp with the occasional feeding of pellets in between. I have never had an issue with constipation or blockage because of their diet. In fact they are some of my healthiest fish and are always spawning or sparring.

As long as you are not going overboard and your betta doesn't look like it has swallowed a marble after feedings, frozen bloodworms are a readily accepted treat by most bettas.

I don't like freeze-dried or flake food as I feel that does have the potential to cause issues, but if you are mindful of the amount you are feeding, frozen bloodworms are perfectly fine.

 

I use frozen blood worms. I just pop out 1 cube and put it in a bag. I sit the bag on my counter and give it a bit of time to thaw. Once it is "slushy-like" I break it apart an spread it throughout the bag in a thin layer. Then place it back in the freezer. Then when Teeney gets a blood worm, all I have to do is hold my fingers around the bag in one spot and it thaws instantly since it is in a very thin layer. I use a stainless steel butter knife to remove the worms

 

Wow..very interesting -Thanks Shirley

 

Yea freeze dried is a risk but I feed that sparingly as you saw.You have to figure out what is easier for you. Feeding it the correct way is key and I have never had a problem. Except right now, my new boy is refusing his food and holding out for blood worms. When I buy a new fish I like to treat them to something and after the blood worm he wants nothing else.

 

I buy the frozen daphnia that comes in cubes. I tend to feed it once a week to one every other week. I haven't had a problem with constipation yet. I just make sure to have it on hand just in case.

I have also been feeding pellets less and less. It really depends on what you are comfortable with and the individual fish. When we first got Hannibal, all he would eat was freeze dried blood worms. Now he eats anything I give him, but it was a slow process. Each of my bettas has their own tastes:
Uther prefers mosquito larvae. They are his favorites. I don't argue with him. If I have leftovers from feeding the rest of them, he usually gets more the following day.
Sholto favors brine shrimp.
Conchenn is my little piggie. She will eat anything and everything. She really loves blood worms and live ants though. We have sugar ants and I learned when one fell in the tank she loves them. So now I will get them from time to time and feed them to her and a couple of the others.
Odin only really like pellets and mosquito larvae. He has sight problems.

 

Thanks everyone! I'll be sure to go back to the pet store to get some frozen bloodworms and possibly some Daphnia.

live ants though

Live ants? Do you buy these or just get your ordinary backyard ant? I'm assuming their safe to feed?

 

Ants are fine occasionally but not recommended if you have your home/yard sprayed with any chemicals.

 

I get mine around the house. We have sugar ants. Don't use any chemicals on them. We have a natural pest killing spray we use from time to time, but I make sure to get only live ants that have not been sprayed and are not near an area that has been sprayed.

 

Yep I do the same. I put them in there live and the fish love them. I get them in my house sometimes and when I see them I occasionaly will throw one in their tanks.