armadillo

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Allie

Not live but frozen blood worm & shrimp...which they PIGGED out on...Jasper gorged himself.

Tom

I feed mine live food, but it is only things I grow myself. It is the same food I got when I bought the killifish eggs and my 4 babys go nuts for them. Wow, I have 4 bettas.
Tom

azzman

haha you already know this, guppy fry.

neverendingninja

I was thinking about "growing" mosquito larvae for mine. It would take one, maybe two nights with a bucket of treated water on my back porch to get a FEAST for my betta.

Jacko

^ditto, only I have an old 29 gallon tank sitting out filled with water, just scoop the larvae out of that and it makes a great treat or breeding conditioning food. Plus if they are in a community tank the other fish love them as well.

phlox

I'd never feed live food (except maybe baby brine shrimp hatched myself). Live food too often contains parasites and diseases. Why expose my fish to this when there is so many choices of safe foods?

armadillo

OK. Thanks for the info guys.

I feed mine frozen bloodworms and larvae, but have never fed him anything live. What's stopping me is the risk of parasite.

I wondered if my own brine shrimp hatchery would reduce the risk, but I don't see how. Phloxface?

Azzman, still can't bring myself to do this, although as per our very long discussion on it way back when, I dont' really think it's wrong of you to do it or anything. Let's not get THAT one started again, LOL.

Jacko and NeverendingNinja, actually, I've had a 'mishap' with my algae farm. Somehow, some insect managed to get in and lay some eggs in there. Some have hatched into larvae. I wonder if it's safe. The water is treated with Prime, so perhaps it is (safe). So Jacko, you've never had a problem with this?

The eggs are about 1mm long, there's A LOT of them on the substrate, and they're a very thin, cylindrical shape. Could they be fly eggs? The larvae have many many may legs and are 1cm in length. They're white and, well, disgusting. They're very thin.

phlox

Hatching your own brine shrimp should be fine and free of diseases and parasites. That's the only live food I would give as there is no danger of passing on any disease or parasite.
I don't know about growing worms and so on yourself. Seems like a lot of work to me, but I would not buy live food elsewhere and feed it because you never know what else you'll be putting in your tank that shouldn't be there.

COBettaCouple

I feel safe feeding the bbs to our fish.. we hatch the eggs ourselves in clean, treated water and i don't see any way something harmful can get in.

armadillo

OK. Thanks, Dave and Phlox. I'll look into a BBS.

chickadee

A most definite unqualified NO.

Rose

armadillo

Why unqualified?

armadillo

Actually, why 'BBS'?

chickadee

I do not believe in giving bettas shrimp as it is a very rich food and after they are past the fry stage does not really provide all they need balanced against the unnecessary things that the adults do not need. Even the makers of the shrimp foods for bettas will recommend that they only be fed shrimp 3 or so times a week. I do not like live bloodworms or daphnia as they are very difficult to make sure that my spoiled little poos will eat all of and then I end up with growing livestock in the tank if I cannot get all of it back out.

Some of you may have better luck with your babies, but mine are just that: VERY Spoiled BABIES and they do as they please and I have gone through a whole bank account with my little angels trying to feed them. I have cut up raw liver on the advice of the folks in Tropical Fish Magazine, I have ordered and paid for all manner of fish foods that end up being dumped either in the trash or on some of my friends who also keep fish. I have done ALMOST everything they could ask of me, but I do draw the line at Beef Heart and Cyclopeeze and those things. I congratulate those of you to whom these things work but I can't afford them and taking the chance of them not eating them and having nowhere to go with them.

The freeze-dried foods contain all of the nutrition of the fresh food and as long as it is not given dry all the time, it is sometimes even preferable. Some of it is fortified and I have not had bettas refuse to eat them as long as I buy THEIR brand. The idea that they need a LOT of variety is not necessarily so. It really is up to the individual betta. I have a couple of bettas who like surprises and I have one who absolutely will not try anything but his two favorite foods, even the brand is important (he will not even touch pea treats, that is how the freeze-dried daphnia came to enter our dietary variety ~ EVERYBODY loves that!)

It is late and I am not sure that this has all been too sensible so if you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.

Rose

phlox

I'm not sure how much fresh cyclopeeze is or how difficult it is to store and feed but the freeze-dried ones I have are very cheap and my fish adore it even more than peas! This is the one I use: Tetra MicroCrabs Cyclop-eeze Granules

I highly recommend it as I have noticed a dramatic change in color and activity in my fish since using it. They practically jump out of the water and do somersaults when I feed them this stuff!

chickadee

Thanks, phlox, I am going to try to get some freeze-dried Cyclopeeze. The stcck was sold out in the small containers and will be back in stock tomorrow so I will order some then. I guess I had not been aware that they came freeze-dried. I am curious enough to try them that way.

Rose

COBettaCouple

our bettas loved the pellets we had with cyclopeeze in them.