atmmachine816

Well I was able to get a crowntail betta from a LFS today, looks really healthy too, surprisingly clean cup too. My little sister named him spikey since it's her's. It's a male crown tail, with red tail fading to blue body, though no pics as I don't have a digital camera. He currently has a 2.5 gallon tank but might be getting a 5.5 gallon tank as they just went on sale and I might be selling his 2.5 gallon tank . He has a buetiful home with a crypt, some anarchis, and combamba, and a gentle filter. Right now I have frozen blood worms, betta pellets, omega one tropical and veggie flakes, freeze-dried tubliflex worms for food. I know the flakes shouldn't be fed much as they can't eat them as well as they can eat the pellets and the bloodworms not to much either. Is there any other food I should get him? I made sure this time the tank is cycled too, levels are all good.

Austin

chickadee

No, sounds good to me, let me know how many of the things he will eat. You have a good balanced diet for him, are you going to feed him peas too?

Congratulations, ATM. I know you have worked hard to get his home ready for him. I hope he does well and you enjoy him. He will love the new tank if you can get it.

Spikey, welcome to the Betta Board. My little guys, Alex and Marty welcome you too.

Rose

atmmachine816

Tell me how to feed peas and I shall, I'll tell you what he says once he gets in his home as I'm going to go finish cleaning my large tanks and finish his acclimating period .

austin

chickadee

You need FROZEN peas and it is quite simple.

Take one pea and put it on a saucer and NO WATER - microwave it 30 seconds or just to defrost it.

Skin the outside tough skin off.

Cut a small piece of the pea off (half the size of the fish's eye - tiny I know)

Cut that piece in 3 pieces and put a piece on your fingertip or a clean plastic spoon and slide it into the water.

Before you do it though I would fast the little fish for 1 day so he is hungry and will eat the pea right away. Sometimes if they are full of other food they will not eat the peas. Usually after the first time they eat them they will not need to be fasted, they will eat them right away because they like them. Just do not feed them peas at the same time as other food.

Any questions?

Rose

atmmachine816

Ok how do I peel it though, does it come right off? How often should I feed him these a week? Also He's in his tank now with no lights to get used to to, when should I feed him? He says thanks for the welcome and likes his new home.

Austin

chickadee

The outer peel on a frozen pea is VERY easy to remove. There a two little green pea halves inside. You will see what I mean the first time you do it. He should have this 2 times a week. He should have small meals 2 times a day and the pea is not a meal. When you give him a pea that is a TREAT. Feed 3 times that day.

Meals are:

Either 2or 3 pellets OR 6 or 7 worms NO MORE if you feed him more he is going to get constipated, I promise and he can die of constipation. He can have pellets in the morning and worms at night or pellets one day and worms another day but not both in the same meal.

Have fun with him and don't forget to talk to him and spend time with him to bring out his personality.

Rose

atmmachine816

Ok thank you very much, now I just have to convince my mom to let me get the 5.5 gallon tank that's on sale for him and he'l have tons of room and with all the plants he has he'l have a lot of exploring to do. Think He'l eat at 6.45 in the morning because that's when I leave the house for school?

Austin

chickadee

Just keep us informed on how he is doing okay?

Rose

atmmachine816

Ok

Butterfly

Sounds great ATM!! congrats!
Carol

cherryrose

atmmachine816

Ya it isn't near what I'd like it to be, I'm going to try and get a few more pants over xmass break. He's survived almost a day now and doing pretty good.

LZ Floyd

Hi Spikey! I think you'll like your new home.

atmmachine816

He says yes.


I'm having a hard time feeding him. He won't eat freeze-dried tubiflex worms, wardley betta bites, omega one veggie and tropical flakes. Only thing he would eat was part of a pea. I haven't tried frozen blood worms yet though he can't have that as his only food. He ate the pellet the spit it back out and ate a flake then spat it back out shredded. Should I try a different type of pellets, or crush up the flakes more, what else can I try? Sorry feeding betta's is not a strong point and I need some help.

Thanks

Austin

chickadee

ATM,

The Wardley pellets are too big for them to swallow. The only pellets that I have found that are actually small enough for bettas are the Hikari Betta Bio-gold (which are sold everywhere) and the Ocean Nutrition Atison's Betta Formula and Betta Pro Pellets (both are smaller than the Bio-gold and are suitable for baby bettas as well as adults)

If you feed the Betta Bio-gold he should have 2-3 pellets for a meal but with the Atison's pellets they are tiny and he could have 5-6 pellets for a meal. (If he is full-grown, if not then he should only have 3 pellets but eat more often)

I am glad that he will eat the pea. That is a good sign. You will be able to keep him healthy if you keep up with the pea routine and regular fish care.

Rose

atmmachine816

all right, thank you very much, I'll try and get some asap, will bloodworms be sufficient till I can?

chickadee

Yes, if he will eat them. Just watch how many you give him. They are very rich and I do not know how old he is. He needs the protein to grow if he is young but he also needs to have his greedy little appetite controlled a bit. No more than 6 or so per meal.
(and the peas are even more important with him eating bloodworms or tubifex although bettas will not usually eat tubifex)

Rose

AesSedai

Nice job Austin! You sure thought and worked this out perfectly. It sounds like Spikey is going to be one happy Betta! The advice here is so great.

Hi ((Spikey))

atmmachine816

Well he's still living, that's good as the last two didn't do to well. I'm giving him bloodworms and I'm hoping tomorow night after going to my sisters concert we can stop at the petstore and pick up some food for him.

And the good news, I have two bids on my tank on another forum and I just might be able to get the 5.5 gallon tank

Yes the advice is good thanks a lot to Rose and other members too, it sure helps having people specializing in certain fish, and yes I made sure I had the stuff right this time but didn't realize I had bad food, o well wardley isn't good anyways, I was just using it as a substitue for a week but that didn't work out.

Good Job Rose we all appreciate your willigness to help us with our bettas with your knowledge of them, and can't foreget the otos and now cories.

Austin

chickadee

Thanks, ATM, but it is not a hard thing when you love doing it.

I am so happy that SPIKEY is doing well.

Rose

atmmachine816

Haha ya, I haven't specialized in anything yet because I can't with only one large tank so I'm just learning about all the fish I can, I just have to wait then I'm gona have tons of fish, going to work out some sort of betta system when the tanks are filtered and heated on one system. Just gota keep them healthy though because if one gets sick the rest have the chance but it's much easier that way.

Austin

atmmachine816

Hey I got omega one gourmet pellets because they didn't have any other types you said, are they ok?

chickadee

They are not as big as the Wardley and you can try them but my bettas could not eat them because of their size. I am so sorry that I did not mention that if you could not find THOSE brands you should probably not waste the money and just feed bloodworms. As long as you feed the peas a couple times a week and do not overfeed the bloodworms, he will be fine on those. I just cannot imagine a fishstore that does not carry Hikari Betta Bio-gold pellets....that is one of the most common food for bettas. Even Walmart carries them.

Well, good luck on the feeding. I am sure that SPIKEY will do well. You are certainly working hard enough at it, but do remember that it is easy to almost go bankrupt trying to find food for a betta. Just try to find out what they fed him in the store and go with that for a back up food with the bloodworms. (unless it is flakes, they are so hard for them to eat)

Just be patient and hope he does well for you.

Have a good time with him and let us know how he is doing.

Rose

atmmachine816

If I crush up omega one flakes real small he loves them. I googled the hikari type and the lfs used to have them but I couldn't find any maybe they'l have them later. Over xmass break I'm going to a big store that's like a warehouse and maybe they'l have them there, I hope so. The bloodworms are just annoying to feed, I just break off a small junk let them thaw then feed five to my betta and give the rest to my harlequins.

Thanks

Austin

chickadee

That is why I use the Freeze-dried bloodworms. As long as you do not overfeed them, they are as safe and nutritious as the frozen ones. My fish love them and they are so easy to handle. Marty will not eat anything else. The others are more reasonable and will eat pellets too. Blaze is going to at least have the opportunity to eat both and hopefully will be reasonable little betta .

Rose

atmmachine816

I had the freeze-dried ones and my last betta wouldn't touch them so I gave them to a friend. I just hope this guy doesn't become to loving towards flakes as I don't know how good it is for them. I'll just try different stuff.

Do they eat fruit or veggies?

chickadee

They are carnivores so most of their diet needs to be protein and that means something with some fish or shrimp or krill or some type of Bloodworms. The problem is that a lot of the foods MADE for bettas are not made with bettas in mind. The manufacturers must have been using GIANTS when they designed the food as the bettas cannot get it into their mouths let alone swallow. I can see many betta owners doing, as Phloxface said, a betta Heimlich manuever trying to dislodge chunks of food out of their bettas throats....EEK!!! You could try to take some of the Omega One pellets and break them in pieces and hope he will eat them before they sink, but remember that one of those pellets is probably going to be the meal...no more food because it is equal to more than one pellet in regular food size. I never had much luck doing it but it is worth a try, if your little one will eat flakes he may do it.


I know how you feel as far as having to keep looking for food as I have boxes of food that my little darlings have turned their noses up at. I have probably spent a month's salary on the stuff and now I am wishing I knew someone else that had fish that would eat it.

Well, I can sympathize but I do not know what else to tell you. The Hikari Betta Bio-gold is still the very best bet if the betta is anywhere near full grown. Otherwise it will be too big also and you will have to order the Ocean Nutrition Atison's Betta Pro.

http://www.petsmart.com/global/produ...N=2030063&Ne=2

http://www.petsmart.com/global/produ...+Pro&N=2023693

I am just sending the links so you have an idea what I am suggesting.

Rose

atmmachine816

Thank you for the links though I don't think I'll be needing them. I cut the pellets in half and he ate both halfs and is looking for more, should I feed him another pellet or just do one like you said. he hasn't eaten a whole lot in the last week since I'v just figured out a system in which I can feed him early in the morning and at night with me getting up so early?

Austin

chickadee

You cannot make up for lost meals or you will have him sick. One of those at a time please. If you want to give him 3 meals a day this weekend that is okay but no more than one pellet at a time and not for more than 2 days then back to 2 meals a day like usual. Otherwise you are asking for constipation and a very sick betta. He can always have more pea treats during the week if you do not think he is eating enough, but no more than 2 protein meals a day after this weekend and they should be small ones too. When he gets a bit bigger, you may be able to give him one and a half pellets but it is too soon for that.

Rose

atmmachine816

Ok thank you very much, should I substitute a protein meal two or three times a weak for veggie or tropical flakes since he seems to like them a lot? Yes I thought it Might make him sick and is it ok that he always looks hungry when I come to his tank and look at him right?

Austin