P5BDeluxe

Hi i just bought some live tubifex worms from my LFS and i clean them properly before feeding my betta.I read on the web this tubifex worms are quite dirty lol but i think after cleaning them up they should be fine anyone beside me using live tubifex worms to feed ur betta?Any pros and cons?

Phloxface

Tubifex worms are a very low quality protein. I wouldn't recommend it. Personally, I wouldn't use live foods because of the risk of parasites. You could try frozen bloodworms if you insist on feeding worms. Tubifex are really not worth it.
Do make sure you are feeding green pea treats at least 3 times a week. Lots of protein will really constipate your fish and slow his digestion. Green pea will act as a laxative and keep him healthy. They also LOVE peas!
Feed a variety of foods, not always the same thing, to make sure he is getting the nutrition he needs.

P5BDeluxe

Alright got that thanks dude when im done with this this tubifex worms im going for the frozen one btwh ow do i use the frozen one?are they high in protein?Im actually going to buy the hikari betta bio gold soon and maybe im going to plan meal check list haha.Haven't try the peas yet going to soon thanks dude.

griffin

maybe you'll want to try the bloodworms? i think those are better than tubifex

P5BDeluxe

frozen bloodworms?Or live?Are they high in protein?

COBettaCouple

they're pretty good for protein. the frozen cubes of bloodworms are good. we'll drop one in a container that has some treated tap water in it and feed our bettas from it for up to a week. when we're done feeding, we put the lid on the container and store it in the fridge.

Phloxface

Never use live food of any kind. It's always loaded with parasites. Bettas get sick easy enough without any help.

COBettaCouple

Isn't that the truth!

griffin

i've found that live food can have benefits. i know my fish prefer live food over frozen. my puffer wouldn't even tough the frozen stuff after it had some live food.

you should be careful not to get food that's infected, but i don't think it's a "never use" situation.

Phloxface

I disagree. There are absolutely NO benefits to using live food over frozen nutritionally. The only thing live food has that the others don't is parasites. Bettas are so delicate to begin with.
There is no way to know if food is infected until after the fish is sick.

griffin

i guess we'll just agree to disagree then.

i know what my fish prefer, and i think the risk (if you're careful) is minimal. i agree it's not zero risk, but really, what is?

(i intend for none of this to be offensive, but i do want to state my position)