Underweight betta; getting a betta to put on weight

Hi all!
I rescued a betta a month or so ago

Athena lived in a 1.5 L (now in ~27 liter tank) vase for 2 years before i got her and really isn't in good shape. She's very boney and while her colour is getting a bit better she hasn't managed to put on any weight.
I feed her:
Blood worms 1-2 x per week
Hikari bio gold 5 x per week (1-2 pellets per feed twice a day)
fasted 1 x per week

I used to feed her nutrafin max flakes but she has buoyancy issue when i feed them so i stopped (my other betta is fine with them though and so are the snails ).

What would you guys change to help her gain weight?
I could buy her frozen brine shrimp/daphnia?
How many times per day should i feed her?

I'm still quite new to bettas so I'm a bit unsure still and very worried about her getting bloated.

Thank you!

I'll add a photo when I'm home if that helps

 

Is her stomach sunken in at all? Have you noticed any long, clearish poops? Parasites might be an issue, hard to tell though without pictures and other symptoms.

If she currently is not bloated then I would increase the amount you are feeding to 3 pellets x2 day and skip the fasting day. My male easily eats 6-8 pellets depending on the day and he only gets fasted if I'm too busy and miss a feeding. He has never been bloated.

Brine shrimp is just protein and exoskeleton so it probably won't help much to beef her up nor does it have much nutritional value.

 

Hi there. When animals (or people) are severely malnourished it's best to take things slow. Feeding too much food too fast can result in the death of the animal.

FoldedCheese made a good point about the pellets. 1-2 pellets per feed is not enough for an adult beta fish. I would defiently up that amount like they said. Parasites are also an issue, which was already stated. Many fish who are emaciated from malnourishment will have a head that appears larger than the back part of the body when viewed from above whereas fish bothered by parasites will often have sunken in stomach.

To begin with, the eye ball rule is not entirely accurate. This is for a few reasons. Assuming you are going off of this rule by the part of the eye you can actually see, that would be having you feed roughly 2-4 average pellets a day, which again is not enough for an adult beta. Betas should have a rounded belly after eating. That is a sign of a well fed fish who had a good meal, not a sign of bloat. Let the fish eat as much as it wants to in the time that they are allowed. Rounded bellies are only a problem if it doesn't go away within the next day. Bloat is more often than not caused by what the fish eats, rather than how much they eat. Cruddy foods with fillers like corn meal or wheat are not good for betas, since they are insectivores, and can cause bloat and other problems over time. Unfortunately although it is a trusted brand, I have heard that Hikari bio gold is not the best for betas either.

Here are some good foods that might help your beta gain some weight. Freeze Dried or Dry food must be soaked before feeding it as it swells to almost twice it's size in water and can cause internal damage over time.

Live
Grindal Worms (fatty and can help fish put on weight)
White Worms (fatty and can help fish put on weight)
Mysis
Microworms
Springtails
Dusted Fruit Flies
Daphina
Scuds
Vinegar eels

Frozen
Homemade Beta Gello
Frozen Hikari Tubifex Worms
Supplemented Bloodworms (not much nutritional value without supplements and should only be fed as a treat)
Supplemented Daphina

 

Thank you for the replies cdwag29 and foldedcheese!
Her stomach seems a little sunken but the most noticeable thing is the dip from her head to her back.
It was hard to get a good photo but ive attached a few to see if that helps.

Have you noticed any long, clearish poops? Parasites might be an issue

I haven't seen any clear poo from her but if parasites are an issue what should I do in regards to diagnosing and treating?

Freeze Dried or Dry food MUST be soaked before feeding it as it swells to almost twice it's size in water and can cause internal damage over time.

Ill definitely soak both the bettas foods from now on! And I'll up her feeding amount to 3 pellets twice a day.
Were would you look for live foods? are there any that are easier to produce at home?

Thank you again!

 

Aw poor baby

I’m not experienced with internal parasites, so I’ll let FoldedCheese or another member take the reins on this one if that is the case.

Local fish stores and petcos/petsmarts usally sell frozen food, not sure about live though. Many sites online sell live food in bulk that makes culturing them convenient. Pretty much all of the live foods I listed are easy to culture at home. I personally really like scuds and microworms.

Make sure you take things slowly! Like I said earlier with malnurished animals too fast and too much can result in death.

 

I've had a look around and none of the nearby fish shops sell live foods and the few online are quite expensive. I have some seed shrimp (Or daphnia not 100% sure) and the odd detritus worm in a shrimp tank that I could catch to feed her.
When I spoke to my Dad about this he suggested mosquito larvae
Are mosquito larvae safe? We live in Australia if that changes anything
If they are safe do I just leave a water dish out for a few days to let them lay eggs etc?

Ill definitely up her portions slowly, I want to do what's best by her and want her to do well
Thank you again!

 

It might be worthwhile to go ahead and deworm her. Parasites can be hard to diagnose and by the time very obvious symptoms show up usually too much damage has been done internally. I would suggest levamisole flakes if you can get some or metroplex to dose her food with. The levamisole is the stronger of the two medicines and can be overdosed so care should be taken using it and instructions followed to the T.

 

I've defiently heard of people feeding their fish mosquito larvae. Some say that they can introduce disease and bacteria into the tank, while I know someone who fed her fish mosquito larvae for over 20 years with no problems and never heard of anyone else having problems. So, it's really up to you. Make sure you put mesh over the water dish that is big enough for a mosquito to pass through but not a dragonfly. Defiently do not want dragonfly larvae hatching in with your group by mistake.

 

I think I'm going to give her a few weeks to see if she improves on higher feeding and soaked dry foods. If nothing improves I'll get a dewormer.
Are there any other dewormers that might be easier to source?


Ill set up a dish to get some mosquito larvae. She enjoys "stalking" things so I think she'll enjoy them.

Her new feeding schedule is going to be roughly 3 soaked pellets twice a day every day with about every 5th feeding being swapped for frozen food or live food.

Thank you all for the help guys!

 

Two years is getting old even for a betta that was kept in the proper aquarium with good care.

If this fish has lived alone for all that time, it doubt that it has a parasite, because where would it have come from? It's probly skinny for the same reason it lived in a liter and a half of water, it was not properly cared for.

When my fish get a parasite, I used praziquantel - brand name Prozipro - I lost one fish but it did not spread to the others.

This fish will never be very active because of its age and poor care it received. but you can provide it with good food and a decent place to live for the rest of its life.

I'd feed frozen brine shrimp and blood worms along with the dry food and the live food.

 

Hi there, I also live in Australia, Sydney, and I've been harvesting wild mosquito larvae for about 3 yrs and haven't found any issues. Just a small bowl/dish in the backyard and a small rock and a couple leaves from some trees, this will provide a safe place to hatch. Then after a week or two you will have little larvae worms in the water, collect give a rinse in tank water then drop in for betta, the mosquitos will keep laying in this water dish

 

I have to agree with the assessment. If it has a parasite where'd it come from? It couldn't have made it two years with one, and if alone, couldn't have really picked it up on the move.

Malnutrition and neglect is the most likely cause for it. Less food, more often would be the way to correct it but it's not gonna happen quickly and overfeeding will lead to even more problems or death so it can't be rushed. High calorie foods that are small and easily digestible would be the best way to go about it. Live or frozen. Mosquito larvae is an easily available resource to tap that would fit the bill. Artemia or baby brine shrimp or cyclops, and stay away from the flakes and pellets if possible they all have fillers that aren't easily digestible by the betta, if not possible soak them in some tank water so it gets hydrated and expands before feeding but a belly full of mosquito larvae or brine shrimp would be better than a belly full of wheat and soy nutritionally. And easier for him to digest and pass.

You should be feeding a little more than usual to gain ground on it so it has the extra to put towards mass gain.

 

That's a relief about the worms! From my understanding her old owner kept her alone but had another bowl with a zebra danio (??) so I don.t know when she could have gotten infected.

I have frozen brine shrimp and blood worms in the freezer. The pet shop also sold beef heart but I've read mixed things about that.

So i should be feeding her frozen foods or mosquito larvae for most or all meals?
Will she be okay on just the frozen and live foods?

Thank you so much!

 

Frozen and live foods will be fine. Bettas are carnivores and don't eat vegetable matter.

You could also research growing daphnia for food, it's supposed to be easy.

 

I think that she'll do just fine if you mix up the food options every week. The only thing I would say is don't feed bloodworms as a staple diet, only once or twice a week. They don't have much nutritional value and I believe can cause problems over time. Daphnia and brine shrimp also do not have much nutritional value, so I recommend getting a supplement you can lace them with that will give them some more vitamins.

 

I'll look into daphnia as well. Thank you!

What supplements do you recommend that are available in Australia?

Also are there any easily accessible foods such as white fish or salmon that betta can eat?

Thank you again!
She's becoming quite a spoiled fish

 

Hey Shrimpandall, could i ask what state or area of Aus your from that will help me/us will giving you some suggestions, Flyfisha or other Aussies please chime in if you have any tips, Flyfisha informed me that Fresh seafood from Coles, Woolworth and the rest of the supermarkets in Aus that have a seafood area can be chummed up feed to fish, you could buy fresh or frozen prawns and chop them into very small pieces and then keep it fridge then feed when needed.

So hopefully Flyfisha or maybe qldmick or another Australian can help you with supplements what do you mean by supplements?

Also you can buy frozen foods from your lfs or even shops in Aus like petbarn and others.

Check one of my threads out this can help you when buying frozen food from Aus fish stores
Edit: Issue With The Way Fish Food Gets Branded And Labelled | Fish Food Forum | 520072

Issue With The Way Fish Food Gets Branded And Labelled​

 

I'm in Perth, Western Australia
My main lfs is Morley aquariums but I mainly use petbarn or cityfarmers because it's closer and we have other pets that need stuff from there.

I haven't had a chance to see what frozen foods by lfs sells but the Petbarn sells frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp and mixed foods (community, cichlid and discus i think) as well as beef heart.

From your thread it looks like those would also be suitable for betta fish?
It looks like they could definitely provide some variety.

what do you mean by supplements?

cdwag29 suggested lacing her food with a supplement to give her more vitamins as brine shrimp and blood worms don't have much nutritional value alone

The prawns sound like a good idea!
By chummed up do you mean ground fish/seafood?
If I were to make this could I then freeze it and just thaw small portions?
Could she have boiled egg as that is quite nutritionally dense or is the cholesterol too high?

Thank you again!

 

Hi Shrimpandall, ok your in Peth, Im in Sydney, ive never heard of cityfarmers perhaps it's only in WA, if you wanted to get frozen food from petbarn I think the best food would be the Cichlid frozen food from aqua one. Ive had no problem feeding it to my betta for over 3 yrs. Bloodworms and brine shrimp are treats, if your feeding cichlid food mix that should have a large mix and be containing enough minerals and vitamins but if you wanted too add supplements you could though I never had.

Chummed is pretty much just mashing the diced pieces of seafood together creating a chunk paste sort of food. Yes you can use an old aqua one container from the frozen food or just any small dish. Then thaw they amount you want it should work fine. I have never used eggs in my tanks so I cant help you with that.

Hop this answers your questions good luck!

 

As far as added supplements go, I know that Boyd's VitaChem is good, although I'm not sure if it's available in Australia. Kent Marine’s Zoe is good, and I believe it should be available to you. I'm pretty sure you can order it online at least.

 

Thank you!

I should be able to get to the Petbarn either tonight or Friday and I'll get frozen cichlid food mix while I'm there.
I'm going to hold off on supplements and buy them if she doesn't improve in the next few weeks.

Last questions hopefully!
How much should I be feeding her in frozen foods per feeding if i feed her 3 times per day?
She always seems hungry and I don't want to over/underfeed her.

She's quite a character and quite different from my male betta. She like jumping onto the floating plants when I'm not giving her attention if the lids open (feeding her snail, fixing a plant etc). She then glares and me and slides back into the water and sometimes does it again if I don't pay her attention! Do any of your bettas do this?
(she has a couple of feeding rings in there as well so she can get to the surface)

I've had a google and it would appear that betta like eggs but they are normally given to fry due to the high nutrient content so in very small portions this could be good for her on the occasions I'm cooking eggs.

Thank you all so much for the help everyone!
I'll update her progress when she starts improving. Even now she looks better than when i got her but she still has a bit to go.

 

So in situations like these, people tend to want to dump food to "help" emancipated fish. But we have to take into account that fish have some of the lowest feed conversion ratios of all animals at 1 - 1.5. That means they are incredibly efficient at converting food into body mass. At a ratio of 1, they are literally converting almost all dry mass of food into body weight.

So assuming the average betta weighs 2.6g, and a starving one might be half that at 1.3g, you only need 1.3g of dry food to bring him at to full health at a conversion ratio of 1, and if we want to be safe we can assume a conversion ratio of 2 so 2.6g of dry food. Which is not a lot of food!

The last emancipated fish I took care of was a tilapia which I fed once a week in the first week, and twice a week in the next. After 3 feedings it has gained significantly more weight and almost back to full health (again to the testament of their incredible feed conversion ratio)

I would feed some live food or freeze dried bloodworms. Hikari is not the best quality betta food. Frozen food actually has less nutrients than freeze-dried so I see no advantages of feeding frozen. Just tiny amounts once a day or spread out throughout the day is fine. As long as he is eating he has a chance. Goodluck!

 

Thank you!
Should I weight her / her food to be more accurate?
She has a really good apatite so she seems in with a good chance!

 

No handling her is the last thing we want. The food is such a small amount that you'll definitely end up feeding that much.

The only thing Im concerned about is that you said it's been a month. Underweight fish usually gain weight really quickly and you should have seen big changes over a month. Im worried she might have some worms/parasites keeping her body weight down. Have you looked at her poops? Does she poop and what color?

 

I haven't actually seen her poop that I can recall.

Part of the reason her weight is still low could be the food I was feeding and the schedule

Blood worms 1-2 x per week
Hikari bio gold 5 x per week (1-2 pellets per feed twice a day)
fasted 1 x per week

I don't think 2-4 pellets is anywhere near the 2.6 grams you recommended so maybe that's the issue?
I really hope she doesn't have parasites but if she did would it have likely be transferred to my other tanks?

When I get home I'll post a picture of when I got her compared to now to see if that helps.

 

I haven't actually seen her poop that I can recall.

Part of the reason her weight is still low could be the food I was feeding and the schedule

I don't think 2-4 pellets is anywhere near the 2.6 grams you recommended so maybe that's the issue?
I really hope she doesn't have parasites but if she did would it have likely be transferred to my other tanks?

When I get home I'll post a picture of when I got her compared to now to see if that helps.

2.6 grams is the total amount of feed, not the amount fed per day. So 4 pellets every day over the course of a month is probably around or more than that.

Unlikely to transfer to your other tanks but its good to keep her in her own tank