Would It Be Alright To Feed Some Of The Bottom Feeder Bug Bites To My Betta?

I bought the bottom feeder bug bites for my corys, since I'm tight on money and also they don't seem to be eating anything else but shrimp pellets.

I just want to make sure of things so I'm making this post. I figured not, since the bug bites for bottom feeders are specially formulated for those types of fish? Also, I have NLF betta pellets. Thought I give some to my corys and they swept them up pretty fast.

though my main food menu for the corys is: shrimp pellets, bug bites, blood worms (I have the HikarI brand, they claimed to have the nutrients specially preserved even though it's freeze dried), a tiny piece of shrimp once or every other week

betta food menu: NLF betta pellets, dried shrimp twice a week or blood worms twice a week (I don't give them the same week)

(the last two info was just provided so people won't worry about me feeding the same thing. I try to feed my fish a variety of foods even with short on cash and my parents a little mad about spending money on stuff like this. Sorry if it's not good enough)

 

It's fine to feed your Corydoras bug bites. They'll eat just about anything that lands on the bottom.

 

I was just wondering if I could feed those bugbites for bottom feeders to my betta

 

I was just wondering if I could feed those bugbites for bottom feeders to my betta

Should be fine. Just make sure you don't overfeed him.

 

This should be fine to feed your fish bug bites. Bad thing is that they eat anything which you put on the tank. But remember don't overfeed them otherwise they won't be able to survive.

 

One thing that Bettas love, is boiled or steamed peas.

Just remember to take the outside skin off every pea.

Some won’t eat them the first couple times, but you can train them to eat them right out of your fingers.

They also like broccoli. Cook it until it is soft. They will eat all the little green florets off them.

You should see my shrimp with broccoli. They just pile on until you can’t see the broccoli. My bristlenoses do the same thing. They love peas an broccoli. Keep them as treats tho.

 

One thing that Bettas love, is boiled or steamed peas.

Just remember to take the outside skin off every pea.

Some won’t eat them the first couple times, but you can train them to eat them right out of your fingers.

They also like broccoli. Cook it until it is soft. They will eat all the little green florets off them.

You should see my shrimp with broccoli. They just pile on until you can’t see the broccoli. My bristlenoses do the same thing. They love peas an broccoli. Keep them as treats tho.

Bettas are carnivores. Though the occasional pea might be alright since peas generally help with digestive issues, broccolI is a different story. Bettas are not built to process the fibres in vegetables and may get constipated if they eat too much, hum, vegetarian food. You won't poison them by doing it once or twice or anything like that, but it is better not to do it too often or at all.


It is very easy to check if your betta can eat a certain food: A. are these foods meant for aquatic carnivores? B. will it fit in a bettas mouth? If the answer is yes to both, you can feed it to your betta. Or any other carnivorous fish. Most fish are very opportunistic and can eat a large range of foods as long as the type (e.g. vegetable, insect, meat, etc.) is compatible with their digestive system. Some fish are herbivores (many livebearers like guppies), many are omnivores (they need varying ratios of both vegetable and meaty foods) and some are carnivores (which betta fall under). If you get the type wrong you can cause constipation and nutrient issues in the long run, or your fish may not recognise it as food and refuse to eat it. It is always good to google this when getting a fish.
And make sure not to overfeed them. That's pretty much it.

 

I did a whole ton of research before I got my betta and corys. Was just asking about this specific food. It contains the same ingredients as the fluval tropical bug bites. But I guess it's better just not to feed it to my betta though.

 

I did a whole ton of research before I got my betta and corys. Was just asking about this specific food. It contains the same ingredients as the fluval tropical bug bites. But I guess it's better just not to feed it to my betta though.

Oh yes, I did not mean to sound like I was putting you down. Just that I know a lot of people feel nervous about what they can and can't feed their fish (and so usually stick to unnecessarily expensive pellets or flakes meant specifically for the type of fish they have) which is also less than optimal because they often contain fillers and most of all, variety in feeding is pretty much always good for your aquatic pet's health. So actually, kudos to you for considering what else to feed them!

Quite the opposite: bug bites' main ingredients are insect-based, so bug bites would actually be great for bettas. I have never had them so I can't judge the size, but as long as they smaller than a betta's eye or you can crush them to be that small, it should be a perfectly good variation on its diet. You can actually feed your bettas actual insects if you can get your hands on dead flies small enough for them to eat.

 

Oh yes, I did not mean to sound like I was putting you down. Just that I know a lot of people feel nervous about what they can and can't feed their fish (and so usually stick to unnecessarily expensive pellets or flakes meant specifically for the type of fish they have) which is also less than optimal because they often contain fillers and most of all, variety in feeding is pretty much always good for your aquatic pet's health. So actually, kudos to you for considering what else to feed them!

Quite the opposite: bug bites' main ingredients are insect-based, so bug bites would actually be great for bettas. I have never had them so I can't judge the size, but as long as they smaller than a betta's eye or you can crush them to be that small, it should be a perfectly good variation on its diet. You can actually feed your bettas actual insects if you can get your hands on dead flies small enough for them to eat.

Ah, sorry. I'm so used to people putting me down. I was on subreddit for aquariums, etc. They often put me down for asking questions like these and saying "I should have done more research", "I have no common sense", "selectively picking people on who to listen too" when I don't agree with them, etc.

Like geesh, why are people on reddit like "the know it all" type of people and think what those subreddits thinks is 100% correct and everything else is wrong? That's why now I just resort to forums like these and completely left reddit.

 

Ah, sorry. I'm so used to people putting me down. I was on subreddit for aquariums, etc. They often put me down for asking questions like these and saying "I should have done more research", "I have no common sense", "selectively picking people on who to listen too" when I don't agree with them, etc.

Like geesh, why are people on reddit like "the know it all" type of people and think what those subreddits thinks is 100% correct and everything else is wrong? That's why now I just resort to forums like these and completely left reddit.

You have an excellent selection of fish food so far.. one day try some frozen blood worms for your Cory's, they relish them! Betta might enjoy one too! This is a great forum for learning, welcome to it FancyBubbles.

 

I have another question and thought I'd just ask it here, since it's similar to feeding.

I decided to slightly give more than I should when I first bought my corys. They literally weren't fed at all at the pet store so I figured they could use some fattening up before I feed them regularly and a bit less.

So one my my albino cory is an absolute pig. Will inhale anything that's food, always the first to go after the food. And now he or she is fat. Cory's name is Bullet. Bullet currently has a round belly, not outwards side to side, but the roundness is downward. (don't know how to describe it oof)

No raised scales, no lethargy. Still eating/looking for food like there's no tomorrow. So most likely not dropsy.

Is this just from overeating? Starting from today I'm going to feed them a bit less since I only fed them more than I should since they were literally bones when I first bought them. Would it be fine if I skip 1 or 2 days of feeding?

 

My albino's are fat too and they are always the first to show up for food. They seem to have a different metabolism than my Pepper Cories who are thinner. I always hope that the rest of the slow fish in my community tank can get to chow down before they show up... HikarI makes a small sinking wafer that might be just enough for a diet?

 

Is this just from overeating? Starting from today I'm going to feed them a bit less since I only fed them more than I should since they were literally bones when I first bought them. Would it be fine if I skip 1 or 2 days of feeding?

Unfortunately (or should I fortunately) there is such a thing as fish obesity. (Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not being in the slightest condescending, but I just have no way to peer through the internet connection and see how much you know, so I tend to err on the side of explaining everything). Though the extent varies from species to species, most fish have a metabolic trick much like most mammals where they prefer to overeat when there is an abundance of food and store the excess as fat, then burn the fat in times of scarcity. Some fish don't do this at all (and basically have to eat constantly or die) and some do this to large extents. Cories fall mostly in the latter category.
So bulging fish doesn't have to mean constipation (which is an immediately health risk) but can simply be excess fat from previous overfeedings. It is not dangerous, but it would be better if you could get it to lose weight eventually as long-term it can be detrimental to health.
The easiest trick I can think of is just to distribute the food throughout the tank as much as you can, all at same time. Even if that one cory eats fast he shouldn't (I hope o.o) be able to be everywhere at once.
Feeding problems when different species are kept together because they eat at different speeds can be a real challenge though, and not always a solvable one. It is one of the reasons people are generally not advised to keep african dwarf frogs with fish. You can, and some have made it work, but in most cases the frogs will starve because they take much longer to find the food than the fish kept in the same space. Interesting stuff ^^

Anyway if this problem persists after a while you could consider making the cory skip out on a meal one day a week or so by simply netting it during feeding time and then released it back in after the food is mostly gone.

 

Not sure about in your area, but around me bug bites are some of the most expensive food around. I don’t keep betta’s But I think any good quality food would be fine. I want to echo the over feeding caution previously mentioned. It is very easy to over feed and with sinking food I find it even more of a challenge.

 

Yes, bottom feeder bug bites are fine for bettas, I feed to my bettas no problems. I soak them first and break them up some because they're kinda big. I feed with tweezers so they don't overfeed.

As for the fat cory, got any pics? Maybe full of eggs?

 

I'm cutting back on the feeding now since they all seem to have regained their health compared to when I first got them.

LDan

Tried to take a decent pic of the chubby cory.

 

Doesn't look too big to me, probably a female as they are chubbier than the males. Are you on Facebook? There's a group called Fish Tank Enablers, this dude has like a million cory cats and they're HUGE! Like, seriously morbidly obese-looking. But he's a breeder who conditions them to be full of eggs. Take a look, there's a lot of pics of fat cory cats so you could compare and put your mind at ease. I really think she's just full of eggs.

 

So I guess I either have 3 females and one male, or 2 females and 2 males. (Currently, I have 4 albino corys) One is currently "sitting" on the sand, also he (or she) is facing directly at me so haven't got a closer look at his (or her) size.

I guess the cory in this could just be full of eggs. Looked up some s and fat corys seemed to look really round and too chunky, while mine just looks like a potbelly from underneath.

 

So I guess I either have 3 females and one male, or 2 females and 2 males. (Currently, I have 4 albino corys) One is currently "sitting" on the sand, also he (or she) is facing directly at me so haven't got a closer look at his (or her) size.

I guess the cory in this could just be full of eggs. Looked up some s and fat corys seemed to look really round and too chunky, while mine just looks like a potbelly from underneath.

It isn't full of eggs. Corys can have a more or less pronounced breast(skute).
It looks healthy though.

 

I am glad you asked this question, because I have been blaming myself for our betta dying.

The last time I went to the store I bought some of the tropical bug bites because we have a community tank with some platys, corys, and a betta, and the store was out of the betta bug bites, which is what they usually eat along with some frozen foods and north fin betta bits. When I got home, I double checked the ingredients between the two bug bites and everything appeared to be the same.

When I feed the fish in the community tank, the betta gets fed on one side, and the other fish get fed on the opposite side, so that the betta does not get over fed. This has worked beautifully for me, but after we switched to the tropical bug bites, it looked like our betta was starting to get bloated.

We had to take the platys out so that we could separate the males and females, so I left our betta in the community tank by himself for a week or so (well, the corys were still in there, I fed them frozen vegetable blocks during this time because the betta does not like them) and fed him some north fin betta bits very sparingly. His bloat went away, and I added our female platys back. I continued to feed them the bug bites/frozen food and him the betta bits.

A week later, with absolutely no symptoms of illness, he died. I have no idea what happened to him, he had been acting totally normal. The only thing I could pin point that changed was I bought the tropical bug bites instead of the betta bug bites. So I have been blaming myself for killing him. But based on everyone's response here, I don't think that it was the tropical bug bites that killed him, but at the same time, I have no idea what happened either.

Either way, I don't think I will be feeding any of my bettas the tropical bug bites.... I guess even tho I've read several people here say it would be okay, I am still blaming myself, but I do feel a little better knowing that it should have been okay, if that makes sense. It was so sudden and unexpected, I still can't believe he is gone

 

I am glad you asked this question, because I have been blaming myself for our betta dying.

The last time I went to the store I bought some of the tropical bug bites because we have a community tank with some platys, corys, and a betta, and the store was out of the betta bug bites, which is what they usually eat along with some frozen foods and north fin betta bits. When I got home, I double checked the ingredients between the two bug bites and everything appeared to be the same.

When I feed the fish in the community tank, the betta gets fed on one side, and the other fish get fed on the opposite side, so that the betta does not get over fed. This has worked beautifully for me, but after we switched to the tropical bug bites, it looked like our betta was starting to get bloated.

We had to take the platys out so that we could separate the males and females, so I left our betta in the community tank by himself for a week or so (well, the corys were still in there, I fed them frozen vegetable blocks during this time because the betta does not like them) and fed him some north fin betta bits very sparingly. His bloat went away, and I added our female platys back. I continued to feed them the bug bites/frozen food and him the betta bits.

A week later, with absolutely no symptoms of illness, he died. I have no idea what happened to him, he had been acting totally normal. The only thing I could pin point that changed was I bought the tropical bug bites instead of the betta bug bites. So I have been blaming myself for killing him. But based on everyone's response here, I don't think that it was the tropical bug bites that killed him, but at the same time, I have no idea what happened either.

Either way, I don't think I will be feeding any of my bettas the tropical bug bites.... I guess even tho I've read several people here say it would be okay, I am still blaming myself, but I do feel a little better knowing that it should have been okay, if that makes sense. It was so sudden and unexpected, I still can't believe he is gone

I'm very sorry to hear about your loss. From your story though I don't think either you or the food is to be blamed. Fish can die for lots of reasons and unlike we tend to think, not all of it is our fault or preventable. Bettas can have bad genetics due to inbreeding and sometimes they can just die, seemingly spontaneously, from internal problems like organ failure. It is possible that that is what happened and looking for a tangible cause, you ended up suspecting the food. The bloat that was there then went away could have been a sign of some bacterial infection or other internal problem (it may have been the early signs of dropsy instead, which cannot really be cured once it sets in but has been known to sometimes disappear and then suddenly come back to kill the fish anyway). I would know, I've had nearly a dozen bettas die on me without clear cause in the span of a month. Suddenly it stopped and none have died since. I've looked into every detail I think could be significant and I'm still not sure what happened.

 

Sorry to hear about your betta, I'm sure you miss him a lot. I know I would if that happened to me.

At this point, I'm not really planning to feed my betta the bottom feeder bug bites. It's formulated to have more fiber than meat along with veggies. So the bottom feeder I would avoid feeding. But I emailed the Fluval brand and they told me that it's fine if I give bits of it as a treat and won't harm my betta.

But those tropical bites you mentioned? It shouldn't be the cause of death of your betta. It's most likely something else. Since the food is based on protein. Unlike the ones for bottom feeders, those are based on mainly fiber along with protein.

 

Thank you both! I was quite devastated, I thought my husband was being sarcastic when he said the betta had died... but he was not. All of our other fish are 100% fine in that tank, and I thought he was too. I was absolutely floored and not at all expecting it! He was our little bud! But you have both made me feel a little better about it not being my fault, so thank you for that

And thank you FancyBubbles for following up with that info from your email with Fluval... that definitely eases my mind!! I will try not to be too hard on myself, but that is easier said than done at times!! I am definitely going to be super careful what we feed if we wind up putting another betta in our community tank, even if it was not the food this time!

 

Ah, sorry. I'm so used to people putting me down. I was on subreddit for aquariums, etc. They often put me down for asking questions like these and saying "I should have done more research", "I have no common sense", "selectively picking people on who to listen too" when I don't agree with them, etc.

Like geesh, why are people on reddit like "the know it all" type of people and think what those subreddits thinks is 100% correct and everything else is wrong? That's why now I just resort to forums like these and completely left reddit.

As long as you're confident that you are doing the right just disregard them, you can just read their advises and adapt it if it's applicable to your situation. Always do some research and do a trial and error thing that way you'll learn whether to go with something or not. Also there are some people that is not open minded to accept some ideas from other hobbyist that ends up inflicting harm to other especially to us beginners, best bet is to think rationally whether they are correct or somewhat correct to what you had researched and avoid confronting them since that'll just do no good. Glad all of the members here are helpful to you and warm welcoming to us.