What to Feed Bettas [ May 9th, 2011 ] Posted in » Bettas

Trying to figure out what to feed your bettas?  Today I came across this article by Mischa which talks about the best types of foods to feed betta fish.  She discusses both how much to feed betas as well as what to feed betta fish.

She very much stresses the importance of feeding your bettas a variety of different types of foods.  Right now in my tank I don’t have any bettas as the female ones I had died a while ago and right now I’ve got an oscar in my tank which would have bettas for breakfast, but when I did have bettas I mostly just fed them flakes.  Mischa’s advice is to offer bettas a bigger variety of food.

Here’s the article she wrote:

Feeding Betta Fish

By Mischa Hill

If you are new to Betta fish keeping, feeding them might present a challenge at first. There are so many choices out there and so much conflicting information!

People present all kinds of theories on how often to feed Betta fish, what to feed them, etc. But once you start listening to those with many years of experience, some common themes begin to emerge.

Here are some basic tips for you:

First of all, you need to know that feeding Betta fish the best and most varied diet possible will have a profound effect on its health and longevity. In fact, next to the quality of tank water, it’s the second most important factor in caring for your Betta fish. And the two are very much connected. You will see in a minute, why.

The first question is: How much should I be feeding Betta fish?

Be careful not to overfeed it! That’s the most important thing. We can be very eager to make our Betta happy and full and we often go overboard. Remember, they are tiny creatures, with tiny stomachs (about the size of their eyes) and huge appetites. And they don’t have much will power when it comes to food. Yes, they can be finicky, but they will also eat until their stomachs are bulging, if left to their own devices.

So learn these quick rules:

  • Feed it only what your Betta will consume right away (in 2 minutes)
  • Do not leave any uneaten food in the tank (it can be a challenge to pick it all out…)

There are many theories out there, but it’s enough to feed your Betta fish once a day. Pick a time that is convenient for you and stick to it. Bettas like consistency when it comes to feeding time. It’s also perfectly fine to skip a day. In fact, regular “fasts” can do your Betta much good.

Here is a not-so-well-known feeding tip: the best time for feeding your Betta fish is an hour after sunrise or an hour before sunset. In the wild, this is the time when the insects swarm and land in the water for the Bettas to scoop them up.

The second question is: What should I be feeding my Betta fish?

We already mentioned the fact that Bettas are carnivores. A vegetarian diet will not sustain them. The healthiest food for them is called Hikari Bio-Gold. It’s imported from Japan and used by many breeders. Another very good choice for every day is BettaMin.

Since your Bettas need a varied diet, here are some other elements of their weekly menu:

  • Blood worms – give infrequently
  • Daphnia (water fleas) – twice per week at the most
  • White chicken meat
  • A tiny piece of steak
  • Vegetables – a cooked and peeled pea, for example

Variety will contribute to a strong immune system in your Betta.

And once again – whatever is not eaten right away, needs to be removed from the tank. Leftover food will rot and produce bacteria and ammonia, making the environment dangerous if not deadly for your Betta.

Bettas make wonderful pets because of the way they tend to bond and interact with their owners. Use your feeding routine to spend time with your Betta and cultivate that bond. You will soon find it most enjoyable!

Mischa Hill is a Betta fish enthusiast. He likes to contribute to the well-being and health of all Bettas by providing information and resources on Betta fish care and breeding Betta fish to Betta fish owners at http://www.betta-fish-care.net/

Find good Betta fish food prices on his site as well.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mischa_Hill

http://EzineArticles.com/?Feeding-Betta-Fish&id=2755954

As you can see she stresses feeding betas a variety of food, not just one type of food.  The female bettas I had died from being attacked by other fish, not from a lack of food variety so I can’t really comment on how valid Mischa’s recommendations are.

What do you think?

Do you have bettas?  Are you thinking of just sticking with one type of daily food, or are you going to feed them a variety?  Leave your comments below and let me know what you think.

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My Cardinal Tetra Has Ich (White Spot Disease)

Yesterday I noticed the Cardinal Tetra in my 55 Gallon Aquarium had these little white spots on his body.  There weren’t many of them, just a few, but I had to take a closer look to see if it could be Ich (White Spot Disease).  Ich (Ichthyophthirius multifiliis), also called White Spot Disease, is a very common parasite amongst aquarium fish and it’s not unusual for you to run into this if you have an aquarium.

Cardinal Tetra With Ich

Cardinal Tetra With Ich - Not Very Visible in This Picture

Cardinal Tetra With Ich

Cardinal Tetra With Ich - More Visible on His Fins

The good news is that I caught it really early so I should be able to treat it, hopefully without any fatalities.

Ich goes through three stages in its life cycle.  The white dots you can see on my Cardinal Tetra is Ich in its “trophont” stage of the life cycle.  In this stage it is visible to the naked eye and its actually attached and burrowed under the mucus coating of my fish where it feeds on the body fluid of the poor Cardinal Tetra.

In a few days it will finish feeding and detach itself from the fish, going into the next part of the life cycle called the “tomont” stage.  In this part of it’s life cycle it will swim around the aquarium, looking for a place like my plants or other surfaces to attach itself to so that it can begin to reproduce.  In this stage it basically starts to reproduce like crazy and then within a few days it will turn into hundreds of new little parasites called “thermonts” in the third part of the cycle.

These “thermonts” are then going to swim around my aquarium looking to attach themselves to more of my fish to hide under their mucous coating and start the whole cycle again, each time multiplying and spreading all over my aquarium.

While in the “trophont” stage, the Ich parasite is protected from any type of medication that I can put in the tank, but once it detaches itself from my fish and goes looking for a surface to begin it’s reproductive cycle, it will be succeptible to treatment by medication because it will no longer be hiding in the mucous coating of my fish.

So basically, while its attached to my fish (the trophont stage) it is safe.  As soon as it detaches and tries to reproduce (the tomont and thermont stages) and find other fish to attach to, that’s when this parasite can be treated with medication which is exactly what I’m going to do.

I’ve done a bit of research on the problem and I’m going to treat the Ich (White Spot Disease) problem as follows:

  • I’ve done a 20% water change on the tank, because it’s not recommended to do any water changes during the medication process so I figured it would be best to do one right before I start.
  • I’m going to increase the water temperature of my tank to about 80-82ºF, which speeds up the life cycle of the parasite, which will get it off my fish faster trying to go into its reproductive cycle.
  • I’ve removed the carbon charcoal insert on my canister filter as charcoal will just filter out the meds I’m putting in and we don’t want that.
  • I’m adding in a product called Ich X from Aquarium Solutions to kill the parasite. This particular product calls to add about 5ml per 10 gallons of water, so for a 55 Gallon tank I’m supposed to put in about 20-25ml, but I’ve been reading that if you have Tetras in the tank you’re only supposed to use about half the dose, so I only put in about 10ml in.

From what I’ve been reading, you’re supposed to keep treating the tank about every 24hours for a period of at least 3 days after all white spots disappear off the fish.  The product calls for a partial water change with each treatment, so I’m probably going to do a 10-20% water change for the next few days and see how it goes.

This is not bad anyways as I’ve wanted to do some partial water changes to reduce the Ammonia levels in my tank anyways.

Here’s a picture of what Ich-X looks like:

Cardinal Tetra With Ich

Ich-X from Aquarium Solutions Treats Ich (White Spot Disease)

Actually, while I had my canister filter opened up to remove the carbon charcoal insert, I also took the opportunity to put in some “Ammo Chips” which I’ve been meaning to do for a few days now.  These “Chips” help to reduce the ammonia levels in your aquarium tank.

The biological filter in my aquarium has been taking a while to get established as I go through the initial cycle of my tank and so the Ammonia levels have been sitting at about 1ppm for about a week now and I wanted to help reduce that so I bought these “chips” to add into my filter.  Hopefully it helps to lower the levels a bit.

Here’s that the box looks like:

Cardinal Tetra With Ich

Ammo-Chips Ammonia Remover

November 20th, 2008 | 3 Comments

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