If I do convert my 2.5 gallon to a platy tank as discussed in the Bettas Need Heat thread, I may wind up with a myriad of baby platies which would be a little too much for its bioload. Besides the obvious objections to a fish-eat-fish existence, is there any reason why Patriot shouldn't be given baby Platies as tankmates/feeders in his 5g?
Feeders for Bettas?
- Thread starter ChilDawg
- Start date
Disclaimer: I'm not trolling for reactions and I'm definitely not looking to get flamed. I simply would like a rational answer to the question. Any strongly held opinions in this thread are likely not those of the thread starter, who would simply like a logically-flowing discourse on the usage of platies as feeders.
Fish as food strikes me as pretty natural. Platies strike me as pretty normal fish. The only problem I see is the temporary visual discombobulation of those orange fish in the same tank as your colorful betta.
Would a betta maintained on tasty fry prove a less-than-ideal father? Or do smell and shape identify those babies as hisbabies?
I don't know much about breeding bettas (do they care for their young?) but it is pure instinct for some other fish to eat ANY babies that they see. I guess if you are breeding bettas than that would be a problem, but if you're not.... I couldn't care less 
Aaron
Aaron
When I used to dump baby guppies into Bixby's tank (betta, deceased) he was pretty inept at catching some of them. Especially since there were a lot of floating plants around, as I'm sure you will have in your betta tank. A few fry are just too smart, and eventually Bixby didn't bother with them any more and ended up having a few "guppy pets" in various stages of growth.
I learned to put them in 1 by 1 (a pain) right in front of his nose so he could snap them up in that first second when they were released. I still do that with my current 2 bettas. But it is the only way I can get rid of the excess. Just last week on cleaning day, in the 10 gallon, there were 30 new fry and, because of all the water sprite taking over there, too, the adult guppies aren't 'taking care' of them as much as I'd like.
I learned to put them in 1 by 1 (a pain) right in front of his nose so he could snap them up in that first second when they were released. I still do that with my current 2 bettas. But it is the only way I can get rid of the excess. Just last week on cleaning day, in the 10 gallon, there were 30 new fry and, because of all the water sprite taking over there, too, the adult guppies aren't 'taking care' of them as much as I'd like.
They do care for their young for a few days but may see them as competitor fish within the week as they are too independent to "go back to your nest, yung'uns!"
I'm not sure what that would do to their instincts, Wetman, but I don't plan on breeding Patriot as, beautiful as he is, he's got a lot of "color creep" (blues showing up too much on his red body).
I'm not sure what that would do to their instincts, Wetman, but I don't plan on breeding Patriot as, beautiful as he is, he's got a lot of "color creep" (blues showing up too much on his red body).