Two betta care questions!

[mandimoron]

1) My new Betta, whom I have dubbed the Grand Funk Master, is a very picky eater. He doesn't seem to like his betta pellets, and only eats two a day. Today I bought some freeze-dried bloodworms, and he pigged out royally on them. Is it wise to switch him to an all-worm diet? Something tells me it's not, but then again, that's sorta what he would eat in the wild, isn't it?

2) The Grand Funk Master lives in a one gallon Marina Goldfish Starter Kit tank. It came with a silk plant, some gravel, a filter (that isn't being used since Mr. Betta doesn't like it), some goldfish food, and a little bottle of something called "Goldfish Bowl Conditioner". I had assumed that this was the same as the other water conditioner I use for my platy tank, but just noticed now that the Bowl Conditioner says it has an active ingredient that "binds ammonia to create a non-toxic compound". Is that just a load of BS? Or would it actually be better to use in the betta tank, seeing as how it doesn't actually have a filter going in it?

 

[Emg]

Funny avatar Mandi...lol....

About your betta being picky....that's normal for bettas. Just keep offering it to him and he'll eventually eat it when he forgets what it was he used to eat...lol. Bettas can go awhile without eating, so I wouldnt worry too much about him starving. Feeding the worms all the time isn't a good idea, but if you give them to him while you're trying to get him used to the pellets..he may just wait around for the worms. After he starts eating the pellets you can offer worms a few times a week as a treat.

I don't know about the water conditioner. I use only stuff that removes chlorine and chloromines. It does't have any of that ammonia remover in it.

 

[Roan Art]

Ditch the pellets. It's not that he's being picky, he's telling you that pellets aren't good food and he's right. Betta fish are carnivores and *most* of those pellets are made with corn meal and flour and stuff. That's not betta food. Sure, he'll eat them after a while. Then again, you'd probably eat cardboard if you went long enough without food and there was nothing else being offered.

I see a *lot* of posts from people saying that their betta is consitpated and that type of situation is diet related. Pellets, blah.

The best food for your betta is a varied diet of dried/frozen bloodworms, tubifex, and brine shrimp. feeding daphnia on an occasional basis helps with constipation and they like that stuff as well.

As for your tank: seriously, that's too small for a betta. They need at *least* 3 gallons. You can get an Eclipse System 6 (6 gallons) from bigals for (currently on sale with a 100w heater, but I wouldn't go for the heater unless it regulates the temperature) for $49.99. Now, a heater for a betta is a *must* have, but they need their water consistant and around 80 degrees. The heater needs a thermostat. Excessive changes in temperature will either kill him or lower his immune system -- leaving him wide open to disease. VisiTherm is a great heater and I have a 50 watt one in my betta tank.

The reason he doesn't like the filter is because bettas are kept in small cups with no room to swim. His muscles aren't adapted to larger quarters and it's difficult for him to swim against the current at first. Leaving it off for a few days is a good idea, but now it's time to turn the filter back on. He'll work it out. Get some low-light, easy growing, floating plants (anacharis, water sprite) and float them to cut down on the surface agitation. He'll even build nests in it.

Your Goldfish Bowl stuff: I read the description at the link you supplied and it just smells like marketing buzz to me. You can use the same stuff you use for your platies and vice versa. Don't use "Betta conditioner" or whatever they call that stuff. If you start futzing with your pH and crap, it'll stress him out. He'll adapt to whatever pH you have already.

Hope this helps and if you DO get a larger tank, you'll find the Grand Funk Master turning into the SUPER Grand Funk Master. He'll be much happier.

Roan

 

[Shawna]

Try feeding him some tropical fish flakes too. My bettas both love the flake food as a daily staple food!! Plus, then at least you know they are getting some extra protein, as most good flake foods will contain a good %. Mabey Im wrong, but isn't two pellets PLENTY for a betta to eat in a day?? On pellet feeding days, thats all mine get. ??

 

[Roan Art]

Try feeding him some tropical fish flakes too. My bettas both love the flake food as a daily staple food!! Plus, then at least you know they are getting some extra protein, as most good flake foods will contain a good %. Mabey Im wrong, but isn't two pellets PLENTY for a betta to eat in a day?? On pellet feeding days, thats all mine get. ??

Tropical flake foods are *NOT* betta food! You're lucky yours will even touch them. Some bettas will starve rather than eat flakes.

Bettas are CARNIVORES, not omnivores. Bloodworms, brine shrimp, daphnia, tubifex. MEAT, not VEGGIES. You don't need to "know they are getting some extra protein" if you are feeding them properly in the first place.

Ditch the pellets and throw those flakes in the garbage. Buy some dried bloodworms. Take four out and drop them in the water. Easy? YES! Take a dried tubifex cube the next day, pull off a SMALL pinch and drop it in the water. Easy? Yep! Daphnia and brine shrimp, a light dusting on the water. Simple! And it's better for your betta!

Roan

 

[mandimoron]

I'm gonna have to go back to the pet store now to check the ingredients on those pellets I bought-- I just threw away the cardboard packaging it came in yesterday. >_< I hope they're good pellets! He really does love those worms, though. He actually sneaks up on them like he's hunting-- very cute!

I suppose the rule of thumb with any fish is the bigger the tank, the better, but I really had thought that one gal was okay for bettas. I feel bad now! He'll be okay in the smaller tank for a while, though, right? Money is a little tight at the moment (starving student, etc.), so I can't get him a bigger home right now...

I'll try plugging the filter in again today while I'm at school. Hopefully his muscles are a bit stronger now after swimming around in the tank, and he won't just lie on the gravel all the time like he did before. Are those plants you mentioned readily available? I've never really looked at the plant section of my LFS, so I have no idea how extensive their selection is.

 

[FisheyLisa]

I wouldn't throw out anything you have...it could be good back up, or a dietary variation or treat.

Worms of sorts are best. Bloodworms should be more of a treat, imo, and he will only need a couple of worms a day. If you get freee dried, be sure to soak them until sturated, frozen need to be brought to the eater temp, so as not to aggrevate digestion. do pellets for a treat once in a while. As stated above, He should only eat 2 a day. He's doing fine. Oh hikari and bio gold as well as HBH betta bites are decent brands. HBH has 45% min protein. If he gets constipated, shelling a thawed, incooked pea and dropping it in a little chuncks will clear it up.

Your betta is ok in a 1g. all the betta lists I have read, where ppl are breeding a lot in their homes, keep them in 1 g jars. I wouldn't promote or recommend it if you didn't have the tank, but it isn't life or death that he be moved.

I use sachem prime water conditioner, it would be too concentrated for your set-up, but has stuff that binds to ammo. supposedly. Also ammo-lock I have used, might be better for you...point is, I don't know if really bound the ammo, but I used it all though fish cycling (I was a bad girl) and with bacteria blooms, and all but one fish survived. You can use any conditioner, it doesn't have to be betta, but I wouldn't throw out what you have if it conditions the water as you need.

If you do the filter and frequent water changes, until cycled, You'll be fine. You need conditioner if your tap has chlorine or chloramines. You know when your water is cycled and safe to do less changes when water tests read 0- it will take a few weeks. Your fish can live with water changes alone, and no filter, it is just more work for you.

Hope that makes sense! GOod luck!

 

[reignman40]

I will have to agree sort of with everyone here. Betta's are carnivores, technically. I have to add though that I currently have 8 Bettas and every last one of them eats Tropical Flakes, Veggie Flakes, Tropical Granules and Color Pellets. Those are the primary food sources. I do also feed FD-bloodworms a couple times a week and they get some of the shrimp pellet I toss in the tank twice a week as well. I also from time to time will crush snails against the glass and they get fresh snail meat. They usually get some of that on their own anyway, they are quite proficient snail hunters when they want to be. But you know what, I also toss broccoli, zuccini, etc in for my Otos a few times a week and all 3 females in my 20 gallon will go to town on those veggies.

Only really had 1 betta that was picky, but only for the first couple weeks. My feeding schedule is pretty much once per day after I get home from work and fast on Sundays. They go after any of the variety of food I put in there.

I also want to mention I've yet to have a constipation issue. Haven't had one die on me yet. Had all of them for about maybe 6 months so I'm not going to say I'm an expert. Just offering advice as to what works for me with my 8 Bettas.

Hope my experience helps,
Curtis

 

[Roan Art]

FisheyLisa and reignman40,

We're all correct it what we say and I know I sound pushy in my opinions on betta care, but I've found that *most* people don't feed or house their bettas properly. It's obvious that the both of you are betta savvy enough to know when your fish is doing well and when it isn't.

I feel that a betta newbie should start their betta off with meat and keep it on meat until they feel comfortable enough and knowledgable enough to know when something isn't working. Offer it a pellet then, and if it eats it, great, save those for treats. If it doesn't eat it, then its obvious that they don't like them and it should be forced upon them to eat those because that's all there is.

Just my pushy ol' opinion

That said, I just wanted to add that I take a half cube of bloodworms or brineshrimp, put it in a bowl, squirt tank water on it and let it dissolve until the worms are free floating. I then dip a small spoon in it (for my rainbows), the bloodworms stick to the spoon, and dip that in the water. For Jakers, the betta, I use an eye dropper and suck up about 4 worms. The pleco likes to eat them too.

Roan

 

[reignman40]

Basically the biggest point to get across in all this information is the importance of a varied diet. Despite everyone having slightly different opinions and different experience you can see across the board from the veggie + meat to the meat only diets, they all give plenty of variation. It's never good to feed your fish the same exact thing all the time. Keep it mixed up and give them a variety. Whatever you choose.

I will say if you keep with flakes make sure you feed meaty foods too. They are carnivores and even in the case of my crazy Bettas that do eat plenty of their and other fishes veggies, I still make sure they get bloodworms, tubifex worms, snails and shrimp pellets. I also plan on buying some Brine Shrimp as I have none currently. Also looking for somewhere in town that has live blackworms or bloodworms.

Vary the diet, make sure they get their meaty foods and you'll do fine. If yours likes meat do what Roan Art is saying. Go with an all meat diet but keep it varied. Roan feeds many different types as you can see.

Good luck.