Betta Fish and Betta Fish Care

Posts Tagged ‘Mosquito Larvae’

Betta fish (also known as Siamese Fighting Fish) are friendly, easy to concern for, brightly colored fish. They can be kept in fairly small bowls or fish tanks and’ll live up to three years of age with the right food and care. Water quality and correct diet are keys to a healthy, long lived Betta.
 

Step 1

Know that your Betta will not have much of an appetite if his water is cold. Bettas need the water temperature to be stable and above 70 degrees Farenheit. If you keep your house cool, purchase a small inexpensive tank heater to keep your Betta happy and active.

Step 2

Feed her once or two times a day. If feeding once daily, give her what she will eat in ten minutes. For two feedings, don’t give her more than she can consume in a few minutes. Some experts suggest fasting Bettas one day per week, but this is not always necessary.

Step 3

Only buy fish food specifically for Bettas. They will not do well on goldfish or “generic” food, which has lower protein. In the wild Bettas are carnivorous fish and need high protein food. Betta fish food, freeze dried shrimp and bloodworms are all good choices. He will be happier if his diet is varied a little.

Tips & Warnings

- Some aquaria stores sell live daphnia shrimp and bloodworms. Your Betta will be deliriously happy if he can hunt down his own food.

- In warm weather, any standing water in your yard will be full of mosquito larvae. Easy to scoop up with a small fish net, they will provide your Betta with perfect food and lots of fun.

- If you overfeed and uneaten food sinks to the bottom, it is easy to siphon out with a small plastic hose.

- Don’t assume your Betta can live on live plants or plant roots. This is a poor diet for Bettas and she will not live long without proper food.

In their natural environment, Betta fish are carnivores as well as only eat live food like worms, daphnia and mosquito larvae. Bettas are wildly happy when they could actually hunt their own food before eating it. It’s quite easy to feed your Betta fish live food, especially if you have a great fish supply store nearby. People who breed and show Bettas often feed live food.

How to Feed Live Food to Betta Fish
Step 1

Good fish stores often sell brine shrimp, bloodworms, brown worms and other live foods for carnivorous fish. Many of these will keep for a week in the refrigerator. Experts advise scooping out enough for one feeding at a time with a small net and rinsing them briefly under running water before feeding them to your Betta fish to avoid introducing unwanted bacteria to the tank.

Step 2

Bettas tend to overeat, given the chance. Once food has sunk to the bottom of the tank, they will often ignore it and uneaten food can foul the water and make your Betta sick. This applies to any food  such as flakes or pellets. Only feed your Betta what he will eat in  a couple of minutes. Feeding once a day’s best, but you can feed a lesser amount two times a day. Your Betta might benefit from being fasted one day a week.

Step 3

Mosquito larvae and bloodworms will populate standing water anywhere weather is warm enough. If you don’t mind the idea of a few extra mosquitoes on your property, set out a bucket or small wading pool. You can easily see and catch mosquito larvae with a small net obtainable at any fish store. As long as here is some old leaf mulch at the bottom of the container, bloodworms will show up. They are right red and about a half inch long.Bettas have a lot of fun chasing mosquito larva and catching worms and it’s a 100% natural, fit food for them.

Step 4

Some fanciers grow their own fruit fly larvae, which make a fine Betta food. Check on-the-internet for suppliers who sell a variant with no wings so escapees don’t end up completely over your house. These are raised by putting soft fruit in glass jars. Check online for suppliers of cultures and starter kits.

Step 5

It might be tempting to get carried away and begin dropping all manner of small worms and bugs from your yard into your Betta tank for him to chase and eat. Resist this urge due to numerous small live organisms can carry bacteria harmful to your Betta.

Step 6

Those fanciers who don’t feed live food purchase freeze dried or frozen live food to ther Bettas. These foods are available at any good fish or aquaria store. While they don’t provide the same sport to the Bettas, they are nutritionally superior to most flake foods which have a lot of fillers.