How to feed an old betta?

[taxidermynerd]

Bettas also need around 75% cover. Natively, they come from rice paddies in Thailand. So they like lots of places to hide. I used silk plants from petco.

I'll tag @finchly , she has lots of fish knowledge.

 

[clarousel]

He usually chills in his coconut shell! The hammock sounds really good but I'm not sure if I can find that here, have never seen it. I basically did that with my hand this morning to get him close to the tubifex worm cube. He had the tiniest nibble and wasn't interested

I'll have a look for the hammock and breeding mesh this weekend. In the meantime I'll keep trying with the food.

 

[clarousel]

He just ate a pellet off my scissors (the only thing I got for long tweezers now)! Will also look for a pair at the shop.

@DesertBird - His tank is 5 gals and he's never had very long fins. He has a crowntail but very tattered now after battling fin rot.

 

[DesertBird]

His tank is 5 gals and he's never had very long fins. He has a crowntail but very tattered now after battling fin rot.

Okay, the tank size is great, so that's definitely not the issue. It doesn't sound like the fins could be an issue either. Often, bettas with long fins find it hard to swim as they get older, so I thought maybe that could be what is causing the problem.

 

[finchly]

Plastic plants if you can’t find a hammock. Flake food if he’ll eat it, it stays up longer... I used to give mine ONE flake at a time!

I was going to suggest more frequent water changes but you’re already doing them. The ongoing fin rot bothers me. Did you treat with antibiotics or salt?

 

[clarousel]

Plastic plants if you can’t find a hammock. Flake food if he’ll eat it, it stays up longer... I used to give mine ONE flake at a time!

I was going to suggest more frequent water changes but you’re already doing them. The ongoing fin rot bothers me. Did you treat with antibiotics or salt?

I got a breeder box yesterday but he was hiding in his shell this morning. I didn't want to chase him out of it and stress him but if he's out later I'll try the tweezers too.

I'm not sure if it's ongoing or stabilised as his fins haven't gotten smaller. No white or discoloured tips. Previously I treated with both salt and anti-fungal.

 

[DesertBird]

Flake food if he’ll eat it, it stays up longer...

Flakes can cause them to bloat.

 

[taxidermynerd]

I have fed both pellets and flakes, and never had an issue with either one in my 6-ish years of betta keeping.

 

[clarousel]

Flakes can cause them to bloat.

A bit off topic but can the same happen with pellets? I had a betta suddeny swell up and die after I changed over to pellets

 

[Pat H]

Has anyone else [but me] kept their Bettas in a tank w/ plant roots dangling in the water? Think mine was a Peace plant and he ate at the roots for food.

 

[Sparkles99]

Bettas are carnivores, so that wouldn't work. They do well in planted tanks for this reason - they're not tempted to eat the plants, unlike some fish.

Flakes or pellets can cause bloat but I've never seen this in bettas, perhaps because they chew their food. clarousel, the swelling was probably due to something else.

 

[DesertBird]

A bit off topic but can the same happen with pellets? I had a betta suddeny swell up and die after I changed over to pellets

I've never heard of it happening. The pellets are supposed to be better because they don't inhale air while eating them. Is it possible that he got dropsy?

 

[DesertBird]

Has anyone else [but me] kept their Bettas in a tank w/ plant roots dangling in the water? Think mine was a Peace plant and he ate at the roots for food.

Bettas need a lot of protein in their diet. They can't just live off of plant matter.

 

[finchly]

I imagine I raised about 200 bettas. Never had bloat! Wonder why?

They ate: pellets - flakes - sometimes nibbled on cucumbers that I put in for other fish. Live foods like micro worms, brine shrimp and vinegar eels.

 

[Pat H]

I imagine I raised about 200 bettas. Never had bloat! Wonder why?

They ate: pellets - flakes - sometimes nibbled on cucumbers that I put in for other fish. Live foods like micro worms, brine shrimp and vinegar eels.

What an experience to raise baby Bettas!

 

[finchly]

What an experience to raise baby Bettas!

Oh it was fascinating. I miss having them. But I recently got a big tank again, and had to sell it; I just don't have the time. Especially with my post-covid exhaustion.

 

[clarousel]

Little update: Blue seems a little more feisty. I've been using tweezers to hold his pellets in front of him but he either ignores it or struggles to bite it. If he gets it, after a few chews he drops it. He never had an issue with them usually eating the whole pellet in one go.

I did try the tubifex worms but it looked like he spat them out. I end up clearing the cube as it floats up and he doesn't go to the surface for it.

I'll keep trying the tweezers but he seems pretty annoyed at the long black 'sticks'!

 

[clarousel]

After getting the breeder box and trying with tweezers, it seems all it took was transferring my lamp eyes into the tank

Had to put the lamp eyes in there with Blue as I'm breaking down their planted tank. He's been more active ever since! He comes up to the surface for his pellets now

 

[Destiny]

Maybe he was just lonely.

Glad to hear he is feeling better.