Krill?

[Kovitlac]

I've never seen krill mentioned anywhere as a betta treat. I've heard of freeze-dried bloodwarms (I also use those), other types of warms, misquito larva, wingless flies, your basic pellets, ect ect. But I never heard of freeze-dried mini krill being used. Is it safe? I found it at petco and have been using it in place of freezedried shrimp. They seem to love it as much as anything. I'm just interested in knowing if anyone else here has used it for their bettas.

 

[SPLiSH]

Is it any different to brine shrimp?

 

[Kovitlac]

I'm not sure. It looks different.... it's a different species, but I suppose they're similar enough. I just thought it a little odd I'd never heard of it being used as beta treats at all.

 

[Adam86]

I'm not sure. It looks different.... it's a different species, but I suppose they're similar enough. I just thought it a little odd I'd never heard of it being used as beta treats at all.

I think a betta is way to small to eat krill. Krill is what you feed big Fish like Cichlids.

 

[jollysue]

yes my Cichlid food includes krill. I never heard of freeze dried krill.

Do you soak it first? I can't imagine that it is a problem, if the bettas like it. Krill is probably high protein, so I would feed it sparingly as a treat.

 

[Kovitlac]

It's a mini krill, hardly any bigger then the bloodworms they eat. And they really do seem to like it. I'll just use it for a treat every couple of days or so

 

[jollysue]

Yeah, and keep researching it. Watch the ingredients in some of the other advertized Betta food. Ask your LFS person that seems to know a bit. Ask in the African Forum. If I get a chance I'll check some of my stuff. Do be sure to pre soak freeze dried food. There are lots of traditions about it being bad for fish if freeze dried food is not pre soaked. So far I have not found anything but experiential evidence for it though. Even when I asked Drs. Foster and Smith (a major catalog and online supplier), they could only give me "some people say it's bad."

 

[RandomWiktor]

The trouble with freeze dried food is that it is rough on the GI. The dryness promotes constipation, and the swelling of the food in the animal's stomach after consumptions has been known to contribute to swimbladder disease. But, when pre-soaked, it is reasonably safe.
I have taken full-sized krill, soaked them, chopped up the meaty inner core of the body, and fed it to my bettas. They loved it and suffered no ill effects, so little tiny krill probably wouldn't hurt them.

 

[Kovitlac]

I fed my first betta fish freeze-dried food for four years without pre-soaking it (athough that was before I even knew that freeze-dried food should be soaked). I'll have to do that from now on. It's from petco and doesn't say anything about bettas on the back, but I have problems with the shrimp, so I opted for this instead. So far I've seen nothing but happy bettas.

Here's pretty much all that's on the container:
It's a Terta brand, packaged the same way as I get my bloodworms. MiniKrill, Freeze Dried Plankton. For freashwater and saltwater fish. High in cartotenoids, which promotes the development of natural pink and orange. Also an excellent source of protein and roughage for all tropical and marine fish.

 

[jollysue]

Yeah I've never noticed any problem with freeze dried unsoaked either, but....

I can't imagine that the krill is a problem. My most expensive Cichlid food is high in krill. Just like we were saying watch that it is not too rich or fat or something for a daily diet.

 

[Kovitlac]

I kind of have another question concerning food, although not krill - is it safe to feed my bettas freeze-dried bloodworms once everyday? Just a tiny pinch, say, 3 or so little worms. I think Raphael got constipated from too much krill (I've toned it down since then and he's been fine). I haven't noticed any problems with the worms, but I just want to make sure.

 

[RandomWiktor]

I think if you also feed pellets, 3 bloodworms per day could lead to pudgy fish pretty quickly, as they're pretty high in fat and protien (though less so when freeze dried as they lose some nutritional content). That, and it might increase the chances of constipation. Perhaps you could do it every other day, and feed fewer pellets on the days they eat bloodworms as well?

 

[Kovitlac]

Thank you - I'll do that

 

[92cw12]

Thank you - I'll do that

did u know they sell frozen krill in petshops? why not use that