Bettas Only Eat Pellets

[FishGuest5123]

My bettas flat refuse to eat frozen brine shrimp, freeze dried brine shrimp, or insect bites. I got excited yesterday when I found some frozen Krill but they turned their noses up to that too. They will only eat their Omega One Pellets. The oldest one use to eat frozen blood worms but I quit feeding those when my betta sorority came down with columnaris. What gives? I hate feeding the same thing all the time. They do like newly hatched brine shrimp for the hunt but I get tired of making them. Any ideas?

 

[Fishmanic]

At least omega one pellets are healthy

 

[Colin_T]

Live foods like daphnia or brineshrimp. Perhaps aphids, midges, mozzie larvae, white or grindal worms. Look for frozen bloodworms that have been irradiated, it's meant to kill off anything bad on them.

 

[Back in the fold]

There was a post somewhere on this forum that stated that Bettas are finicky and won't change from what they like until they absolutely have to.
Afterthought: mine gets Hikari mini pellets and loves them. When I first got him he wouldn't take them. The pet shop feeds flakes and that's all he would eat. I weaned him into the Hikari pellets because I can control his feeding with them. Not a fan of flake food. Too much like potato chips.

 

[seangee]

All my fish love these.
I bought Fluval bug bites recently. Everybody loved them except the CPD who turned up their noses. They love the dennerle stuff though. It is quite strong smelling (even to people) and I have to store mine where the cats can't get to it. Can't comment on whether the cats like it or not - but they certainly expressed a strong interest

 

[PheonixKingZ]

My betta will only eat his pellets, and his dried blood worms, but that’s about it!

 

[Fishmanic]

same with mine.... he just eats pellets ( Northfin Betta bits) or freeze dried blood worms...he won't touch freeze dried daphinia or flakes or frozen shrimp

 

[FishGuest5123]

I finally got them to eat a little San Francisco Bay Freeze Dried brine Shrimp this evening. It is suppose to be nutritious for them. Gonna work on just getting them use to that along with their Omega One pellets. They will eat New Life Spectrum too.

 

[Colin_T]

This is why all fish should be fed a varied diet, to stop them becoming addicted to one food and refusing other foods. It happens to plenty of species, not just Bettas. The fish are fed the same food every day and one day the owner runs out of food. They try a different brand or type of food and the fish goes on a hunger strike because it doesn't like the taste or texture of the new food. The owner tries all sorts of different foods and the fish spits the dummy and sulks.

It's a lot like feeding young children or even some adults. If the food is different and unusual, they won't eat it.

All fish should be fed a varied diet consisting of dry, frozen (but defrosted) and if possible, live foods. The more variety of food, the less chance of malnutrition, and the less chance of food being rejected when different items are put in the tank. If you keep offering different foods each day, most fish will usually start to take them after a week or two. Just be sure to remove uneaten food after feeding so it doesn't pollute the water.

My fish used to get goldfish, tropical and vegetable flakes, sinking and floating dry pellets;

Freeze dried foods included bloodworms, daphnia and tubifex

Frozen foods included marine mix (consists of prawn, fish and squid or octopus), marine green (same as marine mix but has plant matter mixed in), frozen bloodworms, brineshrimp, mysis shrimp and raw prawn.

Live foods included weevil moths, aphids, small flies and moths, midges, mosquitoes and mozzie larvae, ants, ant eggs, newly hatched brineshrimp and sometimes adult brineshrimp. All live foods were caught without sprays/ chemicals and were fed whenever they became available.

 

[Aniket]

My bettas flat refuse to eat frozen brine shrimp, freeze dried brine shrimp, or insect bites. I got excited yesterday when I found some frozen Krill but they turned their noses up to that too. They will only eat their Omega One Pellets. The oldest one use to eat frozen blood worms but I quit feeding those when my betta sorority came down with columnaris. What gives? I hate feeding the same thing all the time. They do like newly hatched brine shrimp for the hunt but I get tired of making them. Any ideas?

My adult bettas eats everything but when i raising baby bettas they were only eating live food. But after two days of hunger they started eating pellets. They can live longer without eating food. But few of them still not eating pellets. You can try mosquito larvae for shorter time and then try live bloodworms sometimes so they will get taste of live food and then freeze dried bloodworms and other freeze dried foods.

 

[FishGuest5123]

This is why all fish should be fed a varied diet, to stop them becoming addicted to one food and refusing other foods. It happens to plenty of species, not just Bettas. The fish are fed the same food every day and one day the owner runs out of food. They try a different brand or type of food and the fish goes on a hunger strike because it doesn't like the taste or texture of the new food. The owner tries all sorts of different foods and the fish spits the dummy and sulks.

It's a lot like feeding young children or even some adults. If the food is different and unusual, they won't eat it.

All fish should be fed a varied diet consisting of dry, frozen (but defrosted) and if possible, live foods. The more variety of food, the less chance of malnutrition, and the less chance of food being rejected when different items are put in the tank. If you keep offering different foods each day, most fish will usually start to take them after a week or two. Just be sure to remove uneaten food after feeding so it doesn't pollute the water.

My fish used to get goldfish, tropical and vegetable flakes, sinking and floating dry pellets;

Freeze dried foods included bloodworms, daphnia and tubifex

Frozen foods included marine mix (consists of prawn, fish and squid or octopus), marine green (same as marine mix but has plant matter mixed in), frozen bloodworms, brineshrimp, mysis shrimp and raw prawn.

Live foods included weevil moths, aphids, small flies and moths, midges, mosquitoes and mozzie larvae, ants, ant eggs, newly hatched brineshrimp and sometimes adult brineshrimp. All live foods were caught without sprays/ chemicals and were fed whenever they became available.

I have always fed a variety. My oldest use to eat freeze dried brine shrimp and use to leap for frozen bloodworms. After U quit feeding bloodworms he quit the sting anything but his pellets. My red betta has only been with me a few months. He never has been interested in anything other than his pellets. I know they feed frozen bloodworms at the Lfs I got him from. My new one is still settling in so I can’t judge him yet. Gonna keep working on the freeze dried brine shrimp. May break down and buy some frozen bloodworms but scared to deTh to try them again. Looking for the irradiated ones you mentioned.

 

[Colin_T]

Culture some live foods in your back yard. Mosquitoe larvae are regularly found in buckets of water sitting outside under trees. If there are leaves in the buckets then you get more mozzie larvae.

It is illegal to culture mosquitoes in most countries due to the diseases they spread, but if you happen to leave a few buckets outside, and some leaves fell in them, then the sprinklers or rain filled the buckets up, well, that's not your fault. And if some mozzie larvae happen to appear in the buckets, well you scoop them out with a fine mesh net, rinse them under a tap and feed them to your fish.

Daphnia can be grown in the cooler parts of the year and are a great live food. They can be put into tanks when you go on holiday and the fish will eat them while you're away. Unfortunately they get sucked up power filters so last longer in tanks with air operated filters.

Some female cichlids have gathered up live daphnia and started protecting them like they do with their babies.

Rotifers can also be cultured and will live in tanks until they get eaten.

The following link has information on culturing live foods for baby fish, but includes Daphnia and some other creatures.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/back-to-basics-when-breeding-fish.448304/

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You can collect up fruit flies, midges and aphids when they are plentiful and freeze them in plastic bags. Then use them as food over the next few months.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Culture some live foods in your back yard. Mosquitoe larvae are regularly found in buckets of water sitting outside under trees. If there are leaves in the buckets then you get more mozzie larvae.

It is illegal to culture mosquitoes in most countries due to the diseases they spread, but if you happen to leave a few buckets outside, and some leaves fell in them, then the sprinklers or rain filled the buckets up, well, that's not your fault. And if some mozzie larvae happen to appear in the buckets, well you scoop them out with a fine mesh net, rinse them under a tap and feed them to your fish.

Daphnia can be grown in the cooler parts of the year and are a great live food. They can be put into tanks when you go on holiday and the fish will eat them while you're away. Unfortunately they get sucked up power filters so last longer in tanks with air operated filters.

Some female cichlids have gathered up live daphnia and started protecting them like they do with their babies.

Rotifers can also be cultured and will live in tanks until they get eaten.

The following link has information on culturing live foods for baby fish, but includes Daphnia and some other creatures.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/back-to-basics-when-breeding-fish.448304/

----------------------
You can collect up fruit flies, midges and aphids when they are plentiful and freeze them in plastic bags. Then use them as food over the next few months.

Thanks for the info! I actually had live blood worms in my filters last year but no such luck this year

 

[Aniket]

Thanks for the info! I actually had live blood worms in my filters last year but no such luck this year

You can make bloodworms by yourself.
Place a bucket full water partially covered in place where bucket get sunlight for 1/2 hr. And add small amount of egg yolk and little mud in bucket.After few days you will see small lines of mud or algae. Wait for lines become broad and then you can collect them.

 

[FishGuest5123]

You can make bloodworms by yourself.
Place a bucket full water partially covered in place where bucket get sunlight for 1/2 hr. And add small amount of egg yolk and little mud in bucket.After few days you will see small lines of mud or algae. Wait for lines become broad and then you can collect them.

Blood worms are the larvae from midge flies. Here in the South they mainly breed in the Spring and are found around water sources. I have a pond they liked.