He Is A Pig!

[jsmathieson]

My betta in my 10 gal is a pig... he will eat til his eyes pop out and he is fat! I am having trouble getting food to my cory's in the tank... I was thinking about moving one of my bettas that is in a 1 gal to the 10 gal and putting Happy (my daughter named him ) in a 1 gal...do you think it will be ok to move them? any tips on how to do it with out freaking them out? I think happy needs to be alone.. are all bettas weird about food? or is it because he thinks he is competing for food? By the way he is in a cycled tank where as the 1 gal tank isnt...

 

[wodesorel]

I've had to betta-proof a feeding station for the black kuhli loaches in my 20 gallon. I put a piece of frozen food inside a 2 inch terra cotta pot, cover the top with the matching saucer, hold it tight together with my finger over the drain hole, and lay it on it's side in the bottom of my tank. I then just barely move the saucer out of the way, just enough for the loaches to fit through. A little bit of food sneaks out the sides, and this is all the betta gets to eat (though it's still more than enough). I've cut back feedings to every other to every third day as well. The first night I just turned out the lights and added some frozen food - the betta had eaten EVERYTHING off the bottom of the tank and looked like he had swallowed a marble!

Bottom feeder food like shrimp pellets and algea wafers are usually somewhat betta proof as well.

I've just stopped feeding the betta separately and now I let him scrounge for food on his own. He seems to be doing great, and now everyone gets fed.

 

[jsmathieson]

I am feeding shrimp pellets and waffers! he goes down there and chases off the cory's and eats like a bottom feeder!
thanks for the tip, i am a very visual person and I am having trouble visualizing what you were talking about but i kindof get the idea..

 

[wodesorel]

I would take a picture, but I don't have a camera. (The Get The Wodesorel A Digital Camera Fund - which really did exist - went in it's entirety to a sick kitty this spring. The kitty is better than before, but Wodesorel is broke as heck and will be for... oh... about 8 more months until the vet is paid off. ) (Well, it wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't sunk all this money into fish, but the cats and I deserve KTV. )

I use terra cotta to create lots of hidey holes for the loaches, but I would think anything you could use to make a "cory only" retreat that the betta couldn't get into would work. Mind you, I've had bettas go completely on their sides to slide into a half of a very small pot just to see what was in there - so it may work, it may not.

 

[jsmathieson]

I use terra cotta to create lots of hidey holes for the loaches, but I would think anything you could use to make a "cory only" retreat that the betta couldn't get into would work. Mind you, I've had bettas go completely on their sides to slide into a half of a very small pot just to see what was in there - so it may work, it may not.

You know what wodesorel...I believe that Happy is just the kind of betta that would do that! He is a bad boy

 

[BWBettas]

if you feed any pellets to your bottom feeders, make sure it is pre-soaked. As bettas will eat it and the ellet will expand in its stomach

Bret

 

[jsmathieson]

He is being a brat... I can't hide food from him he always finds it! I need to swap tanks.. any sugestions on how to move them.. are all betta's like this?is there anything else I could do? I don't want him to eat himself to death and starve the cory's...

 

[liz2]

get him out when you feed the corys! not every time just every other...little tig...my betta who has swim bladder probs manged to eat an ant that had somehow found its way on top of his tank and was climbing round the rim I tried to get it off and it fell in!

 

[jsmathieson]

so I should just take him out.... sometimes the cory's take awhile to eat... will this be stressful for Happy?

 

[liz2]

Shouldnt stress him but I clean mine out on a rota so I am always getting them out and putting them in a little glass jar whilst I clean their tank. I always put them in front of one of the other bettas so they can flare. None of my fish are greedy though so I am a little confused with best way to deal with him. Have we seen a picture of him?

 

[happyannie]

I have 8 female betta and 2 corys with other fish in a 39 gallon tank. I found this clip that fastens on the side with a suction cup and it has a little plastic mesh thing you can put food in. I found these frozen cubes of blood worms made by Hakairi? is that the spelling? I put the cubes in there one by one and let the clown loaches come along to get the worms undone from the cube.... Generally they float off to the side and the bottom of the tank where the girlies and the corys swarm to get their meal. Sometimes, one of the girls grabs the bunch like a football and runs away with it.... That's when I come along and stick it back in the mesh holder. ... except yesterday when one of the girls wasn't going to give it up no how and we ended up in a tug-of-war. If you can arrange your feedings so they both get some of whatever it is then that would work. I had one male betta who ate algae tabs that I put out for the plec. Some of these guys are more picky and some aren't. Apparently you have one who just enjoys a good meal no matter what it is.
He's just a good eater!

 

[jsmathieson]

I take my other betta's out to clean the tank.. I don't do it with Happy cause his tank is cycled... and the cory's are slow eaters... is it bad for Happy to over eat? I have pics of him but they ar in my boyfriends computer... he is really cute even if he is a butt head...

 

[happyannie]

Yes corys have a way of resting at the oddest times. He can overeat and have an obesity problem. The corys would love bloodworms too. Since you're in the states you should be able to find one of those clips.
http/www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod...1&N=2004+112972

Here's a link to Foster and Smith so you can see what I'm talking about. I don't know if this would work for you or not..??

 

[jsmathieson]

they do love blood worms but the worms never make it to the bottom of the tank...

 

[happyannie]

If you're using the freeze-dried kind, they take awhile to go underwater! The frozen kind drift in the water which is why I use that clip fastened onto the side of the tank at the very bottom in the rock substrate to keep it balanced. Heck, even the plec has been coming out to eat bloodworms late in the day and I thought they were only plant eaters!!