Feeding alternatives to bloodworms?

[Ameris]

My betta loves eating bloodworms but I’m horribly allergic and I just can’t do it anymore. What are some equally good foods to feed him?

 

[MaloK]

You're not the first I hear say that ! , Brine shrimps and Tubifex are guaranteed to pass.

But You'll never rub off the love for bloodworms from a betta.

 

[Back in the fold]

When I had my PetsMart rescue Betta I fed him exclusively on live wingless fruit flies . These are easy to culture and a few Bettas don’t eat that many . They stay on the surface which is where Bettas feed anyway and don’t sink or foul the water . They even stay alive on the water surface overnight sometimes . The best thing is that they give your Betta something to hunt and that closely resemble their natural food . Look up The Fruitfly Shop on the internet and read up on them . They’re based out of San Diego . I’ve been buying my culture supplies from them for nearly four years and I still have my original flies that I started with in 2020 . Actually, their descendants .

 

[Ameris]

I had read that they can cause reactions but I must’ve developed the allergy recently cause a few years ago it didn’t affect me. I’ll definitely check out that fly shop, I’m sure he’d love that! I think brine shrimp might also work for the other fish in my tank.

 

[Colin_T]

Marine mix and cut it into smaller pieces for the fish. It contains prawn, fish and squid). You can also buy frozen raw or cooked prawn/ shrimp and keep them in the freezer. Take one out and defrost it. Remove the head, shell and gut (thin black tube in the body) and throw these bits in the bin. Use a pr of scissors to cut the remaining prawn tail into little pieces and offer a few bits at a time. Feed until the fish is full and then remove uneaten food.

Brineshrimp and Daphnia are available as live and frozen foods.

Mosquito larvae and adult mozzies can be fed to the fish. Just make sure they aren't sprayed with anything.

If you have a garden you might find aphids on some plants and these can be collected in a bucket and frozen or fed live. I used to have roses and would put a 2 litre icecream bucket under the new rose bods and tap the aphids into the bucket. When I had enough aphids I put them in a ziplock bag and popped them in the freezer for later use.

Small flies and moths can be fed to fish, again though make sure they haven't been sprayed with anything.

You can get wingless fruit flies from universities or online and grow your own in jars. If you get too many, freeze them.

 

[emeraldking]

From experience, I would go for mosquito larvae.

They love it!