Freeze-dried Foods

[starrynightxxi]

i know there's been a lot of warning against these for a few reasons, one of which being nutritional content. I have hikari freee-dried bloodworms though, and isn't Hikari anything supposed to be top quality as for nutrition and the like? Also on the note of constipation, is this because they are dry, or another reason? because if it's simply because they are dry it seems to me that they can be reconstituted super easily (especially the hikari ones. they soak almost immediately) and then that problem is negated.

 

[RandomWiktor]

From a nutritional perspective, bloodworms alone would not be complete nutrition regardless of the brand; they are not designed to meet all of a fish's nutritional needs like a fortified pellet is. Also, allthough everyone seems to love Hikari for some reason (I guess expensive = quality?), it is noteworthy that for optimum health, it is best to feed a variety of foods - pelleted, frozen, and live. I personally do not feed only Hikari pellets to my bettas; they are not as high in protien as others, and are higher in fiber, which in my mind is not the mark of an ideal carnivore diet. I feed a mix of BioBlend, Hikari, and a tadpole food, as well as frozen blood worms, brine shrimp, and live fruit flies/neonatal crickets.

As for rehydrating the worms, I guess you could. From what I've read, the main dangers are the dryness and roughness, which I suppose could be fixed by soaking. I'm not sure if freeze-drying does anything to the nutritional content, however, though I wouldn't think so.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

Neonatal crickets... do you have a tank where you breed them, or do you have a supplier?

As for the fruitflies, do you keep going back to the store to get them (or got an initial culture and they've kept breeding), or do you catch them (banana peels and whatnot).

As you can see, I want something other than frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp to go with the pellets.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Fruit flies are harvested from my own home; I have about 30 tropical plants, and they attract them like there's no tomorrow!
I breed my own crickets to feed my tarantula and birds, so I always have neo-nates (smaller than the "pinheads" in stores) available for the bettas to snack on.

 

[JoLtNbolt]

I feed mine freeze dried daphnia, freeze dried blood worms, hbh betta bites, hikari pellets, crushed sun dried shrimp, fruit flies, and confused flour beetle larvae.

If anyone wants a starter culture of confused flour beetles, I'd be happy to send one for a small shipping fee. Unfortunately my fruit fly cultures seem to be dying out

 

[starrynightxxi]

well, i don't feed JUST bloodworms, i have pellets too, but from what i hear they cause much the same problem (and unlike the bloodworms, they drop to the bottom after they soak). But I can't really do live foods right now, no room for it and my roomates wouldn't appreciate a tank full of bugs. similarly, they probably wouldn't be too keen on a freezer full of bugs

confused flour beetles...is that their official name? -lol-