Frozen bloodworms questions

[CuriousFins]

So I'm planning on getting some frozen bloodworms soon, I have a couple questions.

How many do you feed a single male betta per day? And how many times per week?

Do you thaw a whole cube and then refrigerate it, or somehow just scrape off a few worms from the frozen block?

 

[Byron]

Bloodworms is not a nutritional food, and in fact it is not healthy if overfed. And that means more than once a week. The prepared/dried foods now available are far more nutrient rich, and fish can be as healthy as eating anything else. Fluval Bug Bites is one of the best, as it is "natural" food. If you want frozen to entice the fish, shrimp and daphnia are the best, as these two are "natural" for most fish species.

I used to feed frozen bloodworms once a week to my tank of Corydoras, but I stopped about two years ago. Not only because the food is not especially healthy to begin with, but I also had to deal with an allergic reaction to bloodworms; this is not uncommon, and my reactions from what others told me were less troublesome than some aquarists who actually had difficulty breathing in the presence of bloodworms.

 

[Oblio]

Bloodworms is not a nutritional food, and in fact it is not healthy if overfed. And that means more than once a week. The prepared/dried foods now available are far more nutrient rich, and fish can be as healthy as eating anything else. Fluval Bug Bites is one of the best, as it is "natural" food. If you want frozen to entice the fish, shrimp and daphnia are the best, as these two are "natural" for most fish species.

I used to feed frozen bloodworms once a week to my tank of Corydoras, but I stopped about two years ago. Not only because the food is not especially healthy to begin with, but I also had to deal with an allergic reaction to bloodworms; this is not uncommon, and my reactions from what others told me were less troublesome than some aquarists who actually had difficulty breathing in the presence of bloodworms.

I noticed that warning on the box of Feeding Frenzy (which IIRC also has Daphnia and Brine Shrimp). As with most things I feed the community, hardly any makes it to the Corys.

 

[Essjay]

Whichever frozen food is used, for just 1 betta it needs just a sliver cutting off the cube and thawing.

 

[NannaLou]

Only buy the smallest packet you can until you know he’ll eat them. Mine won’t eat anything frozen…

 

[itiwhetu]

It is not worth the hassle for a single fish.

 

[CuriousFins]

Bloodworms is not a nutritional food, and in fact it is not healthy if overfed. And that means more than once a week. The prepared/dried foods now available are far more nutrient rich, and fish can be as healthy as eating anything else. Fluval Bug Bites is one of the best, as it is "natural" food. If you want frozen to entice the fish, shrimp and daphnia are the best, as these two are "natural" for most fish species.

I used to feed frozen bloodworms once a week to my tank of Corydoras, but I stopped about two years ago. Not only because the food is not especially healthy to begin with, but I also had to deal with an allergic reaction to bloodworms; this is not uncommon, and my reactions from what others told me were less troublesome than some aquarists who actually had difficulty breathing in the presence of bloodworms.

Brine shrimp? And would you only feed that once a week?

 

[Essjay]

To be honest, frozen food will last forever with just a betta. They usually come in blister packs containing at least 12 cubes (my current ones contain 32 cubes) and each cube would last a betta at least 12 meals. Feeding as a treat once a week, a pack would last for years.
When I had a betta I also had a community tank. Some cubes were so large I used half a cube for 1 meal for the community tank and the betta.

 

[Byron]

Brine shrimp? And would you only feed that once a week?

The issue with bloodworms is that they are not good nutrition and are in fact more harm than good as food for any fish, so once a week max to feed them. Other foods, whether frozen or dried, can be fed more often but there are issues here too.

Generally speaking, frozen foods have less value nutritionally than dried for the same food. Frozen brine shrimp for example does not have much nutritional value (read the label for the percentages of protein, minerals, vitamins). Compare that to Fluval Bug Bites which have just about everything needed for good health. I used to feed frozen bloodworms and daphnia once a week, as a "treat," using prepared/dried foods (flake, bites, sinkling) as daily basic foods. Nutritionally speaking, the fish will be healthier fed on quality dried foods.

The primary "benefit" of fresh frozen is the closeness to living in terms of substance. I do not know if most fish really have this distinction, or if both are just seen equally as "food," but difficult to feed fish like some wild caught species do seem to have a preference for frozen over dried, so they may. In other words, frozen shrimp may seem more like live shrimp to the fish and encourage them to eat it. But the vast majority of fish will be more healthy if fed a quality mix of prepared foods rather than limited to a couple of frozen foods that are more water than nutrient value.

 

[Essjay]

Just to make a distinction, when Byron says dried food, he means commercially prepared food not freeze dried bloodworm, brine shrimp etc.

 

[GaryE]

My test has always been whether my killifish will produce eggs when fed a food. Frozen brine shrimp got a barely passing grade. Bloodworms were very successful food. Bug bites also did well.
No other flake I have tried got any results.
The problem with bloodworms (actually midge larvae that just look like worms) is they have a protein I became allergic to over time, like Byron. My reaction is swelling of the hands and respiratory problems, so I no longer go near it. I have had hand swelling touching water in tanks friends have fed it in.
To feed one Betta, you'll need a razor edge to scrape tiny pieces off a cube, and that puts you into direct skin contact. If you have a predisposition to the allergy, that will let it develop really fast.
There's a bad mystery TV show out there- Midsomer Murders: The Bloodworm Betta Love Triangle killings. If I show up murdered in the study, tell the cops about bloodworms.

 

[NearMeBettas]

To feed the entire worm which my bettas prefer you will have to thaw the whole block and can refreeze any extra. About 6-10 bloodworms 2-3 times a day should be sufficient for an adult betta if that was yo be its entire diet. Bloodworms are best fed as a supplemental food though and not a main diet source. They can be fed with a quality brand of betta food, a variety of live food, or other frozen foods.