Live foods

[Lcc86]

I recently thought that my betta fish might be a bit bored, so thought I'd get a couple of neocaridina shrimp in the hope he'd enjoy following them round. Big mistake! He immediately went straight to attack mode, luckily they were too big and too fast for him to catch but he was absolutely relentless! He didn't stop until I'd netted them out of the tank, and even now he's still stalking around the tank, it's really awoken his killer instinct. Luckily I have a community tank the shrimp can live in, but I've decided that given the exceptionally aggressive nature of my betta I'll get him some live food instead as he should enjoy the hunt. I've ordered some daphnia, does anyone have any idea if I can keep some of them alive long-term as a constant food source? Bearing in mind I am in a flat so space is at a premium and I don't have space to set up a whole tank for them.

 

[GaryE]

You bought him live food - the shrimp!

Daphnia are hard to culture indoors. I grow them outside but have always failed inside.

 

[sharkweek178]

Try grindal worms and/or wingless fruit flies. Neither is aquatic so you don't need to use a tank to culture them. Grindals can be kept in a plastic food storage bin. They are extremely easy to culture. Fruit flies can be kept in 32 ounce deli cups. @Back in the fold can tell you more about feeding wingless fruit flies to bettas. But they're a great food for them. Bettas are insectivores. And the wingless fruit flies float which suits a betta just fine with their upturned mouths. Plus, since they float they don't immediately drown. The betta can eat them at its leisure.
Baby brine shrimp are another easy live food. A hatchery for them doesn't take up too much space.

 

[Lcc86]

You bought him live food - the shrimp!

Daphnia are hard to culture indoors. I grow them outside but have always failed inside.

He clearly saw it that way! I don't have any private outdoor space sadly, one of my neighbours would probably see a culture and throw it away haha.

 

[Lcc86]

Try grindal worms and/or wingless fruit flies. Neither is aquatic so you don't need to use a tank to culture them. Grindals can be kept in a plastic food storage bin. They are extremely easy to culture. Fruit flies can be kept in 32 ounce deli cups. @Back in the fold can tell you more about feeding wingless fruit flies to bettas. But they're a great food for them. Bettas are insectivores. And the wingless fruit flies float which suits a betta just fine with their upturned mouths. Plus, since they float they don't immediately drown. The betta can eat them at its leisure.
Baby brine shrimp are another easy live food. A hatchery for them doesn't take up too much space.

Thanks I will look into those as well. Am I right that baby brine shrimp are essentially the same thing as the old school "sea monkeys"?

 

[sharkweek178]

Thanks I will look into those as well. Am I right that baby brine shrimp are essentially the same thing as the old school "sea monkeys"?

Yes. They're Artemia. You can grow them out to adults. But there's not much point. Brine shrimp are born with a yolk sac attached that they feed on for the first couple of days of their life. That's when they're at their peak nutritional value. They lose a lot of their nutritional value when they become adults. The sooner you can feed them to your fish after they hatch, the better.

 

[Lcc86]

Yes. They're Artemia. You can grow them out to adults. But there's not much point. Brine shrimp are born with a yolk sac attached that they feed on for the first couple of days of their life. That's when they're at their peak nutritional value. They lose a lot of their nutritional value when they become adults. The sooner you can feed them to your fish after they hatch, the better.

Brilliant thank you, I'd definitely have room for something like that, and my community tank would also benefit from the live food too.