Bettas and Shrimp

[CarmenH]

Aw shucks Let me know if you want but can't find them, there's a guy on the Toronto forum that always has them...

[LilGreenPuffer]

All of it I've had several bettas over the years but none in the past few so I'm pretty rusty. I've been reading a lot but I'm sure there's a lot of information that I have yet to stumble along. Unfortunately, I don't know what I don't know So far I think we're in pretty good shape, no specific questions but like the nutrition/immune system thing... Well, that's really something I'd want to know beforehand so I'd never have to ask questions once it's too late. You know?

Well, bettas are insectivores. They eat primarily insects. When reading a food label, check the ingredients. The first ingredient should NEVER be wheat, soy, yeast, etc.; it should be some kind of animal. Try to limit plant matter and carbohydrates. In the wild, the only plant matter that their ancestors ate was the trace amount found in the stomachs of their prey. You should also try to limit the amount of vertebrates in your betta's diet; as insectivores, they should be eating more invertebrates. Worms, shrimp, crustaceans, and, of course, insects and insect larvae are great.

To improve the immune system, aim for complete nutrition, packed with vitamins. Variety, variety, variety! I feed my bettas six brands of prepared foods, three kinds of vitamin-enriched frozen foods, and one kind of live food (gut-loaded, when I can manage it) on a regular basis. They also get other frozen and live foods as occasional treats.

I'm going to be preparing a special "insectivore diet" gel food soon - carbohydrate-free and packed with insects and inverts. I'll post the recipe and instructions when I'm done.

General betta reading:
http://www.ultimatebettas.com/index.php ... 18075&st=0 (I still re-read sometimes to brush up; follow the links for more articles.)
http://www.ultimatebettas.com/index.php?showtopic=47806 (Massive list of every article and stickied post on the entire forum.)
http://velvetdragon.com/bettas/

Oh, ETA: Random betta fact - Melafix and the related products probably mess with their labyrinth organ, so don't use Melafix, Pimafix, or even Bettafix on them. The only exception would be if you have a way to anesthetize your betta and apply Melafix or Pimafix directly to the site of an infection using a Q-tip before releasing them back into the tank. This way, only trace amounts find their way into the water, but it can pack a whammy on the infection site. I'd recommend this if you have a very large container to release the betta into, so that the trace medication is diluted a LOT.

[Flutter]

Thanks so much. I'll check those out now. 6 different types of food plus frozen, holy moly do you have spoiled fish! I don't even get that many types of food

[LilGreenPuffer]

Haha, they are spoiled. Fortunately, my triops and ghost shrimp will eat all of it, too. But I know one woman who has fourteen types of pellets and mixes them together for her bettas.

[Flutter]

There's even 14 types? Sheesh, lol. The local store carries like 2-3 types and one of them is Hikari (which thanks to forums I know is a no no).

Ours won't be that spoiled but I might try making or breeding my own food. Some locals around here are planning on breeding mosquito larvae, I might do that as well as looking into the wingless flies!

[purplecandle]

purplecandle, barbs are schoolers and really need to be kept in groups of at LEAST six.

I know that silly ...I have wanted Cherry barbs forever...I called around to some stores and found a store that had some and I was gonna get like 5 or 6..When I got to the store they only had two babies But, in the tank with them was some pristellas and the cherries were schooling with them..So I got two pristellas and I await them getting in some more cherries..

Only problem with that is the I will need a few more pristellas as well LOL