James_in_MN
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I'm fully convinced that my female bettas may eat themselves to death.
My 20g tank has:
2 female bettas
5 five banded barbs
10 black neon tetras
3 ottos
10 ghost shrimp
I've been varying what I feed my fish from two types of flakes, to freeze dried brine shrimp, to freeze dried bloodworms. I just recently added freeze dried mysis shrimp and freeze dried tubifex worms to the menu because I heard that flake food can cause bloating in bettas.
What I've been doing is feeding one of the above variety to the fish, then every so often dropping in a couple of shrimp pellets for the ghost shrimp and an algae wafer in for the ottos. Unfortunately, the food I drop in doesn't always go toward the intended target.
My betta will eat the surface food with the black neons. My five banded barbs don't go to the surface, so they rarely get the surface food, only if it's sinking in the tank. My five banded barbs will instead go after the shrimp pellets, and so will the bettas even after they ate off the surface. Finally, my five banded barbs will pick a little at the algae wafer, but my bettas will actually munch on it even after eating off the surface and going after the shrimp pellets.
So, what I thought might have been flake blockage in my bettas, causing a bloated stomach, is just them being greedy little SOBs.
I imagine that I could alternate feedings, and put the shrimp pellets and algae wafer in one day, then surface food the next, but the bettas will go after all of it then.
Should I reconsider my centerpiece fish and exchange them for something else, like a GBR or dwarf gourami? And is there some way to get my five banded barbs to eat the higher variety surface food instead of the bottom feeder shrimp pellets?
My 20g tank has:
2 female bettas
5 five banded barbs
10 black neon tetras
3 ottos
10 ghost shrimp
I've been varying what I feed my fish from two types of flakes, to freeze dried brine shrimp, to freeze dried bloodworms. I just recently added freeze dried mysis shrimp and freeze dried tubifex worms to the menu because I heard that flake food can cause bloating in bettas.
What I've been doing is feeding one of the above variety to the fish, then every so often dropping in a couple of shrimp pellets for the ghost shrimp and an algae wafer in for the ottos. Unfortunately, the food I drop in doesn't always go toward the intended target.
My betta will eat the surface food with the black neons. My five banded barbs don't go to the surface, so they rarely get the surface food, only if it's sinking in the tank. My five banded barbs will instead go after the shrimp pellets, and so will the bettas even after they ate off the surface. Finally, my five banded barbs will pick a little at the algae wafer, but my bettas will actually munch on it even after eating off the surface and going after the shrimp pellets.
So, what I thought might have been flake blockage in my bettas, causing a bloated stomach, is just them being greedy little SOBs.
I imagine that I could alternate feedings, and put the shrimp pellets and algae wafer in one day, then surface food the next, but the bettas will go after all of it then.
Should I reconsider my centerpiece fish and exchange them for something else, like a GBR or dwarf gourami? And is there some way to get my five banded barbs to eat the higher variety surface food instead of the bottom feeder shrimp pellets?
