Betta Fry Food!

[pygora]

I love my bettas. My male and female get along perfectly. My tank is a 10gal, currently only has lucky bamboo.

My bettas just had their second batch of fry, there was only a few survivors in the first batch, who are still tiny according to the growth chart.

My fish are apparently REALLY picky and i'm wondering what everyone feeds their betta fry.

I used egg yolk for my first batch, but it spoiled the water way too much. Also, bought adult brine shrimp, which they don't like at all - not even the adult bettas. Tried dried bloodworms. For my second batch, I bought algae wafers and Hikari first bites. Those have worked so far, but only for beginnings.

How easy is it to hatch my own brine shrimp? If that's what you suggest.
What should I be feeding them?

 

[pygora]

I'm probably going to try mircoworms, since i've found cultures pretty cheap.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

thats good for the time being.
the fry look adorable!!! and great male!
when they get a bit bigger, you could feed them finely crushed flakes or try tetra colour flakes uncrushed. my cichlid fry ate them from day 1, but urs look like they will have to hit the cm mark b4 any adult food as their mouths cant tear the flakes.
the brine shrimp are easy. add water and voila in days there's babies. you just catch them with a pipette and squirt into baby tank/net/whatever.
awww

 

[BillD]

Betta fry are very tiny so may need infusoria as the first food. Vinegar eels may be small enough. they probably won't be able to eat BBS or microworms for a week or more. Someone who breeds bettas may be of more help.
Brine shrimp have to be hatched in salt water, and should be fed as soon after hatching as possible as you are actually feeding the yolk sack to your fry. When the fry are big enough for the BBS you will see rapid growth. Microworms are good, but not as good as BBS. They do have the advantage of low cost and ease of culture.

 

[pygora]

Yeah, i'll stick with the first bites/algae wafers for now. My older fry is teaching the younger ones how to eat.

I ordered a mircoworm culture for $4 today. Seems a lot easier to raise the worms than the brine shrimp. Besides, i've got a few days before it arrives.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[mfdrookie516]

Microworms are very simple. I kept some for a while, until I realized I had forgotten about them. Don't do that... rotten oatmeal stinks!

 

[betta4me]

I personally would do microworms for the first week only. They are small enough for them to get in their mouth but do not hold enough nutrition to sustain them and their growth, they are a temporary food. After the first week I would move to live baby brine shrimp and once they are big enough, introduce other foods and a variety. I would also keep java moss in with them at all times. Good luck.

 

[pattyfurg]

What I use is just a cup of water with some grass at the top and leave it in the sun for 2-3 days then just take the grass out (leaving the slimy stuff) and use that as food for my next batch though I think I'll just use the stuff you get at a pet store

 

[jetajockey]

microworms are too big initially. I've raised paradisefish fry and the only way I was successful at it was by inoculating the tank with green water and a dense amount of java moss.

 

[librarygirl]

The babies are adorable, congrats!!