How have you guys been?
Recently, I did a google search on healthiest 'live' food for Bettas and found interesting results. Such as the following:
"
- Mosquito Larvae. In their natural habitat, the staple food of bettas are mosquito larvae, however, aquarists may have a difficult time securing larvae to feed their bettas. (illegal in Singapore) ...
- Microworms and Mini-microworms. ...
- Live Brine Shrimp. ...
- Daphnia. ...
- Bloodworms. ...
- Earthworms.
I will be analyzing the above information based on my experience as a Betta Breeder;
Most live, non-poisonous insect larvae will be very nutritious for Bettas because they carry high amounts of protein for muscle growth in Bettas, thus I support the 1st choice of Mosquito Larvae. Sadly, please note it is illegal to have mosquitoes breeding in Singapore as they spread diseases!
For options such as the Microworms, Daphnia and Brine Shrimps; they all carry very good nutritional values but there is a big HOWEVER...
One must note where the food source originates from...
Microworms culture/breed in decomposing oats/cereal, which produces harmful chemicals which I suspect is the root cause for shortened ventrals in fries (the key reason why I discourage and stopped selling them, as I experienced it myself). The culture substance they live in is difficult to filter off.
I loved using Daphnia, as seen in some older posts. Because they really boost the growth of Betta fries and serve as a good side dish for adult Bettas. But do remember that Daphnia culture from dirty waters which often carry harmful bacteria and viruses, which cannot be filtered off by a net. So be very weary of your sources, only get from reliable shops (very difficult for consistency though).
Lastly, Baby Brine Shrimps hatch from eggs in sea-like salt water. Most freshwater bacteria and viruses cannot survive in this salinity, and as salt is dissolved in water, you can easily filter off the saltwater with a fine net and feed your Bettas.
Now, do you see why I promote feeding baby brine shrimps so much? - For BOTH Adult and Baby Bettas!
If you are interested on this food source, here's how to hatch and purchase them:
https://bettafanism.blogspot.com/p/hatching-baby-brime-shrimps.html?fbclid=IwAR3rnUc7bO0x6Ks5JsZx1DwBBYNSSnGBPzKX-in7Zazk9YoB8AKOfkzvF-k
Once again happy Betta keeping and cheers! Will share some setups soon...
Cheers! :)
Bettafanatic
