MattArmstrong
Member
I think you can keep a betta fed by creating a bug/worm/snail-compatible environment in a larger tank. Kind of a neat idea. Here is how I did it accidentally.
I've had a beta for about 15 months now. I call him Captain Phillips (from the movie) because he is a bad ass. He'll flare and posture when my 85 pound golden retriever comes up to the tank. For a year he lived in a 12 gallon. Normal thing...I fed him, he ate well, he swam around. There were some low light plants.
Three months ago I splurged on a 30 gallon and plopped him in there, and began adding more plants. He loved the room. At one point I added a small 2" bristlenose and he began attacking it...it was dead the next morning...that kind of betta. Captain Phillips had always been a good eater, but at one point his appetite dropped dramatically. He seemed to be doing fine, but it got to the point where I'd drop a single betta pellet he'd ignore it.
I just recently moved him to a 5 gallon (the plan all along). In the 5 gallon were an assortment of tiny bugs and snails. It is a dirted tank, and I mixed plants in from several sources, moving plants between the 5 and 30 gallon a few times too. The larger bugs look like copepods, so I assume that is what the smaller ones are too, even though they are nothing more than tiny white specs. Captain had a feast that first night, and still often looks at the substrate and around the plants "hunting". He eats more fish food, so I know the bugs in the 5 gallon don't satisfy his needs.
It is now a week after Captain Phillips moved. Since then the 30 gallon has seen a copepod "explosion". The snails are out and more visible, and there are more tiny baby snails. What's more, there are a lot of "swimming worms". These things are about a half inch long and can seriously wiggle their way through the water against the current. I noticed this evening an increased number of mini worms, maybe a few millimeters long, doing the same. I had seen a few of these worms before Mr. Betta moved out, but not this many.
I assume Mr. Betta was munching on all this stuff, their numbers down and his belly full. I assume all this stuff is safe for fish. He survived it. He ate it.
Anyone else something similar happen? Any clue what the worms are?
I've had a beta for about 15 months now. I call him Captain Phillips (from the movie) because he is a bad ass. He'll flare and posture when my 85 pound golden retriever comes up to the tank. For a year he lived in a 12 gallon. Normal thing...I fed him, he ate well, he swam around. There were some low light plants.
Three months ago I splurged on a 30 gallon and plopped him in there, and began adding more plants. He loved the room. At one point I added a small 2" bristlenose and he began attacking it...it was dead the next morning...that kind of betta. Captain Phillips had always been a good eater, but at one point his appetite dropped dramatically. He seemed to be doing fine, but it got to the point where I'd drop a single betta pellet he'd ignore it.
I just recently moved him to a 5 gallon (the plan all along). In the 5 gallon were an assortment of tiny bugs and snails. It is a dirted tank, and I mixed plants in from several sources, moving plants between the 5 and 30 gallon a few times too. The larger bugs look like copepods, so I assume that is what the smaller ones are too, even though they are nothing more than tiny white specs. Captain had a feast that first night, and still often looks at the substrate and around the plants "hunting". He eats more fish food, so I know the bugs in the 5 gallon don't satisfy his needs.
It is now a week after Captain Phillips moved. Since then the 30 gallon has seen a copepod "explosion". The snails are out and more visible, and there are more tiny baby snails. What's more, there are a lot of "swimming worms". These things are about a half inch long and can seriously wiggle their way through the water against the current. I noticed this evening an increased number of mini worms, maybe a few millimeters long, doing the same. I had seen a few of these worms before Mr. Betta moved out, but not this many.
I assume Mr. Betta was munching on all this stuff, their numbers down and his belly full. I assume all this stuff is safe for fish. He survived it. He ate it.
Anyone else something similar happen? Any clue what the worms are?
