Finicky betta finally eating

[Elaine T]

I finally saw my new betta eat again. I moved him to the side of the
tank with the filter and more water movement and put a flare buddy
(Splash, my CT) on the other side of the plastic canvas divider.
Blackworms finally started disappearing, but I didn't know for sure that
they weren't making their way across the bare bottom and under the
divider to Splash.

This morning I dropped in four blackworms and he ate them all in front
of me between dashes at Splash. YAY! Now if only Splash could teach
him to eat floating pellets and frozen bloodworms too. Blackworms
aren't my idea of a complete diet, and I don't have easy access to
anything else live.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

[Jim Anderson]

In article >, eetmail-
says...

> I finally saw my new betta eat again.
>
Great news!
--
Jim Anderson
( 8(|) To email me just pull my_finger

[teri]

>This morning I dropped in four blackworms and he ate them all in front
>of me between dashes at Splash. YAY! Now if only Splash could teach
>him to eat floating pellets and frozen bloodworms too. Blackworms
>aren't my idea of a complete diet, and I don't have easy access to
>anything else live.
Cool for your Betta. Elaine, where do you get the live blackworks?
I haven't looked yet.
Teri

[Elaine T]

teri wrote:
>>This morning I dropped in four blackworms and he ate them all in front
>>of me between dashes at Splash. YAY! Now if only Splash could teach
>>him to eat floating pellets and frozen bloodworms too. Blackworms
>>aren't my idea of a complete diet, and I don't have easy access to
>>anything else live.
>
> Cool for your Betta. Elaine, where do you get the live blackworks?
> I haven't looked yet.
> Teri
>
My local fish store has them - Fountains. They're so fun to feed
because fish go nuts for the movement. I've never had a fish that
wouldn't eagerly eat blackworms.

Here's the best article I've ever seen on blackworms.
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/feeding/blackworms.shtml
The only thing I do differently is keep mine in the refrigerator.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

[IDzine01]

Elaine, thanks for sharing that article. I am also a big fan of
blackworms even though I've had a lot of negative feedback regarding
them from other fish keepers. Personally, I haven't had a single
blackworm related death since I started using them a year ago.

I also keep them in the fridge and I find I use up my entire supply
before they have the chance to die off. I would say 2 teaspoons of
blackworms lasts me 6 weeks or more. By the time I run out they are a
bit thinner but still very much alive.

Also, I have heard that I should keep them in conditioned tap water by
some and never to by others. My LFS guy told me he switched from
straight tap to conditioned water and his entire stock died. So, I keep
mine in untreated tap water with no problems. I am curious to hear
about the experiences of others regarding conditioning the water or
not.

[Elaine T]

IDzine01 wrote:
> Elaine, thanks for sharing that article. I am also a big fan of
> blackworms even though I've had a lot of negative feedback regarding
> them from other fish keepers. Personally, I haven't had a single
> blackworm related death since I started using them a year ago.
>
> I also keep them in the fridge and I find I use up my entire supply
> before they have the chance to die off. I would say 2 teaspoons of
> blackworms lasts me 6 weeks or more. By the time I run out they are a
> bit thinner but still very much alive.
>
> Also, I have heard that I should keep them in conditioned tap water by
> some and never to by others. My LFS guy told me he switched from
> straight tap to conditioned water and his entire stock died. So, I keep
> mine in untreated tap water with no problems. I am curious to hear
> about the experiences of others regarding conditioning the water or
> not.
>
I condition with AmQuel...sometimes. Other times, I use water from my
Pur pitcher or even tap water. It doesn't seem to matter much and I
suspect chloramines help keep the bacteria down. What does seem to help
is using refrigerated water so they aren't temperature shocked.

I feed sponge squeezings and have also had the worms clean algae off
bits of java moss as the article suggests. Then the fish clean worms
off the moss. ;-) My current batch of about 2 tbsp (smallest portion
I can buy at LFS) is 3 weeks old and not too many die-offs.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com