Do betta fish only eat pellets

[coltin]

If you're looking to mix things up and add some live foods to your betta's diet, consider culturing some in your backyard. Mosquito larvae can be found in buckets of water left outside, especially if there are leaves in them. I'm not saying you should go out of your way to culture mosquitoes, but if you happen to have some buckets sitting around and they just so happen to fill up with water and leaves, well, you can't control what shows up in them. If some mozzie larvae do appear, you can scoop them out with a fine mesh net, give them a quick rinse under the tap, and feed them to your fish.

Daphnia are another great live food option and can be grown in the cooler parts of the year. They're a great choice for tanks with air-operated filters, as they can get sucked up by power filters. Some fish, like female cichlids, have even been known to gather up live daphnia and protect them like they would their own babies.

Rotifers are also a viable option for live food and can thrive in tanks until they get eaten. There's a wealth of information out there on culturing live foods, including this thread on Fish Forums that covers the basics of breeding fish and includes info on culturing daphnia and other creatures.

You can also collect fruit flies, midges, and aphids when they're plentiful and freeze them in plastic bags for later use. This way, you can provide your betta with a varied diet even when certain foods are out of season.

[SeaBidder]

Try live foods like daphnia or freshly hatched brine shrimp - they're usually a hit. Aphids, midges, or mosquito larvae might also do the trick. White or grindal worms are another option worth considering. If you're still keen on bloodworms, look for the frozen, irradiated kind - that should minimize the risk of columnaris or other issues.

Thanks for the info, I had a lucky break last year with live bloodworms in my filters but it seems that's not the case this time around.

[flumon]

I actually had live bloodworms in my filters last year, was pretty lucky about it. No such luck this year though.