What Do Baby Betta Fish Eat?

You’re not alone if you’re wondering what betta fish food is or how much and when to feed them. Surprisingly, one of the most frequent inquiries on first-time betta keeping is about overfeeding! It’s not always correct to take your pet’s needs into account when making a purchase. For example, you should never trust the information from pet stores or food package labels.

Bettas are picky eaters and will typically select food on the surface of a tank’s water rather than in the substrate. Because bettas are primarily carnivores, they require a well-balanced diet that is high in protein. It’s not true that bettas can live on the roots of plants alone.

Many betta keepers prefer feeding pellets since they are easy to use and have a high success rate. Because pellets make less mess, they may be portioned out for feedings with ease. Frozen or live feed can also be used as rewards or included in their daily diet.

To keep your betta healthy and happy, follow the food and feeding instructions below since they may literally be the difference between life and death for your fish.

What Do Baby Betta Fish Eat?

Baby bettas generally hatch in 24 to 48 hours after being fertilized. The baby fish will absorb the rest of their yolk sac for three to four days once they have hatched.

During this period, the baby betta fish will get nutrients by absorbing the yolk from their sac. Thus, at this point, you won’t be required to feed them anything extra.

Hard-boiling an egg and placing a tiny portion of cooked yolk in a jar of water will ensure that your fry has something to eat if they want it. Pour some of the water from above into your baby betta fish tank after shaking the jar thoroughly to dissolve the yolk. The fry will be ready to accept small live foods when they become free-swimming.

Infusoria

Infusoria are a specific kind of fry food in liquid form. It is frequently used to feed baby betta fish. Infusoria are tiny enough to be consumed by newborn betta fish, making this sort of diet particularly appropriate for them.

Infusoria, like other food sources for baby fish, are attractive to young fish. You can cultivate your own infusoria from culture or buy them online and in some pet shops.

Simply collect some infusoria from the container you bought them in, or from your culture tank if you produced them yourself, using an eyedropper, and squirt them into your betta aquarium directly above your baby betta fish to feed them to your betta fish.

Brine Shrimp Nauplii

Your baby betta fish should be able to handle somewhat larger foods after a few days of eating infusoria. Baby brine shrimp, also known as nauplii, is a special food source that fir the needs of baby betta fish. This is mainly because of their high-protein tendencies that the betta can consume easily.

Brine shrimp nauplii can be purchased online or in pet shops and fed to baby betta fish in the same manner as infusoria. Take an eyedropper full of water from the brine shrimp container and squeeze it straight into the betta tank, capturing as many of the brine shrimp nauplii as possible.

Larger Foods

Your baby betta fish will be able to consume a variety of live and frozen feed at three to four weeks of age in addition to standard betta pellets. Additionally, you can also consider continuing feeding your baby betta fish with brine shrimp alongside its current diet. However, you should start adding frozen and freeze-dried foods like daphnia, bloodworms, and micro-worms to it. Make sure they are crushed properly to make it easier for your pet fish to consume.

Frozen and dehydrated foods should be chosen with caution. When selecting frozen or freeze-dried meals, choose carefully because they are prone to parasites and germs that can prove to be detrimental for your betta fish. You can look up online to search for reputable pet shops that sell authentic frozen-dried foods. You may also try sprinkling a little betta food into the tank once in a while to test if the fry will accept it. If you want to offer your betta fish some processed foods on occasion, grind up betta pellets or granules and sprinkle a very tiny quantity in the aquarium.

What Do Baby Betta Fish Eat in The Wild?

Betta fish in the wild are insectivores, or more accurately, carnivorous insects. They also consume a variety of tiny invertebrates and larvae on occasion. Betta fish originate from Asia, and they would naturally be native to the region. They’re also high in nutrients like protein, which is important for wild and captive betta fish.

What Do Baby Beta Fish Eat in Aquariums or Fish Bowls?

While Bettas are often portrayed as living happily alone in a tiny fishbowl munching on the roots of plants, this is untrue. While Bettas may consume vegetation from time to time, they are carnivores that require a high-protein diet.

It’s important to feed your Betta appropriately, especially since replicating their natural diet is nearly impossible. Specialized Betta pellets are perfect for ensuring that your Bettas get all of the nutrients they need. If you want to keep your Betta healthy, don’t give it food made for other tropical fish. If you offer pellets, soak them in water for 5 to 10 minutes before feeding them to your baby betta fish.

How To Take Care of Baby Betta Fish?

The first month of your baby betta fish’s life is critical. The only way to keep it alive and healthy is to feed your baby betta fish with special food items that have a high protein ratio. In addition, you will also need to maintain your aquarium or water tank to ensure that it grows quickly without any issues.

Step 1

A sponge filter in your baby betta tank will help to keep the water clean. A sponge filter is a unique invention that helps to filter out the water without actually disturbing its flow. Anything that may disturb the flow of the water can essentially harm newly hatched betta fish.

Step 2

Set your aquarium heater’s thermostat to keep the water at a steady temperature of 74 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. If the temperature in your baby betta tank fluctuates too much, it might have a detrimental impact on its health and development.

Step 3

Wait for your baby betta fish to finish absorbing their yolk sacs. The parent betta fish will do everything to protect their younglings until they are able to fully absorb the yolks from their sacs and are able to swim independently. After an incubation period of up to 16 days, mouth-brooding betta fish will release the fully developed fry.

Step 4

Feed your young froglets tiny amounts of infusoria several times a day after they’ve absorbed their yolk sacs. Infusoria is a liquid fry food that may be added directly to the tank with an eyedropper. Find infusoria in stores or raise your own colony from cultures if you can’t find it locally.

Step 5

After a few days of feeding newborn betta fish infusoria, transition them to accepting brine shrimp nauplii. Young bettas will develop swiftly if fed appropriately, and they should be ready to accept larger foods after three to four days.

Step 6

After three to four weeks, offer finely crushed freeze-dried and frozen foods such as bloodworms and daphnia.

Step 7

At 6 weeks, transfer the fry to a 10-gallon grow-out tank. A grow-out tank is simply a bigger tank in which your fish will have more room to develop. If you have a lot of baby bettas, you may want to split them into two separate grow-out tanks.

Step 8

Weekly water changes of 25 percent of the tank volume twice a week are required to keep high water quality in your grow-out tanks. Replace the dirty water that has been drawn from the bottom of the tank with dechlorinated tap water at the same temperature as that in the tank using an aquarium vacuum or a length of airline tubing.

Step 9

Offer a variety of foods to your baby betta fish, offering small amounts of live, frozen, and pellet foods several times a day until they are three-quarters of an inch long.

Step 10

To grow your baby betta fish to maturity, separate them into individual cups or bowls. You should be able to tell the difference between males and females at this age. Male baby betta fish will have longer fins and brighter colors if you can’t tell the difference.

You may separate all of your betta fish or opt to keep the females in one tank while keeping the males in separate cups.

How To Feed Baby Betta Fish?

Place an infusoria culture in a large plastic or glass container filled with water first. Place a few pieces of lettuce into a glass jar, boil them for approximately one or two minutes, and add them to the water as an infusoria food. To keep the lettuce warm, use an aquarium heater.

Wait for a few minutes after feeding the betta fry, after they have hatched, before offering them food. This is when the male betta takes care of the betta fry. The fries do not require any nourishment at this point. Feeding any food to allow their bodies to remain connected to the yolk sac after hatching is not advised.

You can now remove the male betta from the tank once the betta fry has started swimming. It’s simpler to care for the juvenile betta fish reared in a separate aquarium after removing the male betta from the main tank.

The eyedropper is required for extracting infusoria water from the jar and immediately pour it into the baby betta fish tank. It’s important not to siphon any plant life while doing so. Because the infusoria are so tiny, they cannot be absorbed by the juvenile betta soon after hatching. These veggies also move about in the tank, which piques their curiosity.

On average, feed your betta fry an eyedropper of infusoria once a day, within 2 to 3 days. After the fourth day, the betta fry is ready for substantial meals.

Infusoria are also nutritious food for betta fry. The technique for feeding the fry with infusoria is similar to that of brine shrimps. Feed the betta fry every day with tiny quantities of brine shrimp so they may develop properly. Shrimps may be purchased online or from a local store, just as with the infusoria. Alternatively, you can produce your own meal.

What Are The Natural Predators of Baby Betta Fish?

The Siamese fighting fish, often known as betta fish, is lovely to look at, but their beauty hides a ferocious temperament. Understanding the natural predators of this breed can assist you in keeping your pet baby betta fish alive.

Male Bettas

Two male bettas will literally circle around each other, like two rival beauty queens circling one another and planning their rivals’ downfall. The major distinction is that your bettas won’t stop at fin-ripping; they’ll get into a physical altercation. You’ll almost certainly end up burying the loser in a fish burial. It’s preferable to keep two male bettas in separate tanks. Position the tanks next to one another and use two layers of plexiglass to protect them while they posture at each other.

Goldfish

When a betta fish is added to a tank containing a goldfish that is aggressive, the mild-mannered goldfish will take on a defensive posture. That goldfish will shock you by nipping at the betta, and the betta will nip at your goldfish to harm it. Because the betta has tiny teeth, he can really inflict damage on his tank mate. They also prefer water that is cooler than a betta can withstand, making your pet ill. Separate them while you still have time.

Cats

Add cats to the list of a betta fish’s natural predators. Your little pet cat, though she may appear harmless, could be scheming how to gain access to the water and capture that delicious-looking betta for dinner.

If you don’t want your cat to eat your betta fish alive, consider buying a secure lid for your tank; one that will prevent her from opening it. She will certainly attempt, but you’ll be able to relax a bit knowing that you’ve made it very difficult if not impossible for her to break into.

Barb Fish

Another betta fish rival is the barb fish, so he’s not a good betta roommate. While it may be necessary to purchase another tank for other fish breeds, it’s a smart investment, especially if you want to keep all of your fish alive and intact.

They are not afraid to use their tiny, extremely sharp, and pointed teeth in combat with rivals, as they fight and kill them. This is not a pretty sight.