Posted by jadzia on March 20, 2003 at 19:17:44:
In Reply to: wildly contradictory advice on feeding? posted by watermelonpunch on March 20, 2003 at 17:49:09:
Well...I don't know enough about freeze dried food to help you there. As for amounts, what I normally feed mine are very small pellets, two twice a day. If your feeding them to much, you'll know because they'll, to put it bluntly, poop a lot more. Some bettas might eat more or less, without much harm, depending on how much energy they use. For example, I have two males. The one tends to be a lot more active than the other. I sometimes give him a bit more than the other to compensate, yet he still goes to the bathroom a lot less.
As for feeding them what they'll eat in a couple of minutes, that works with some types of fish.Bettas are not one of them. I know if my one had the chance he would probably eat half the container in this amount of time. They can be pigs! With bettas it's much better to ration what they get.
Hope I helped a little!
:I've noticed that there's wildly contradictory advice regarding proper betta care. I'm sure everyone else as noticed this as well. haha. What concerns me, is that sometimes people ADAMENTLY recommend something - without saying why. And on some of these points, when I've questioned people - they don't even have an answer.
:1)
:I've read on various breeder sites that buying live/frozen foods for bettas greatly increases the chances of your fish getting dropsy and other nasty diseases. They've said that they never have such outbreaks when feeding freeze dried food.
:On another forum (not here) EVERYONE kept repeating in all kinds of posts "here we recommend strongly against freeze dried foods" over & over, and suggesting to every newcomer that they start feeding their bettas frozen foods.
:When I've asked why... nobody seems to have an answer - in fact, I've been attacked for questioning this!
:My issue is - okay, freeze dried foods minimizes the risk of disease - and that's why it's recommended on some sites. But WHY are some people so against freeze dried foods? I mean, to the point that they think it's worth the risk of dropsy & fungus & such?
:2)
:I've been hearing that overfeeding is dangerous in so many ways. However, I can't seem to get a straight answer about how much would be too much. Some people say "the size of their eye" is how much you should feed daily - but then the same people will say it depends on how compact the food is.
:For example, someone will say "3 pellets" - and I would've thought pellets were VERY compact, and 3 pellets are 3 times the size of MY bettas' eyes!
:Oh yeah, and even though some feeding instructions say "whatever they can eat in a couple of minutes" would be enough... but then I've heard those instructions cut down like total bunk propaganda.
:I mean, is there any scientific concensus on these things?
:Thanks!
