I keep Siamese fighting fish (Betta) but am concerned that they are not getting all the type of food they require.

I give them the special dried food (larva) in granule form but they appear to eat it then spit it out. I would like to try other foods

such as live brine shrimp but not sure where to purchase.

I don't seem to be able to keep them for more than a year at a time and they live in separate tanks with regular water changes.

Any advice gratefully received

Tks Gator

Leaving link , but moving to pet section.

I've had my beta for 6 months now, he's in a nice large tank (really don't agree with this trend of keeping them in a tiny bottle only able to swim 2 cm in any direction) with glass pebbles at the bottom (acquired from the tops of empty Jonny Walker and Jack Daniels bottles) and I also feed him the same food. I change the water once every two weeks (I always use bottled water) and he seems happy as beta can be. He gets excited when I open the curtains in the morning as he knows he's about to be fed, i give him 7 or 8 pellets and he munches them... Maybe it's a bad batch that you have?

Apparently there's a great aquarium shop in Fishermans Village, I haven't been there myself yet - maybe they'll be able to offer you some assistance?

I use to fight em back in the day.I was young and dumb.They only cost a couple dollars.We would put 2 males together in a small tank and watch em go at it.

I had in mind to breed some mosquito larvae for this sort of situation, it'd be easy enough to do and once they were born you could control them by keeping the container they have bred into covered only to occasionally open it and allow a new brood.

It's certain your Beta would love some fresh, live larvae full of protein.

Edited January 10, 201214 yr by WarpSpeed

I had in mind to breed some mosquito larvae for this sort of situation, it'd be easy enough to do and once they were born you could control them by keeping the container they have bred into covered only to occasionally open it and allow a new brood.

It's certain your Beta would love some fresh, live larvae full of protein.

How do you breed mosquito? Simply catch them and put them in a jar together?

I had in mind to breed some mosquito larvae for this sort of situation, it'd be easy enough to do and once they were born you could control them by keeping the container they have bred into covered only to occasionally open it and allow a new brood.

It's certain your Beta would love some fresh, live larvae full of protein.

How do you breed mosquito? Simply catch them and put them in a jar together?

No, put out a nice bowl/small bucket of unchlorinated water near some bushes and they do the deed for you without any intervention. Keep checking it daily though as you don't really want to breed them for the environment so not to let the larvae reach maturity, once you see several in the water by tapping the side you'll see them wiggling along like little worms then just net all of them out and feed them to your fish.

If you have too many for one feeding (as you want him to eat them all so they don't mature and become mossies in your house) then put the remainder in a smaller container with a lid, preferably one that allows in some air as they breathe air in spite of being in water (that's why you'll see them wiggling to the top often).. It takes several days for them to become mature mossies though so you should have them all fed by then in theory then just repeat the cycle, easy enough to do.

Edited January 11, 201214 yr by WarpSpeed

I had in mind to breed some mosquito larvae for this sort of situation, it'd be easy enough to do and once they were born you could control them by keeping the container they have bred into covered only to occasionally open it and allow a new brood.

It's certain your Beta would love some fresh, live larvae full of protein.

How do you breed mosquito? Simply catch them and put them in a jar together?

No, put out a nice bowl/small bucket of unchlorinated water near some bushes and they do the deed for you without any intervention. Keep checking it daily though as you don't really want to breed them for the environment so not to let the larvae reach maturity, once you see several in the water by tapping the side you'll see them wiggling along like little worms then just net them out and feed them to your fish.

If you have too many for one feeding (as you want him to eat them all so they don't mature and become mossies in your house) then put the remainder in a smaller container with a lid, preferably one that allows in some air as they breathe air in spite of being in water (that's why you'll see them wiggling to the top often).. It takes several days for them to become mature mossies though so you should have them all fed by then in theory then just repeat the cycle, easy enough to do.

Wow brilliant!! Thanks very much

Good luck!! Free unlimited food I might add and between breeding cycles you can supplement with the dried brine you've been using it's not a bad idea to rotate anyways different nutritional values and provides variety..