feeding daphnia

Question
I have a betta female (for almost a year) and have had consistent problems with constipation. I guess I'm just not feeding her right at all... I was feeding two pellets, once in the AM and once in the PM, and occasionally a pea (which she now refuses to eat...)Once it was so bad that she looked like a little pink balloon. So I bought some stuff. I read a book that said brine shrimp were good, but I got a little cup of dried baby shrimp and thought it would be just as good if I chop it up in small bits and feed it to her that way... is that the same?
Also, I got some frozen daphnia, which I am completely confused as how to feed it... its a giant frozen cube! Am I supposed to cut off little pieces, or let it dry, or melt, or what?
If she won't eat carrots, lettuce, or pea, is she still going to get sick because of lack of veggie fiber? How can I get her that fiber?
And one more thing :) I've seen in stores large dried cubes of tubifex worms for other fish like cichlids, will that work ok if I cut it up?...
Thanks! :)
-Stacey Weneck

Answer
Hi Stacey,

The dried baby shrimp is essentially the same as brine shrimp - you would just need to cut it up nice and small.

With the daphnia cubes, get a cup of tank water (not tap water) and sit a bit of the cube in it. It will soften up and then be able to be fed to your betta. Try not to break off more than your girl can eat because refreezing it can make it spoil.

The tubifex worms should be fine too, again remember not to overfeed, a bettas stomach is about the size of it's eye.

Most good quality fish foods contain a sufficient ammount of fiber, look in the ingredients list. The more meaty ingredients (fish meal, shrimp meal etc.) the better. Stuff like wheat and ash (yes, some brands do contain ash) are not good for your fish in large quantities. Good brands to look for are Hikari, Pro's Choice, HBH and more.

Hope this helps!

Prue