Breeding bettas is a fantastic experience for beginners and experts alike. No matter how many times you see the tiny tails hanging from the bubblenest or the baby Siamese fighting fish swimming around chasing the live food, you'll never grow tired of it. For the well-being of your baby fish it is vital to know the best way to feed and take care of the betta fry.
To help your betta fry grow up as fast as can be reasonably expected, two important tips can be followed. These are to feed your fish a variety of the best quality live foods and to maintain the best water quality possible.
1 - Feeding Tips - Baby Siamese fighting fish are active no matter waht size they are. They are able to chase down even the fastest live foods available. The key to feeding young bettas is to provide a variety of live foods. As the fish grow up, the foods given should also increase in size. If the fish are always eating big foods that quickly fill up their bellies, than a noticeable improvement growth rate will be experienced.
So, as your fish grow up, you need to keep adding more (bigger) live foods. The best progression of foods is to start with a combination of microworms and baby brine shrimp. The microworms and brine shrimp are both eaten by very young baby bettas. This combination will satisfy the babies that stay near the ground (who will eat the microworms) and the fast swimmers who will focus on the brine shrimp. As the fish reach an inch in length, they can start eating grindal worms which are bigger than either food already mentioned. The last two foods are whiteworms and Atison's Betta Pro (the perfect combination of nutrients for juvenile and adult bettas.
2 - Water changes - To grow at the fastest rate that is healthy, bettas need a continual source of fresh water. The best way to do this is daily 50% water changes once the fish are 2 weeks old. Water changes, when done this frequently, ensure that most of the fish wastes are removed. Cleaner water helps keep fish healthy and growing faster. Some people theorize that bigger babies produce hormones that slow down the growth of other smaller betta fry. Frequent water changes limit the effect these hormones might have on the growth of the smaller fish.
