And don't think you've got things covered with some kind of fine dry food. Won't work. That's right ain't a gonna happen. At least not in the fry's lifetime, short at that may be. And it's really sad to think you're measuring their miserable bettafish lifespan in a few short weeks and finding it's over before you even know what you've got.
Still it happens. That's because for many, fry feeding's a huge hurdle to overcome if they're going to successfully breed betta fish. (Not that I'd advise doing so but it seems many have their hearts set on trying so why fight it?) Otherwise you're just another wannbe who is doomed to failure after failure no matter how well things go in the breeding tank. Left to wonder why did they die this time, instead of getting to the exciting point of seeing some amazing colors and fins develop right before your very eyes.
Okay so that's the problem. The solution? You need to think live and you need to think micro-sized. Because those you are trying to feed are surprisingly teeny tiny in size. With teeny tiny mouths to match. But they possess a supersized appetite that needs to be satisfied and on a regular basis.
Naturally you can feed a number of things to those eyes and tails that are potentially an attitude in waiting. Just has to be downsized to their level.
And you have to be able to grow it yourself. Because you're unlikely to find the fry grub you need at any of the big box pet stores. Or your local pet store for that matter.
Admittedly some into betta breeding favor feeding infusoria. And yes these microorganisms meet the small enough test. That's for sure. But they can fail the water quality test in a big way by adding to spiking ammonia levels. And ammonia is super deadly to fragile fry. Can wipe them out faster than you can spell ICH. (Although let me hasten to add it's not ICH they got.) It's a toxic brew that's trying to pass for good water that poisons them indiscriminately seemingly without cause. Leaving the betta keeper to wonder what happened to all the fry?
For much the same reason I'm not big on egg yolk even though some are. Unless you are extremely careful, and I mean to say extremely, the cloud of protein your egg yolk produces can rot and this too can easily pollute the water badly. Leaving your fry to cry foul. As in foul, nasty, deadly water.
Okay so if those two don't make the cut what does? Initially you're better off with microworms and note that their name gives you a hint as to their size. And then a few weeks later adding baby brine shrimp (BBS) to the list. Sure it's hard to get your head around how something so small, or BBS, can be too big for your newborn bettas. But they are.
FACT: Microworms are bigger than banana worms but smaller than either Grindal or white worms. Just like in the Three Bears, they are sized just right for newly free swimming fry.
Okay so the nematodes also known as microworms are it. (Which if you notice are about as small as the performer formerly known as Prince! Kidding!) As this video shows all you basically need is a starter culture and a growing media and your fry feeding problems are pretty much over. Which is why this is the lazy way to feed your fish, more or less.
Here's how this approach to culturing microworms works.
Cook up some oatmeal and let it cool to room temp. This would be your growing media and a bit too soupy is probably better than being too dry. How much you ladle into each of your plastic containers isn't vitally important to success. Keeping in mind the worms, as they are, live on the surface not in the depths. So too thick and you're just wasting perfectly good oatmeal. On top of the oatmeal sprinkle a dusting of cream of wheat. To this you add a bit of starter from an existing microworm culture. (And do pay attention to the bit about using a clean spoon, or in this case chopsticks, so you don't cross contaminate your cultures.) To finish things off, this recipes calls for a sprinkling of brewer's yeast. Less is more with the yeast. Seal your new worm colonies with a lid that has a few air holes poked into it. And you're good. If things go right you'll soon have worms crawling up the sides of your containers ready to be harvested and fed. As the video shows collect them on your finger, drop them into water, suck them up with an eyedropper and add them to the tank housing your hungry fry. And you probably want to have a number of containers of these guys going at the same time so you have enough for a nonstop harvest.
CONCLUSION: Here's the deal. You do not want to wait until you have hungry fry depending on you for food before starting this process. Because you need starter culture to pull it off. Without that you're sunk. Sure you may find someone at your local aquarium club or whatever who has a culture available. Or you can pick some up off eBay for less than five bucks. And once you've got that you can produce these miniature worms FOREVER. But if you have to track starter culture down your spawn may well be dead before you are in a position to feed them properly. This is why the responsible thing to do is plan ahead. And have your wriggling microworm cultures going strong before you have fry that need to be fed.
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