# High calorie fish food - thin betta



## leap (28 Aug 2015)

Is there such a thing as a high calorie fish food?

I have a female betta who was in excellent health until I went on holiday. A family member forgot to put the lid back on her tank and she jumped falling quite a long distance.

It took well over an hour to find her. I was on the phone for an hour while my poor hubby was crawling all over the floor looking everywhere!  My feeling is she had been out of water even longer than that.

Amazingly when she was found she was still alive.  She sustained quite a lot of damage - her top fin was completely shrivelled to a crisp. Her eyes are quite cloudy now but she still has sight, her back seems quite curved (but that might be because she's thin and looking bony).

Despite all this she is a quite a little fighter (no pun intended!) and she has bounced back from the brink.  Fins are regrowing nicely etc. She's active and seems happy.

What worries me is that try as I might I can't seem to get her to gain weight. She's not losing weight currently either ,but if there is any other setback in the future I doubt she'd survive it as she must have no reserves.

I feed her small snacks throughout the day and she eats everything no problem!
She seems hungry but then - all my bettas always seem hungry!
I give her frozen white mos larve, bloodworm in small quantity, various betta specific pellets plus vitamin drops in her water.  I tried live mos larvae but her sight is not good enough to catch them.

I'm wondering if I should try her on a little beef liver - but I don't know if that is okay for bettas? Anyone know?
Any suggestions will be very much appreciated.


----------



## Edvet (28 Aug 2015)

Try to get a hold of whiteworms (enchytreeen) or grindal worms. these are homegrown and quite fatty.


----------



## alto (28 Aug 2015)

I'd include frozen brine shrimp in your food rotation, also use the vitamin enriched versions of the fresh-frozen foods if possible, presoak the dried foods for several minutes before feeding; take care with offering too much concentrated protein or fatty foods (both are harder work for the digestive system, & hers may've been compromised by her perilous adventure).
You're right on with the many small meals, but be sure to include frequent small water changes as well (I'd avoid anything over 25% for several months)

I'd definitely not add beef heart/liver etc to her diet.

You don't mention how long it's been since her adventure, I'd expect recovery over several months.
I suspect the issue was more her drying out, rather than the height of the fall.
If she rests on the aquarium floor quite a lot, you might add in some plants or one of those "betta hammocks"


----------



## PARAGUAY (28 Aug 2015)

A tablet type that sticks on tank glass which  could safely be left for a few hours to graze it would soon work out the location if its eating like you say.


----------



## leap (28 Aug 2015)

Thanks for insights above - useful suggestions and I'll include white worms/grindal & brine shrimp. I'll look into tablet types too - she does need high protein - but as you say Alto, I'd not want to overburden her system which I am 100% sure has been compromised.  I was toying with decapsulated brine shrimp eggs - but not sure if it is a suitable food for bettas?

I am doing smaller frequent w/c - so that's in the bag.

She does seem hungrier than most on balance - makes me wonder if her body is needing something. I'll step up on the variety of foods.

This happened on the 24th of June, so not such a long time ago.  There has been some slow improvement with fins growing back slightly - top fin looks almost normal now but just a little ragged.
She hangs out on top of her heater more than on the substrate. And when not swimming around or on her heater she comes to the top right of the tank and does beggin'!

 She's a little miracle really. We still can't believe she survived for so long and it's a luck the man who was coming in to care for my fish daily found her. She'd fallen into the bottom of a  tupperware of water conditioner bottles etc on the floor.

She's an elephant ear with lovely big white fins to the side. 

 Her name is Angel - quite appropriate as even as I'm not religious, there must have been an angel overseeing her that day!


----------



## scootamum (2 Sep 2015)

If she's eating well, but looking thin, then maybe she's suffering from internal parasites?  I've had this with fish in the past (not bettas), and a course of worming medication normally sorts it out. 

Kusuri wormer or JBL Nedol are the two that I've used successfully in the past.  One note of caution though, if you use the JBL Nedol, follow the instructions to the letter.  It depletes the oxygen levels in the aquarium water, so additional aeration is required.  This might not be too much of an issue though with anabantoids...

Finally, I'm not sure if either of these treatments is suitable for anabantoids, so please check first before commencing treatment.


----------



## leap (8 Sep 2015)

Just a quick update got white worms for my girl, she is loving them.  Wolfs them down and I think they must be her fav food as she literally sticks her face to the glass begging for extra's!  It's early days but I hope adding this extra into her diet will help her gain back whatever health she can and some weight. Next I will try to buy some live brineshrimp for her.

Scootamum that's a very valid point - easy to overlook other possibilities sometimes, but I dewormed her a couple of months ago, so I think this is more about being damaged.


----------



## Newbiedoobydo (13 Sep 2015)

Aww poor thing!  How is she doing now? Is she still wolfing down the white worms?


----------



## leap (13 Sep 2015)

Yes she is still wolfing down the white worms - loves them & I think if she could she'd have them over anything else!    I try to keep her diet varied as possible so she gets an array of nutrients - luckily she takes her old foods still - I was a bit concerned the new fave would become the only food she'd take. One of my boys hates one type of pellet that all the other fish enjoy - spits them out everytime.  He is fussy but he is a natural little podget  so no concerns there.

Angel does not seem to have gained weight yet, but no further weight loss which is positive.  I live in hope she'll recover , but also accept with the damage she took she may not ever be optimal or live as long as I want her to.
I go day by day with her - just aim to make each day top quality for her. 
She's a happy little thing despite all the damage - swims around investigating her amano shrimp mates and the nerite snail.
She's charmed everyone in the family since her epic (but terrible)dice with death. Quite the little charmer, erm .... flirter,  too -  loads of  major rapid fin vibrating & posturing for attention (and grub!) if anyone comes near the tank - makes me laugh!


----------



## Edvet (14 Sep 2015)

If you are breeding the white worms yourself, try to feed the some cat/dogfood, this will enhance the nutritional value of them a bit.


----------

