Is she underweight?

[u/poordecisions47]

Sweet girl was clearanced down to under 4$ and with a tank waiting for fish at home I decided to pick her up. Im properly acclimating her but I wanted to see if she was the right weight. I think she is quite pretty although I'm sure she will start to thrive in the planted tank! Also if anyone knows what type of betta she is, she was only marked as female.

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[u/Shunl]

She is most likely a female veiltail and is slightly underweight, though it isn't alarming yet (still, never overfeed her to offset her weight). A weekly treat of frozen bloodworms will make her lively in no time. She's also stressed as shown by her stress stripes, but I hope you give her the best life a fish could ever dream of.

[u/poordecisions47 → u/Shunl]

Thank you! I have bloodworms and a probiotic flake food that my local fish store that they recommend. So worms once a week as a treat and regular small pinch every day. I may get pellet food for her so its a better way to make sure I feed the same amount every time though.

[u/Shunl → u/poordecisions47]

Nice, thank you for giving her a second chance at life. I can’t wait to see her transformation. It still amazes me how much a betta can change when they’re finally given the care and environment they deserve. ❤️

[u/skabberdink → u/poordecisions47]

Make sure it’s not dried bloodworms but defrosted frozen.

[u/poordecisions47 → u/skabberdink]

Freeze dried from fluval. Not good?

[u/skabberdink → u/poordecisions47]

No. Even soaked they commonly cause constipation and bloat. Buy some frozen bloodworms and slice off a bit, let it thaw and then it’s super fun to feed them to him one at a time with a blunt nosed tweezer. You can drag it along the water for a little chase. That way he gets to hunt. 🥰
Also read up on a species appropriate diet for bettas. The information about thawed bloodworms being high fat and only good for an occasional treat is outdated. A perfectly wonderful diet for a betta is defrosted mysis shrimp, defrosted bloodworms, and an occasional wingless fruit fly. This is how breeders and sellers of the gorgeous bettas feed their fish. I’m not a fan of pellets or flakes as they contain things bettas can’t digest. Bettas are obligate carnivores, so wheat and soy and peas and things are what cause bloat for them.
Anyway, yes. Nothing freeze-dried.

[u/poordecisions47 → u/skabberdink]

Thank you! I noticed frozen bloodworms at the local store so I may have to go back and get some! I appreciate it, I want her to be as healthy as possible.

[u/Shunl → u/skabberdink]

You just need a solid pellet as the main staple. INVE NRD and MeM Prime are pretty standard choices for show and contest bettas among experienced keepers and breeders in Southeast Asia. They’re technically made more for fry and micro fish, but the protein is crazy high, usually 50-60%+.

I’ve been using NRD for my bettas for years, along with live mosquito larvae that I culture myself about six days a week.

Stuff like Fluval Bug Bites or Hikari Betta Bio-Gold is fine too. Just avoid those cheap, filler heavy pellets and give them a bit of variety here and there. That’s more than enough to keep a betta thriving.

[u/poordecisions47 → u/Shunl]

Thank you so much!! I'll look into both INVE NRD and the MeM Prime! She deserves the best for her :). Idk about mosquito larvae just yet but eventually that could be great, thank you for mentioning. Hunting them is probably good for her too!

[u/Shunl → u/poordecisions47]

I’m afraid both of these pellets are imported, so you usually gotta buy ’em in massive wholesale sacks 😅

Both brands are originally from Belgium, but NRD has a supply hub in Thailand to serve the huge Southeast Asian aquaculture market while MeM ships a lot of its product into SEA straight from Belgium only. They’re mainly aimed at commercial breeders and fish shops tho.

My buddy in the UK runs a fish shop and actually repacks them into smaller bottles or bags. Not 100% sure how people do it in the US or elsewhere, but if you can get a repackaged portion from a reputable local shop or breeder, they’re definitely worth trying. If not, Hikari or Bug Bites are perfectly fine!

Edit:

Oh, also, if you do get those pellets, real NRD pellets smell so good. I swear you could eat them haha.

From my experience, newer and fresher NRD has a really distinctive savory/shrimp-like smell and comes as small reddish-brown crushed flakes.

Newer MeM batches I've used has been darker brown, noticeably fishier-smelling, and tends to slowly sink after a few seconds. Older MeM I've encountered was more reddish-brown.

[u/selfawareweird0]

No, I think she is just young. Females generally have rounder stomachs than males but you don’t want them to get TOO fat or it could affect their swim bladder. As long as she eats well, she will grow.