# My Betta Just Ate...



## Sagittarius-Aquarius (Oct 30, 2009)

A house fly, heavy with eggs. I was doing water changes, and I came back to water full of eggs with a semi-gored house fly. Should I be concerned? He's in a safe tank right now, it's not his main. None of the water from it will be going back into his tank after this nasty fly business.

I know bettas are insectivores, but I'm just concerned about house flies as a meal...

Thanks!


----------



## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

The fly itself won't be a problem, and I would guess the pesticide risk is relatively low if it was still flying around and just drowned


----------



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

I wouldn't be worried. Mine ate a bee once D:


----------



## Sagittarius-Aquarius (Oct 30, 2009)

Haha! Good to hear, he seems just fine. I took the remains away as soon as I caught him. It was neat to see though.


----------



## BettaBeats (Jan 14, 2010)

some people feed flies to their fish. lol, i know my gouramis ate a fruit fly on the surface last week.


----------



## Sagittarius-Aquarius (Oct 30, 2009)

I've seen the fruit fly phenomenon, but never a house fly. It was a big critter. He doesn't seem ill, which is relieving. 

Did they enjoy it?


----------



## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

Whenever I found a bug I used to feed it to my fish, the tiger and odessa barbs usually took all the legs, and the convict cichlids came and finished the job. Quite a few fish eat insects in the wild and I know for a fact that bettas do.


----------



## Firerox (Apr 26, 2010)

Whenever I swat a house fly / fruit fly I just drop the dead body(s) into my bettas' tanks. They love it!


----------



## Sagittarius-Aquarius (Oct 30, 2009)

Good to know. He's eaten fruit flies and such, I was only concerned about risks of parasites. Thanks for the story, Philip 
I know wild mosquito larvae are not a good idea.


----------



## bae (May 11, 2007)

Sagittarius-Aquarius said:


> Good to know. He's eaten fruit flies and such, I was only concerned about risks of parasites. Thanks for the story, Philip
> I know wild mosquito larvae are not a good idea.


In general, unless the wild food is taken from a body of water that has fish living in it, you don't have to worry about parasites. After all, parasites have a life cycle that includes at least one stage living in the host. No hosts, no completion of life cycle, no parasites.


----------



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

So collecting from a wintered pool or someones bucket set outside would be safe?


----------



## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

Ciddian said:


> So collecting from a wintered pool or someones bucket set outside would be safe?


I think I've heard someone say that they keep a bucket full of water so they can collect mosquito larva, not sure if this is safe though.


----------



## bae (May 11, 2007)

I keep a few buckets out on the patio to raise mosquito larvae. I pour the contents through a fish net at least once a week, so the larvae never mature, which reduces the number of mosquitoes in the neighbourhood overall.


----------



## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

bae said:


> I keep a few buckets out on the patio to raise mosquito larvae. I pour the contents through a fish net at least once a week, so the larvae never mature, which reduces the number of mosquitoes in the neighbourhood overall.


Do you condition the water or do anything special with it?


----------



## bae (May 11, 2007)

Joeee said:


> Do you condition the water or do anything special with it?


You have to 'enrich' the water to make it attractive to the mosquitoes and provide something for the larvae to eat. Green water attracts them, but 'swampy' water attracts them more. Put a small handful of rich soil or compost or dried grass clippings or some such in a bucket of water and let it stand. The egg rafts look like oblong flecks of soot, and float even if disturbed. If you want to have larvae of consistent size in each bucket, collect the egg rafts daily and put them all in one bucket. After a day or two, put new ones in a different bucket, etc. You'll get other critters in the buckets too. I usually get some bloodworms.

You can also put egg rafts in with small fry indoors. The fry will eat them as they hatch.

I use plastic food-rated buckets that I've gotten free over the years from bakeries and donut shops. They are used to ship frostings and fillings and such.

Be sure to pour the water through a fish net every 7-10 days. If you see pupae, do it right away. The larvae and pupae will all dive for the bottom when the water is disturbed, so you may have to wash them out of the sediment.

I don't always do this in an organized manner, but I usually have some buckets of water out on the patio for the plants. These provide treats for the fish, and are great for getting them into breeding condition. It's interesting to see them use some of their natural instincts hunting the bugs, too.


----------



## Sagittarius-Aquarius (Oct 30, 2009)

Very cool, I've been trying to find a cheap way to culture some live food for my boys.

Thanks.


----------

