I'm in college now, in an on-campus apartment. I am going crazy without having a tank full of baby bettas. Sooo... I have my own room but share the apartment with two other girls. After I get my few juvies out of here, I will have room for a small spawn. But, I don't think I can swing live food. I've always hatched BBS for my fry, but... it made my room smell nasty, and I don't want my roomies kicking me out. :P So, does anyone have any experience using food for fry that isn't live (besides egg yolk) for any and all stages of development? Thanks!

i have a link to some stuff that is suppose to be good but havent tried it nor do i know anyone who has maybe you can be the mad scientist for us lol ! :T

http://www.mreed.com/

anyhow there is the link :T

Cyclop-eeze powder form is said to be way better than bbs but the problem is that it may be a little too big for your babies so wait until they are two-three weeks old before using it. Get moina and daphnia and put them into your fry tank, they clean the tank and will eat egg yolk and some other stuff. What I'd do is get a culture of moina and put half of it in a 1-5 gallon tank with an airline bubbling away (no airstone just the tubing) because they can't have small bubbles or they'll die, and half in your spawn tank before you put in the male and female. Start feeding egg yolk in the mornings and nights when you put in the moina (don't overfeed) and two weeks later start using cyclopeeze. you should get a couple guppy fry and put them with the betta fry because they eat anything you feed them and if betta fry see another fry eating something they'll all eat it then as soon as you can tell which are guppies take them out. This should work out for you until they are a month and by then you put in some daphnia everyday for the fry to eat and they'll grow pretty fast if you have good water conditions.

Thanks for the link, MObetta! Dang, that stuff is pretty expensive, it'd better work, lol!

Purple_Betta, great advice! I don't think I'll be able to do most of that stuff just because of lack of time, but I'll definitely be keeping it in mind for the future.

Has anyone had any experience with Golden Pearls or Hikari First Bites?

I personally would keep a small culture of micro worms in baby rice cereal and vinegar eels. I also use Hikari First Bites. No problems so far but it's easy to make the water foul with the stuff.

I would do cultures but I really can't do anything that smells bad. I'm really pushing it even breeding bettas at all in the first place... my apartment mates would totally kick me out if I stunk up the place. <_<

What about decapsulated BS eggs?

*edit* Actually... DO vinegar eel cultures stink? I mean, besides smelling like vinegar. :P And you keep them in a sealed container, right?

I personally never have used cultures to feed my fry I use hakari first bites along with egg spray untill there ready for BBS but i have never actually tried to grow out a spawn exclusively on dried prepared foods . but i dont see why it wouldnt work.

I am sure it can be done, I just don't know many people who have done it.
And in fact, most top breeders say you get the best, fastest growth on live foods.

Vinegar Eels do not stink, they smell like vinegar, and if you put a cotton plug in the mouth of the bottle, or even use a rubber band to put a paper towel lid on, you don't smell them.
I use bottles, and I put the bottle cap on, and give it a twist, and again, no smell.
And when you are collecting, they smell like vinegar.
Most cultures do not smell.
I don't even think micros smell, except when it is getting time to renew the culture.

Micros in rice baby cereal do not smell overly bad. I have mine in medium size tupperware bowls with a central hole cut into the lid and a piece of fiber floss to plug it up. Only a slight yeasty smell when opened.

My BBS never smell, am I doing something wrong? :OO I feed ocean nutrition's instant brine shrimp and decapsulated BS eggs to my older fry and they seem to like them. I haven't seen anyone touch the golden pearls or attison's betta starter but I'm trying it on really small babies so maybe its just hard to see them eat it lol.

The best use I have gotten out of betta starter is to feed it to grindals, and gut load them before feeding them to the fry.
I have had older fry eat it, but all of my fry eat betta pro a lot better than they eat starter, they just don't like it.
So I crush the pro to powder, and feed that instead of the starter.

Another thing I have heard is to grind up Betta Pro pellets. I haven't tried it and I don't know how fine it gets, but apparently it's eaten more readily than the betta starter.

You know, Nate, you should REALLY get out of my head, or turn those wire taps off.
I JUST did a How To.. Betta Pro Starter, because I was making some for my fry, lol.

HERE is the link.

I'm really late, but thanks everyone for the responses. :)

I bought some golden pearls, and a vinegar eel culture (ready to feed already). I think I'm gonna get a grindal starter culture as well.