I've been thinking about this for a couple days now. The other day I was on my way to feed the koi and goldfish brine shrimp but I stopped to feed the betta fry. When I was done I figured that the girl would like a treat so I broke off a very small piece and threw it in there. They didn't see it right away so it fell to the bottom. I came back after feeding the goldfish and koi to see if I would need to clean it up and the little pile was gone and all my girls were on the bottom very very very bloated. Took about 3 days till they were back to thier normal happy selves. I was freaking out, almost sure they had dropsy buuuuut I was kind of paranoid since I recently lost a betta to dropsy. I'm glad they are ok.

Sooooooo, could brine shrimp be bad for bettas or could it just be a random thing that just happened to me? Or am I just freaking out over nothing? Have any of you noticed anything like this happen to your bettas?

when i feed my goldies frozen brine shrimp i tend to defrost it first, and drop a couple of bits in my betta's tank. He usually gobbles it right up just like defrosted frozen bloodworm. He seems to like it and doesnt act any differently, so i dont think it's bad for bettas. Maybe you just put too big a chunk in and overfed them slighty, so they got too full?

No it is actually good for them . I used to feed one of the females I had with frozen brine shrimp when I got it out to feed the goldies. I just made sure to feed her only a little bit and sit and watch untill she ate it. i did not have a problem with it. Maybe you are feeding too much at a time. The bettas just need a little bitty smidgen. ( remember their pellets are tiny) when the little shrimp would float to the bottom she would race down there to get it. And remember bettas are similar to goldies in the respect that they don't have " I'm full " tummy turn off switch just like goldies don't and bettas will eat till they pop like goldies. Maybe just try feeding a much smaller amount. Also I only used Hikori Frozen brine shrimp because it says on the package it had gone through a triple steriliztion process. The other brands like Sally's San Franciscon Brine Shrimp don't say that on the package so I am not sure.

I agree, it just sounds like maybe you fed a bit too much this time. Never mind, next time just try a teeny weeny amount and see how long it takes them to eat and digest that.

There is nothing wrong with Brine Shrimp as such, most Bettas love "live" foods whether it is from frozen or freeze dried. Brine Shrimp and Daphnia are soo small that I think they are actually easier to feed slightly frozen or in gel, rather than freeze dried, so I think it's just a case of limiting the amount you feed

Mine eat Brine Shrimp,Daphnia and Bloodworm.I feed them the gel form.I have to watch my little girl she tends to stuff her mouth with as much as she can at once

It really wasn't that much though. It was to be just a treat so I didn't even give enough for a whole meal and all threes of them had to "fight over it" so I know that even then not all three of them got that much. I feed hikari frozen brine shrimp. The size of the piece I broke off was about the size of a piece of gravel. Very small. Since I really only like giving them blood worms I didn't want to get them used to brine shrimp.

But, if they were fed too much why would they stay bloated and on the bottom of the tank for three days? Wouldn't it pass with in a day?

I use to feed only the amount that would fit between the tips of a pair of tweezers. As for the frozen blood worms. I would use tweezers for that too and only give each fish about two of them a piece

Hi Sushi, well I'm not too sure why they did that either, but I really don't think it is specifically due to brineshrimp as such. There is no reason why this "live food" should have that effect whereas another ones like bloodworms don't.

Are the bloodworms you usually feed frozen or freeze dried? It may be that if the fish are not used to frozen food, that is why they bloated up after feeding on the frozen brineshrimp? Maybe if it was not fully defrosted it still contained a lot of water causing them to bloat?

You won't really know for sure if it is the brineshrimps that caused this or not unless you try it again at some point and even then it may just be the frozen version and not a freeze dried or gelled one that causes it or vice versa.

If you're really concered then maybe don't try it again, but I can't think why this food specifically would do that as it does usually pass through all fish very quickly. I'm thinking it may just be the frozen form that is the problem. Just some ideas, good luck with it anyway

If you are concerned they ate too much and are now constipated (very unusual for frozen food which usually makes them go) you can fast them for a couple days and feed them a cooked deshelled pea to help them eliminate just like you would do with a constipated goldie