# Live food for my Scarlet Badis?



## Jesss (Apr 27, 2013)

I recently obtained some Scarlet Badis and theyre wonderful! But im having trouble feeding them. I have frozen brine shrimp and frozen blood worms and I put a few into the tank but they completely ignored them. So I thought it must be because theyre just getting accustomed to the tank. Fast forward 2 days later and it seems as though I got some picky eaters. I'd drop the brine shrimp right in front of them and theyd just watch it float by. If they happen to come across it in the tank theyll look at it, swim around it, look at it again, get closer, and then swim away. Its causing me major stress because ive never had a fish that wouldnt eat. 
Anyways, ive been looking into live foods but since im a college student i dont want anything that takes up too much time, smells, or disgusts my roommate in any way(Although I will try to hide them from her anyways). Im going to my lfs tomorrow to get some sort of live food for them while i decide on a long term solution.

Any suggestions on a long term solution?


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## FatherLandDescendant (Jul 24, 2014)

Long term solution, when they get hungry enough they'll eat


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## Gametheory (Apr 25, 2014)

I was surprised by their picky nature as well a couple of months ago. They never ate anything I threw in, but they still survived! Basically they are maintenance free haha.
Best bet is to introduce microfauna in the form of snails, springtails, limpets, etc!

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=659522


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## Jesss (Apr 27, 2013)

I hope theyll eat what i feed them soon!

Interesting, but im scared I dont have any microfauna yet because my tank is newly established. Ive put a few plants in there but im not sure if its enough. Theres also a few pond snails in there but its too early for babies. Im also waiting on a few trumpet snails, but those too wont have babies fast enough.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

Baby brine shrimp, grindal worms, daphnia, maybe microworms...all of these work for scarlet badis, though they would have to be deliberately hatched/cultured.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Dump some blackworms into the tank. Repeat every 4 weeks or when they run out of blackworms.


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## Jesss (Apr 27, 2013)

im a little hesitant on the mosquito larve just because if theyre not eaten then i will have a problem in my room.. otherwise i would be all for it. I was leaning towards grindal worms but im not sure about the culturing. I dont know... i need something virtually maintenance free that wont smell-- thats the most important.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

The grindals have a minimal odor if you use coir to culture them.


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

FatherLandDescendant said:


> Long term solution, when they get hungry enough they'll eat


Actually, some fish will starve to death while being fed, as they simply don't recognize the food as being food. 

Badis can feed themselves in older tanks. Do try mosquito larvae... The badis will eat them before they change. Just make sure to immediately feed any pupae that turn up and you'll be fine. Pupae look like swimming commas.


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

I keep and feed live blackworms to my husbands dwarf puffers. They... Aren't very bright... They only eat live works and live snails. I dumped live cherry shrimp in their tank for them to eat, they won't touch them and now the shrimp are berries (for the first time =.=). They also spit out any thawed frozen (dead) food I've tried.
I keep black worms in Tupperware food storage bins with water. They like cold wet dark places. Unfortunately if not kept in a cycled tank they need washed daily(water changed 100%). But if you have Seachm Prime you can do this every other day.


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## JeremyM (Feb 23, 2012)

I culture microworms, grindalworms and walter worms. All require the same minimal care- basically prepared oatmeal in a container with a bit of yeat. They basically take care of themselves and have super high production levels. Feed heavily off of it and make a new batch about once a month, and that's all they need. Some say they smell bad, but I haven't experienced that issue myself.


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

I cultured microworms for a while. Smelled a bit, but not bad. You get used to it really quickly and stop noticing.


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## Jesss (Apr 27, 2013)

I've decided to go with daphnia since i have a spare tank and they are relatively easy to culture


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