How to Make Infusoria for Betta Fish?

Taking care of some amazing betta babies is pure fun. These tiny creatures, once separated from their parents, are now totally dependent on you. And they require super-nutritious food to grow into healthy and strong colorful adolescents.

Therefore, infusoria is among the top choices for betta fry. If you have a few days of time before having to offer infusoria to your little pets and you do not wish to buy these microorganisms at the local store, it is quite simple to create a home-made version of such food.

If you are wondering how to make infusoria for betta fish, we are sharing below a simple yet efficient step-by-step guide.

What is Infusoria?

Infusoria is, in simple words, baby fish food. It consists of microorganisms such as unicellular algae or minute invertebrates which usually live in freshwater ponds.

Such minuscular organisms are highly nutritive for fish fry and are easy to swallow and digest because of their tiny structure.

Infusoria is usually created with the help of organic or vegetative materials, which get decomposed into stale water. Therefore, it can be easily created from the comfort of your home.

Infusoria is an amazingly efficient food choice for any betta fry. Indeed, it is micro-sized which allows baby fish to swallow and digest it properly while offering plenty of highly nutritive values at the same time.

On top of that, such food consists of live microorganisms, which will move and swim around the fry tank, making it interesting for them to chase it around.

How to Make Infusoria?

Infusoria is pretty simple to make. Basically, all you require is a tiny effort and some patience.

Start with finding a clean glass jar, which will act as the infusoria home. Next, fill it up to 1/4 with the greenery you wish to decompose. Good solutions for betta fry seem to be peeled green beans, peeled peas, chopped spinach leaves, and shredded green cabbage.

You can use either just one of these or all, depending on how different microorganisms you wish to create. Such greens should now be poured with boiling water. Therefore, you can boil some water up and fill your jar up to 1/3. Let it cool down for a couple of minutes.

Furthermore, now such glass requires some healthy bacteria to allow infusoria growth. The best way to obtain that is by filling the jar up to the top with water from an established aquarium.

In order for these to be able of performing their job correctly, simply place the jar nearby a sunny window and let it rest for a couple of days. It is as simple as that!

During such waiting time, you will first notice the jar water becoming cloudy. This means that the greens are decomposing, and bacteria are starting to grow.

As the infusoria grows as well, it will start feeding on the bacteria across the jar, making the water becoming clearer. Once it clears up completely, it means there are no more bacteria left, and your infusoria is now ready to use.

Using Infusoria for Baby Bettas

To feed your baby bettas with the just created infusoria, you may use a simple dropper. Collect some water from the mid jar level and release a few drops inside your aquarium with fry.

At this life stage, betta babies are extremely small and require lots of nutritive food in order to grow. Therefore, make sure to feed them at least twice a day. Preferably, 3 to 4 times.

Tiny bettas are even more sensitive to water quality than their adult parents are. That is why feeding them multiple times is better than offering them one large meal per day.

Indeed, such a feeding timeline will allow the water to stay clearer and cleaner, leaving less food residue across their tank.

You should be feeding them with such food for at least a week until they are able of feeding on slightly larger meals.

How Long Can Betta Fry Eat Infusoria?

Betta fry should be feeding on infusoria for about a week, until they can eat more compact meals such as baby brine shrimp. However, the home-made jar of infusoria is only healthy for your betta babies for about 2 days, becoming cloudy again after the bacteria take over.

Therefore, please ensure to plan ahead and to start culturing your next jar of infusoria a couple of days after the first one. That way, you will ensure the next and fresh infusoria is ready immediately after you dispose the first.

Can Adult Bettas Eat Infusoria?

In theory, they already are. If you have a heavily planted tank for your adult betta fish, which is highly recommended, there is probably a healthy dose of microorganisms around there.

Sometimes, you may even notice your adult fish nipping on plant leaves, meaning they are basically collecting the tiny microorganism from the surface. However, infusoria is simply not nutritive enough for an adult betta, and it should not be offered to them as a meal.

Your adult fish require much more protein to thrive, so always use high-quality apposite pellets or flakes as their basic meals. Additionally, they love receiving some tasty treats as brine shrimp or bloodworms.

To conclude, your betta fry should be fed with infusoria only for about a week of time, after which they will be able of feeding on slightly larger meals of higher nutritional values.

Wrapping Up

As your baby bettas hatch, they will need to be separated from their father and from that point you will be their only keeper and feeder.

Therefore, many owners nowadays turn to home-made infusoria instead of commercial options, as this does not only save money, but it also provides healthy meals with absolutely no artificial ingredients around. Only the best for your beloved baby pets.

Infusoria is quite simple to create, but it does require a few days of patience before it is ready to use. Therefore, try thinking ahead and start cultivating your baby food as soon as the eggs are placed under the bubble nest.