Can Betta Fish Eat Frozen Bloodworms?- Is It Healthy?

betta fish swimming among green plants

Bettas do love bloodworms or midge larvae a lot. But handling live insects is not every pet owner’s dream. And, if you are one of them, you must be looking for other ways to feed these delicious snacks to your pets. At this point, frozen bloodworm cans look like a decent idea. But is your Betta getting the same nutrients? Or, most importantly, is it even okay to feed such frozen insects to your Bettas?

Frozen bloodworms are perfectly fine, even for baby Bettas. As soon as a Betta-fry reaches the 3-week mark, you can start feeding it live or frozen insects. However, if the bettas are not mature, try grating the frozen bloodworms finely.

As long as nutrition value is concerned, we don’t see any significant change as well. However, you are here because you want to see it for yourself. So, keep reading because we have explained what happens to the crucial nutrients when you freeze bloodworms. You don’t want to miss it.

Key Takeaways

  • Frozen Bloodworms are a wonderful diet option for Bettas above the age of 3-4 weeks.
  • If we look at the nutritional value, frozen bloodworms are hardly any different from live worms.
  • Frozen bloodworms are way easier to digest than free-dried bloodworms.
  • Unlike the freeze-dried option, frozen bloodworms hardly contain any harmful chemicals or pesticides.

Is It Okay To Serve Frozen Bloodworms To My Betta?

First of all, let’s understand the term “frozen bloodworms.” The manufacturers scoop some larvae and freeze them inside a mold. And within a short time, the live worms turn into small and densely packed cubes. If you are wondering, yes, the bloodworms are dead and won’t come back to life afterward.

So, it is completely alright to serve frozen bloodworms to your Betta. In fact, it is one of the most preferable ways to include more protein in your Betta’s diet. Considering the bettas are carnivorous, your pets are going to have a good time eating natural worms instead of pellets. You just have to know the right amount before introducing bloodworms to your Betta.

It’s important because even though bloodworms are highly delicious to Bettas, it needs more nutrients in its everyday diet. Serving too many worms will cause the Betta to avoid any other kind of food you are dropping into the tank. Since Bettas have tiny stomachs (as small as their eyeballs), you don’t want it to be filled with bloodworms only. To ensure your Bettas develop well, you must ensure their diet includes just the right amount of fat, protein, moisture, and even crude ash.

Explore the fascinating world of Betta—this post has everything you need! When To Start Feeding A New Betta Fish?- Mine Is Not Eating!

Can A Baby Betta Try Frozen Bloodworms?

Frozen bloodworms are an excellent meal choice for both adult and baby Bettas. So, you don’t have to be cautions if your Betta is still not mature. In fact, experienced betta keepers suggest you start introducing frozen food like bloodworms and brine shrimps at 3 to 4 weeks old. If your pet is younger than 3 weeks, we suggest you stick with natural food/insects only. Giving anything plant-based is also prohibited at this stage. So, we hope you get the point.

Once the 3-4 weeks waiting period is over, you can offer frozen bloodworms twice a week. It’s a great source of protein, like brine shrimp. But it’s preferable not to turn it into a daily habit. Some Bettas react badly (including constipation) after having so much protein in one meal.

betta fish mating dance with bubbles
Owner: Frankie Hernandez

Are Frozen Bloodworms Nutritious?

There are basically three ways to feed bloodworms to your Betta. You can choose to put some live bloodworms into the tank. If you don’t like handling live worms, you can choose either the frozen or the freeze-dried option. Now, one may wonder whether the frozen bloodworm cubes have the same nutrition level as the living worms or not. To find that answer, go through this brief nutrition chart below.

NutritionLive BloodwormFrozen BloodwormFreeze-Dried Bloodworm
Crude Protein8% or (55.6% of dry matter)3.5%-7%56-66%
Crude fat1.2% or( 10% of dry matter)1%5%
Crude Fiber3.9%3%3.9%
Moisture81.7%82%7%

As you can see, we have compared the nutritional value of a live, frozen, and free-dried bloodworm. The reason why freeze-dried bloodworms appear to have more protein or fat is due to the reduction of moisture level (from 82% to 7% only). As a result, the dry matter per 100 g increases causing the nutrition level, like protein, to appear higher. Nonetheless, one major issue with free-dried insects is that they can be hard to digest.

Expert Betta-keepers always prefer frozen bloodworms over dried ones. You can already see the fat and fiber level is quite close to what you get from a live worm. The slight changes in percentage are due to the expansion of cells during the freezing process. So, you pretty much get the same moisture, protein, and fat for your Betta. It comes in small cubes. You are supposed to defrost it before giving an appropriate or small portion to your Betta per day.

Thanks to the 82% water content, the food is easily digested. It doesn’t feel like an artificial flavor, unlike most of the store-bought pellets. Even though pellets have a much higher level of nutrition, including vitamins & minerals, due to the unnatural flavor, Bettas can easily get bored. Offering frozen worms twice or thrice a week can be a nice change in their diet.

And that’s not all. Frozen bloodworms highly ever need artificial chemicals to be preserved for a long time. However, we can’t say the same for free-dried bloodworms, which need lots of pesticides to be well-preserved. Now, it depends on your Bettas’ immune system and how well it reacts to these chemicals. A weaker Betta will easily feel the harmful consequences. So, if you have the choice, try sticking with frozen bloodworms.

Hungry for knowledge about Betta? We’ve got you covered in this article. Can Betta Fish Eat In The Dark? – Or Is It Dangerous?

What’s The Right Way To Give Frozen Bloodworms?

Unlike the Freeze-dried or live options, you can’t drop bloodworms one by one into the tank. Frozen bloodworms come in small cubes covered with ice. Just take one cube out of the can and let it defrost. Then, you can separate a small portion and give it to your Bettas. However, if we consider baby Bettas, they might not be able to eat or digest a full worm. So, it’s better to grate the cube before it defrosts finely. That way, the bloodworms turn into smaller pieces (easy to eat for the fry).

It’s super important not to overfeed. Unlike pellets, if you offer more than enough bloodworms (especially frozen ones), it will rot at the bottom of the tank. the obvious consequence is a sudden surge in ammonia within the water. You don’t want your baby Betta to go through such harsh conditions.

Note: Don’t give more than three bloodworms per Betta fish.

Before You Leave!!

Finding the right food for your betta is a never-ending journey. Let’s talk about shrimps now if you have sorted out how to feed frozen bloodworms. Do you know wild Bettas love hunting and eating small shrimps? You can let your pet have the same experience by offering any shrimp you have at home. Don’t have a proper shrimp feeding guideline? Then, check out our latest discussion on whether you can chop shrimps and feed your Betta.

Muntaseer Rahman

About Author

Hello, I’m Muntaseer Rahman, the owner of AcuarioPets.com. I’m passionate about aquarium pets like shrimps, snails, crabs, and crayfish. I’ve created this website to share my expertise and help you provide better care for these amazing pets.

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