Scarlet Badis Feeding Advice

[Shane L.]

I’ve wanted to get a Scarlet Badis last year but was told to wait until my tank is seasoned well before buying one. My 24 gallon bookshelf tank is now 1 1/2 years old now, fairly heavily stocked with plants (see photo) and only a few small fish: 4 endler male guppies and a small regular guppy, 2 neon tetras, 1 mystery snail and about 80+ cherry shrimp. All good so far for the most part.

I know Scarlet Bais need live food (maybe they can eat some of my smallest cherry shrimp) and my LFS says they feed theirs Freshwater Frenzy frozen cubes with success. My question is how anyone out there handles feeding Scarlet Badis (or other very small live food eaters) when they are on vacation? I have an Aquarium Coop dry food auto feeder for my other fish, but how would I feed a Scarlet Badis while on vacation (I would say max time away would be between 10 and 14 days). Any advice from someone who has dealt with this before will be appreciated. Thanks.

[Lennie]

@Guppysnail is the best. Maybe she has a tip

 

But as far as I remember, they do indeed require live food. Im not so sure

Edited October 19, 2023 by Lennie

[Guppysnail]

I stocked my tank heavily with ostracods (seed shrimp) and copepods that live in tanks. Purchased on eBay. Also the grindle  worms I fed lived for a time after adding to the tank. 
 

[Shane L.]

On 10/19/2023 at 4:01 PM, Lennie said:

@Guppysnail is the best. Maybe she has a tip

 

But as far as I remember, they do indeed require live food. Im not so sure

Thanks for steering my question in the right direction!

On 10/19/2023 at 7:08 PM, Guppysnail said:

I stocked my tank heavily with ostracods (seed shrimp) and copepods that live in tanks. Purchased on eBay. Also the grindle  worms I fed lived for a time after adding to the tank. 
 

Ok, thanks for the suggestions. I may give Scarlet Badis a try soon!

[Guppysnail]

On 10/19/2023 at 9:55 PM, Shane L. said:

Thanks for steering my question in the right direction!

Ok, thanks for the suggestions. I may give Scarlet Badis a try soon!

Grindle worms. They are easy to culture and readily available on eBay. 
 

Scarlets will eat enough frozen to not starve to death however they will not thrive without ample varied live foods. 
 

If you get them I can point you to a good eBay seller I’ve used for seed shrimp that are safe clean cultures. . If you want grindle worms message me or I can point you to a good eBay seller.  

[Shane L.]

On 10/19/2023 at 10:04 PM, Guppysnail said:

Grindle worms. They are easy to culture and readily available on eBay. 
 

Scarlets will eat enough frozen to not starve to death however they will not thrive without ample varied live foods. 
 

If you get them I can point you to a good eBay seller I’ve used for seed shrimp that are safe clean cultures. . If you want grindle worms message me or I can point you to a good eBay seller.  

I'll message you when I'm ready to purchase, thanks!