Food for Betta

[blueeyes]

I have yet ANOTHER question.

This is in regards to feeding my betta. Previously I did have a Betta. All I gave him were some flakes. I did some reading up on Bettas since then and bought some Bio Gold Pellets, some Hikari frozen blood worms and some brine shrimp. Well, now that I have everything I don't know whats all good to feed him when. I know that they really can't eat all that much but I want to make sure that he gets a decent diet.

Could anyone suggest a good daily or weekly food plan that I could follow?

Thanks again!

 

[cindywindy]

Blueeyes,

The diet that you have planned for your betta sounds great ! Bettas are not overly picky eaters and will eat most of what is presented to them. The important thing in feeding our fish is to feed them a healthy, varied diet of worms, flakes, wafers, pellets, and occasional live food such as brine shrimp or larvae. The more varied our fish's diet is, the healthier their immune functions and the better their ability to keep diseases at bay !

 

[LondonGman]

Could anyone suggest a good daily or weekly food plan that I could follow?

Yes, I have a routine that has served me well. It is all based on keeping the water clean

I feed my fish’s flakes, frozen worm thingy and granules.

Granules sink to the bottom and a lot falls between the gravel so I feed them this on Fridays since I do my water change / gravel clean on Saturdays..

The frozen food cubes seem to last up to 4 hours in the cone feeder, and they eat till they are bloated so I do not feed them at all the next day. I do not have a particular day for feeding them the frozen food, but it is closer to the Saturday, the water change day, ie Wednesday or Thursday, due to the excessive waste they have afterwards.

I spend the rest of the week, alternating between two different types of flakes. I feed them once a day, when I get in from work around 6pm.

Hope that helps

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

You may find that your Betta is a picky eater, or that he won't eat the pellets if he knows there are the possibility of brine shrimp. Also, the betta was probably being fed something else (ie, flakes) at the store.

If you find that he isn't eating the pellets, you might want to hold off on feeding anything else until he decides he's hungry enough to stop being picky. This way you can guarantee he's getting all the good stuff thats in the pellets, that isn't in brine shrimp.

I had to do that with my fish when I 1st started introducing veggies, and I've had a lot of success. Keep in mind that it's far easier to overfeed a fish than underfeed, and it might be a couple days before he's settled enough to want to eat, so don't panic if he's ignoring the food for now!

 

[blueeyes]

thanks for the great advice. I did notice that he would put the pellet in his mouth and spit it out...maybe he was being picky? Or not hungry? I'll watch this.

I hear that it is OK to let a Betta fast for one day. Also, I hear that you can give a betta a mushed up frozen pea and that would even help constipation! Does anyone recommend these things?

 

[LondonGman]

I do not know of any creature that will die if it does not eat every day.

We tend to feed our fishes a lot, which creates a lot of waste in the water and can give your fishes funny shaped bellies. I do not feed my fishes the day after frozen food because the frozen potions are a lot more than I would have given them if it were flakes. They take hours to finish the frozen food so they go on fast. Also in the wild not all fishes eat daily.

Do not know about the mushy peas but be careful of food waste in tank

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi blueeyes,
I bought Bio-Gold pellets (are they Hikari?) for my betta when I first got him. He would also take the pellet in his mouth, but then would spit it right out. I didn't realize that bettas may not eat for a few days when you first get them. They need to settle down and get used to everything first! So I thought he didn't like the Bio-Gold and I gave them to a friend that has angelfish and silver dollar fish. But that's fine to give your betta. Keep giving it to him until he eats it. Soon he will. Sweets' advice was excellent -- don't feed for a few days, then he might decide he's hungry enough for the Bio-Gold pellets!

I don't feed my fish on Sundays. I read in a book, and in here, that it's good to let your betta fast for one day to give its digestive system a rest. As for the peas, you can give him a cooked, but cooled pea (not as hot as we'd eat it) and also take the skin off and squish it a little. My betta likes this. It does help with constipation, as long as it's mild.

So here's my betta's food schedule: Sunday, no food; Monday, HBH Betta Bites; Tuesday, Marineland Bio-Blend Betta; Wednesday, Hikari freeze-dried blood worms. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are a repeat of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

He gets 6-8 betta bites, like the directions say. They are so small, that sometimes I pick out 6 but he ends up getting 7 or 8 because they are so small to count out sometimes. I squeeze the Bio-Blend Betta pellets between my fingernails to break them in half. They are kind of big and heavy, and sink fast, so I break them up for him. He likes them, though. The freeze-dried bloodworms are in a shaker top container. I shake some on a paper towel and give him about 6. Then I put the rest back in the container.

A betta's stomach is only about the size of his eye. I keep that in mind, and it makes it easy not to overfeed.

Once in a while if I go the the lfs that has live food, I'll get him some live brine shrimp. They are just an occasional treat, though, like potato chips are for us! I think you have some good diet choices picked out!

 

[bettacove]

I feed mine:
-Freeze dried bloodworms in the morning
-frozen foods in the afternoon (bloodworms, mosquito larva, beefheart, mysis shrimp)
-freeze dried daphnia in the after noon.
-and live whiteworms twice a week, and grindals when i have enough.
and they got no food saturday afternoon to sunday night.

Bettas stomachs will expand to were it looks like its going to explode, if it looks like that then you are over feeding. All my fish have a small bulg.

ashley

 

[zephyr]

I feed mine:
4:00am- sparrow juice
4:02am- kindling
6:00am- smiley faces
11:59am- spare tyre
1:00pm- rhino horn
1:79pm- stolen baby's candy
4:00pm- lima beans
8:00pm- koalas from the backyard
11:98pm- slater legs

 

[bettacove]

Sounds yummy!

ashley

 

[Allivymar]

Hey! I'm calling the animal authorities; rhino horns are illegal import