The Betta fish is one of the easiest to take care of and be kept as a pet in your home aquarium. Even though they are easy to maintain, it is important to every fish owner to find out and learn everything about proper feeding to avoid mishandling.
To avoid getting your fish stressed or sick, giving the right food will make your betta’s well-being relaxed and healthy. Therefore, it is essential to learn the best type of food to give to the betta’s appropriate feeding habits.
Read more to know what types of food do betta fish eat and how often to feed them to avoid mistakes, including overfeeding.
Short Answer
Betta fish has a good appetite. They love to eat but it doesn’t mean that you feed them all the time.
You must feed your betta fish twice a day, one small portion in the morning and the evening. With proper feeding and providing the right food to your betta fish make them active and well-nourished.
Betta fish normally eat high protein food on their diet for them to survive in the wild. However, if you plan to own one and make it as a pet, you can find protein-based fish food in any pet shop store.
Long Answer
The frequency of feeding your betta fish will depend on its size and the type of food you give. The pet owner must have a proper understanding of the fish characteristics and feed them with the right mixture of food and feeding schedules to keep them active and healthy.
Feeding your pet fish is always part of the routine to ensure that they get the right nutrients, but some owners are feeding their fish randomly without following a normal schedule and giving a different type of fish food.
Generally, the recommended schedule for feeding a betta fish is one in the morning and the evening with a small portion of each feeding time to ensure and to avoid overfeeding.
The adult betta fish must only be fed once a day, and the baby betta’s at least two meals per day to support their body growth demands and activities.
Feeding betta fish more often will not provide any extra benefit, but rather it would make the fish overweight as long as it’s provided. Betta’s loves to eat, and besides feeding them is necessary, it is also recommended not to feed at least one day of the week to relieve their digestive system.
Too much feeding of your bettas will just serve as excess that will sink to your fish tanks and can be an additional waste. The inedible food you give will perish and decay that may cause the aquarium’s water to become dirty and unclear.
What should you feed a Betta Fish?
The best food to feed your betta fish is similar to their natural diet when they are in the wild.
Well-fed betta is healthy and has dazzlingly colored fins. To satisfy your betta’s appetite, you should offer them effective well-formulated fish food.
Feed the betta fish with live foods like insects, worms, and brine shrimps or, depending on the dried betta supplements available in any pet shop stores.
Here are some choices of food you can feed to your betta fish:
Baby Pellets
Fish Pellets are the most common food for betta fish that can be found in local pet stores. It is the most practical choice and has a higher quality, unlike flakes that can be used daily for bettas.
But some pellets expand and get saturated when they are soaked in water. This may cause a digestive problem for your betta fish and pollute the water and the entire habitat of the fish.
Our recommendation: Hikari Betta Bio-Gold Baby Pellets.
Fish Flakes
Flakes contain plant products, and as we all know that betta fish has a carnivorous feeding habit that prefers rich in protein meals. Consider using flake food only to supplement other types of food.
Flakes are low in fiber and prone to cause constipation to the fish, which can cause fish bladder disorders. Choose only dried foods with high fiber content.
Some flakes are made only for betta fish. You should only feed your betta with the exact fish flakes to make sure you give them the right protein that betta’s needs.
To keep the betta’s unique color and fin structure, you have to supply regular vitamins and minerals. Therefore, you feed them with a combination of dried and irregularly live foods.
Our recommendation: Tetra 16838 BettaMin Flakes.
Freeze-Dried Food
This kind of food contains a sufficient amount of protein and minerals that can help the betta fish stay strong and healthy. This type of food benefits the fish to grow at its fast pace and develops its color.
Freeze-dried food is not as nutritious as frozen or live foods, but it has a high nutritional value rather than fakes and pellets.
However, it can add up to your betta’s natural food diet. To make freeze-dried foods firm during storage, the manufacturer dehydrates the moisture and puts additional fillers to last long and free of bacteria.
Lacking moisture content of the food can cause serious risks to the fish. If you fed up your betta with this food, it would end up constipated and bloated.
Therefore to prevent this, before feeding freeze-dried food to your betta, make sure to soak it first with water or with vitamins to boost its nutritional value and to increase its moisture content.
Our recommendation: Omega One Freeze Dried Blood Worms.
Live Food
Feeding live food to your betta fish will give them the right nutrients they need as they obtain from their natural habitat.
This type of food will meet the betta’s dietary need, which is the normal food they eat in their natural environment.
Here are a few live foods that Betta fish enjoys eating:
Bloodworms
This common live food is the best feed to a picky betta fish, and it is the most common natural food for them.
The red bright color of bloodworms consists of high iron and rich in proteins that help betta fish to thrive.
Feeding too much bloodworm will cause risk to your fish. To minimize the chance of getting your fish constipated and bloated, feeding your betta 1 to 2 bloodworms is enough to satisfy their diet.
Insects or Mosquito Larvae
In their natural habitat, most betta fish spend time hunting live food. Therefore, adding this live food is one of the best treats for your betta.
Feeding mosquito larvae regularly is worry-free. Just make sure that you only feed them 3 to 5 at a time. For instance, if the betta stops eating in between this amount, you may stop pouring them into your fish tank.
You can easily find this food at any local pet store.
Brine Shrimp
This type of food is very rich and is commonly recommended as live food for betta fish. This live food is a good supplement to your betta’s diet, but it should be given to the fish moderately like any other live food.
You should only feed your betta with brine shrimp 2 to 3 times a week.
Frozen Food
If you can’t find a good source of the seller for live food, your best option is to switch to frozen food. It also contains the nutrients normally found on live food and does not have any indigestible filler added.
Make sure to thaw out your frozen food before feeding it your betta.
One cube of frozen food can be too much for your betta, which depends on the size of the cube. You must divide it into portions and feed a small amount estimated at 1.8 grams per serving.
How often do you feed a Betta Fish?
A betta’s fish belly has an equal size of their eye, and overfeeding is not advisable depending on your betta’s characteristics and activity level.
Bettas are naturally carnivores, which means plant-based foods are not enough to satisfy their dietary needs. That’s why the food you are feeding must be balanced that contain quality ingredients, and high protein food is necessary for their diet as these kinds of fish stand with high energy levels.
One good idea is not to feed your betta fish once a week to be given enough time to its digestive system to completely process the food that the fish have been taken and limit the associated risk with overeating.
Skipping meals to your betta fish can give benefits such as cleansing to its digestive system and enable them to release toxins and digest all the food that has been taken.
Excess feeding to your betta will lead to being overweight, or sometimes they will not eat the extra food given and let it soak into your fish tank that may lead to contaminating the water. Don’t forget to clean up the excess food that has been ignored to eat that falls into the aquarium’s bottom to prevent the possible chance of building up ammonia that is piled up from food decay.
How much should you feed a Betta Fish?
Feeding your betta fish with a different variety of food will give them the right selection of quality nutrients that they need.
You need to observe the betta’s characteristics and its activity to know how much food you feed them. Feeding betta’s with only 2 to 3 pellets per serving twice a day is safe and enough for them, but if you feed them with live food, frozen or freeze-dried, you must only give them 2 medium amounts per mealtime.
To prevent forgetting to feed your fish, it is better to stick to your fixed feeding schedule and don’t overfeed your betta, just give them enough or exact portions of food.
As an owner, you are held responsible for having your betta fish a well-balanced diet to obtain good health. Extra feeding may cause digestive problems and polluting your fish that can contaminate the water’s quality inside your fish tank, so keep in mind to avoid giving extra food to prevent that from happening.
Betta Fish Feeding Schedule
Here you can see an example for a Betta Fish feeding schedule:
Day of the Week | Food |
Monday | 2 – 4 betta fish pellets 1 to 2 times |
Tuesday | 2 – 3 pieces of live, frozen, or freeze-dried food 1 to 2 times |
Wednesday | 2 – 4 betta fish pellets 1 to 2 times |
Thursday | 2 – 4 betta fish pellets 1 to 2 times |
Friday | 2 – 3 pieces of live, frozen, or freeze-dried food 1 to 2 times |
Saturday | 2 – 4 betta fish pellets 1 to 2 times |
Sunday | fasting day |
Why won’t your Betta Fish eat?
The lack of appetite for a betta can be confusing or even more troublesome to a pet owner as this may lead to symptoms of another fundamental health issue of the fish. If you are thinking and wondering why your betta fish is not eating? There are some reasons why betta’s lost their appetite or not interested in eating.
There are different illnesses, whether fungal or bacterial must be treated accordingly. The best way to treat your betta fish is to ensure its clean environment and the water temperature is just in range. You can research the recommended treatment if your fish shows symptoms and
Check what can be treated for your home remedy.
These are some common signs related to why Betta’s refuse to eat:
Age of the Betta Fish
If your betta is old-aged, they will become less active and might be losing their vision, resulting in bettas to miss targeting their food.
Many symptoms gradually appear over the old-aged betta fish, which will cause them to lose their appetite like frequent naps, fading of colors, and curly or frayed fins.
As months go on, these symptoms happen gradually to your betta fish and even worsening if not properly cared for.
To make sure your betta is in good condition, keep them comfortable, give them the right food and keep the water clean and warm.
Water Condition
The quality of water is essential to betta fish health. Over time if not taken care of properly, toxins may build up from urine, stools, and uneaten food decomposes that fall into the bottom of the fish tank.
Unclear and dirty water is due to wastes accumulated at the bottom of the fish tank that can cause harmful chemicals, such as ammonia. This toxic waste into your tank is one of the reasons why your betta lacks appetite. If the water is dirty, clean it immediately and not let your betta suffer from a dirty environment.
To maintain the water clear and unspoiled, avoid overfeeding. Excessive feeding can cause a fast buildup of waste, but removing the waste at the bottom of your fish tank and partially changing the water every week can be a relief to your betta fish.
You need to add a low flowing filtration system. This filter helps to remove waste and keeps the environment free of toxins. A low-flowing filter is preferably installed to ensure and prevent injury to bettas fins from the filters’ suction.
The type of water you are using in your fish tank also matters, so if you use tap water, make sure to apply DE chlorinating liquid and test the water. Tap water is not advisable to use for betta fish as it contains harmful chemicals such as metals, chlorine, and chloramine.
Temperature Shock
These fish are accustomed to a tropical environment, and they prefer warm water maintaining within the range of 74 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. If the water temperature of your tank drops below, your betta fish will feel uncomfortable, and their metabolism or digestive process will slow down.
That is one reason you have to maintain the water temperature and avoid getting the water cold so that they do not lose their appetite and become stressed.
To prevent a sudden change of water temperature, you have to add a heater to your fish tank. There are different kinds of heaters where you can set the specific temperature for your fish. In this method, your betta will return to its normal appetite and vitality.
Conclusion – How often do you feed a Betta Fish?
The regular feeding of your betta fish will also depend on the type of food that you give. Normally in their natural habitat, betta fish eat insects, so you need to feed them with well-supplied live food, dried or frozen food like bloodworms.
The nutritious food you feed to your betta fish with providing a perfect aquarium tank and quality water greatly affects its health. But with an improper feeding schedule and feeding, incorrect food will still result in your pet fish unhealthy.
Think carefully before buying fish food. You must choose the type and good quality food for your fish to ensure its optimal betta health and nurture its betta color as well.
Betta fish must not be overfed as it has a tiny stomach. Make sure that its digestive system is in good order to avoid health problems. Always remember to feed your fish once or twice a day and include just one day of fasting to digest the food to reduce the risk of constipation.
Research countless selections and types of fish food for your betta before buying one. Some may not provide the best nutrition facts about the product. You may also consider avoiding purchasing fish food with many filters; they are not worthy of feeding your fish.
