Feeding bettas

[Dragonrain]

To you guys/gals who keep bettas - how often and how much do you feed them?

I've been feeding my two Aqua Culture betta pellet food - the back of the container says to feed 6 - 8 pellets each feeding. So that's how much I've been feeding them, but I'm not sure if it's enough? They seem to be doing fine but beg for food everytime they see me. I don't know if I'm really not feeding them enough, or they just want more food or what.

This weekend I plan on going to the pet store and getting some bloodworms for them and the frogs, that should be a nice treat for them.

[guineapig_grl]

I feed Hikari betta-bio gold and everone gets 3 pellets a day.I was feeding 6-8 but I was told that was too much and My boys were looking a little on the heavy side.So know my boys and girl get only 3.

[Sasami]

I've never heard of that brand...how big are the pellets? Some brands have micropellets and others have large ones.

I personally feed 4 HBH Betta Bites or 2 Hikari Betta Bio-Gold pellets in the morning. Then they usually get a second feeding in the evening of frozen (or sometimes live) food...mysis shrimp, bloodworms, krill, or brine shrimp. Sometimes one of them will snatch an Omega One fish flake, too.

I feel pellets shouldn't make up the whole diet and like to rotate between different foods .

You can feed a bit more then that but keep in mind a betta's stomach is about the size of their eyeball . Oh, and they are beggers, lol!

Bloodworms are a great supplement but make sure to get frozen or live. Freeze-dried ones are ok as an occasional treat but aren't really healthy. I only feed frozen now.

[Dragonrain]

Thanks for all the info!

I was planning on getting the frozen blood worms

How often should I feed frozen foods? I was thinking of only giving it to them once a week, then feeding the pellets 5 days a week - and I read on a number of sites to skip a day a week to let their digestive systems settle or something. Does that sound accurate or should I not be skipping a day, and should I feed frozen more then once a week?

The pellets I'm using are pretty small - I've been feeding them 6 a day, sometimes 7. That makes sense to rotate the food more, must suck eating the same thing everyday.

It's funny what little beggers they are!

[Sasami]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dragonrain Thanks for all the info! I was planning on getting the frozen blood worms How often should I feed frozen foods? I was thinking of only giving it to them once a week, then feeding the pellets 5 days a week - and I read on a number of sites to skip a day a week to let their digestive systems settle or something. Does that sound accurate or should I not be skipping a day, and should I feed frozen more then once a week? The pellets I'm using are pretty small - I've been feeding them 6 a day, sometimes 7. That makes sense to rotate the food more, must suck eating the same thing everyday. It's funny what little beggers they are!

Well, I feed frozen foods almost every day . It's fine to feed them a lot...just count it as a meal and don't feed pellets that day. With bloodworms I would say feed them two or three times a week but of course it would be better if you were able to rotate between different frozen foods .

Yeah, it's a good idea to fast the animals once a week.

Also, I don't know if you are already doing this but it's better to give two small meals then one big one. So it would be best to feed a few pellets in the morning and a few more in the evening.

You can rotate pellet brands, too . I don't know what the ingredients are in your food but the more protein, the better. You could try rotating with a really high-quality food like HBH, Hikari, or Atison's. This isn't needed if you are feeding frozen foods, though.

Haha, yeah, bettas love to beg . Some fish are just like that, lol. My clownfish is the same way.