Feeding Betta Fish: The Complete Hobbyist Guide
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Introduction
Feeding your betta fish can bring about many questions. Especially when you may be new to keeping pet fish in the first place. This article will hopefully give you a helpful guide to feeding your betta by answering some of the most commonly asked questions. While I hope to cover all of the bases, I want to briefly mention a few important notes at the beginning of this article.
Firstly, my goal for this article is not to cover every betta food ever made. (Check out my master fish food review list if you want to read individual reviews of specific betta foods.) My goal is also not to give definitive advice that should be followed by every betta owner to the utmost detail. The reality is that bettas come in different shapes and sizes, and they will be kept in different environments and in different ways.
What I do want to do with this article, is give some helpful advice about feeding bettas in general, and hopefully provide answers to the questions you may have right now. I will provide long answers for those looking to dig deep and quick answers for those who may be in a hurry.
What is the best betta fish food?
Long Answer
This question is nearly impossible to answer if you are looking for your answer in a specific food choice. If you were to go to many other websites that cover this topic, you would probably find a list of recommended betta foods. This is not a bad thing, but I would like to cover a broader scope of what to feed your betta and then mention a few specific foods at the end.
What Form of Food to Feed Your Betta
The first place I would like to start is with what form of food to feed. There are many choices available to hobbyists including pellets, flakes, wafers, freeze-dried, frozen, worm-shaped, and even canned. In my opinion, though, the best form of food for bettas is a floating pellet food. Pellets maintain their form at the surface of the water for extended periods, make it easy to measure out feedings for individual bettas, and are one of the most readily available foods in stores.
As far as the other forms of food go, I can give you a brief explanation of each. To start I would stay away from buying flake foods for bettas as they can be hard to measure out and feed fairly messy for me. Frozen foods make a great treat but can be a pain to feed on a regular basis unless you have multiple fish. Freeze-dried foods are not bad but aren’t one of my favorites. Live foods are always great options but can be hard to source and feed regularly. You will also want to be careful that your fish is getting the nutrients they need which some frozen, live, and freeze-dried foods won’t do. I prefer feeding these more as “treats”. Oddball worm-shaped foods like Hikari Vibra Bites are also a decent and easy to feed food if your betta is big enough to eat them.
Questions to Ask for Finding the Right Betta Pellet
There are three questions to ask before choosing a betta pellet. The first question I recommend for any fish food is, “Does your fish like the food?” Unfortunately, you may find the very best fish food in the world, but if your fish doesn’t like it then it won’t do you much good. It can be hard to tell how much your fish likes a food until you try it, but I find betta fish to not be very picky.
The second question to ask is “Does the pellet fit in my fish’s mouth?”. This might sound ridiculous, but I have been testing a lot of betta foods lately and I have found multiple where the pellet was simply too large for my betta. In the picture I have here, you can see how the pellet barely fits in my betta’s mouth. He got the pellet down somehow, but I worried about it getting stuck.
The third question to ask is, “How good is the quality of the ingredients?”. Now this is one where people will have lots of differing opinions. But in my opinion, most foods currently on the market will work just fine when fed properly. What I recommend checking are the first few ingredients on the ingredient list. You will want to see a quality protein source like fish meal, krill meal, or a bug meal of some sort to name a few.
Since bettas are insectivores in the wild, a higher protein level is also something to look for along with decent fiber levels. Without it, Bettas can develop issues with bloat. Insect meal, frozen food, and freeze-dried foods can be helpful for this. Here is a link to a helpful article on bloat that goes into more detail.
The Importance of Variety
When it comes to feeding any fish, I recommend feeding a few types of food. This does not have to mean that you need to feed multiple forms of food. I generally mean that feeding any variety in food helps to give your fish a more balanced diet. Sometimes one food may be missing a nutrient that another has and vice versa. I like to believe that our fish appreciate a little variety in their diet as well.
Short Answer
I recommend feeding a quality betta pellet that your fish enjoys eating. Most in the market will do just fine but here are two that I have found to be pretty good. The first is Hikari Bio-Gold Pellets. Hikari makes some great foods, and this is a classic go-to food that is readily available at most pet shops. The second would be New Life Spectrum Betta Pellets. These are pricier but I like the ingredients, and the small version is great for smaller bettas. Stay away from feeding flakes in general and if you feed frozen, live, or freeze-dried foods then be careful about overfeeding.
You can check out my full list of food reviews here.
How much should I feed my betta fish?
Long Answer
In my opinion, this is a more important question to ask than what specific food you should feed your betta fish. The reason is that overfeeding is one of the biggest mistakes most new betta owners make. This is understandable when your beloved pet fish is constantly begging for more food. Or when fish food companies are recommending frequent high-volume feedings. So how much should you feed your betta?
If you feed pellets as mentioned above, then feeding specific amounts should be easy. If feeding another form of food, then measure out a comparable amount of food and stick to the general guideline mentioned below. The exact amount of food will depend on a variety of aspects such as your betta’s size, metabolism, the temperature of the water, and your fish’s energy level to name a few.
My general rule of thumb for how much to feed is to start with about three pellets per day. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you keep an eye on your fish’s stomach size and activity. As days go by you will want to ensure your fish doesn’t look fat, bloated, or thin. The belly should not be sunken in, and it should not be overly round. Slightly round is ok. You will want to adjust from here. Keep in mind that some pellets are larger or smaller like New Life Spectrum’s Small Betta Pellets and can vary the number that you feed.
Short Answer
How often should I feed my betta fish?
Long Answer
If you have the amount of food that you’re feeding your betta per day set, then how often is pretty easy. When it comes to a per-day basis, you can feed as often as you would like. Just remember to keep to your set amount of food for the day. For instance, if you are feeding your betta 3 pellets a day, you could feed him one in the morning and two in the afternoon.
When it comes to how many days per week, I recommend feeding 6 days per week to give your betta a “fasting” day. Remember to keep an eye on your betta’s stomach so you know whether to start feeding more or not.
Short Answer
You can feed as many times in a day as you want, as long as you stick to the amount of food you set to feed for the day. I then recommend feeding 6 days a week to give the fish a “fasting” day.
How long can a betta fish go without eating?
Long Answer
I believe most people would be surprised how long a healthy fish can go without eating and bettas are no exception. Of course, not feeding your fish for long periods of time is not generally recommended but there could be reasons for waiting including vacation or bloat to name two. While there are a lot of variables to how long they can go without eating, most healthy betta fish should be able to go one week without eating relatively easily. Others I have read say longer, but I prefer staying on the safe side. If I were going on a vacation for a week, I would not feel very bad about not feeding my fish for that week, especially in a well-established tank. If you do have someone feeding your fish, then I recommend having them feed lightly to avoid over feeding.
Short Answer
If healthy, about a week or more.
Conclusion
Feeding your betta does not have to be overly complicated. If there was one thing that I would hope you get out of this article it would be this: Keep an eye on your betta. All bettas are different, and feeding should be tailored to your fish. Have a set amount of food you feed per day and watch the belly for getting too fat or thin.
That’s it! I hope you enjoy your betta fish. They are a wonderful, easy, colorful, and personable pet.
Thanks for reading!
Click here to check out my current master list of fish food reviews including quite a few betta foods. Also, feel free to leave a question below or comment on your own experience with feeding your bettas.