What are you folks feeding your Betta?

[Phil Fish]

I brought home my new royal blue Veiltail Betta pal "Phil Fish" on Monday and he seems to be doing well in his temporary 1 gallon drum shape bowl.

Napping..

Hmmm...shiny thing..

I've been doing regular daily water changes. He's getting a new 10 gallon home next week with live plants and some new places to hide.

Of course being a newbie to caring for this little guy and in preparation of getting him I bought freeze dried bloodworms and flake food for Bettas. Now after doing more research I find that isn't the best diet for him. Because he's in a 1 gallon bowl I am only feeding him sparingly this week to cut down on his waste and not to cause overfeeding constipation. So far so good.

My question is what do you experienced Betta keepers feed your fish? I am reading and watching videos that the Omega brand of pellets are one of the best regular foods for Bettas and frozen bloodworms are good for a treat once in awhile.

Does this sound like a decent diet? I know they can eat other things like mosquito larvae and fruit flies. Do pet stores sell these live products?

Thanks!

 

[TallPaul]

Honestly, I wouldn't bother with live products. You just won't be able to use enough of it with a single fish.

I'm feeding my betta daily with Hikari Betta Bio food. They are nice small pellets that he can easily eat, I usually give 2 or 3 in the morning and 2 or 3 in the evening. I look out for signs of a bloated belly as bettas are prone to it and back off a feeding or 2 if needed.

There are a few betta specific foods like New Life Spectrum etc. Most of these are pretty decent. I recommend pellets over flakes.

Bettas are like cats, you can feed them something and they will spit it out, then you will have to find a different product. Mine just looks at me and watches all the frozen daphnia, that I painstakingly divide and defrost for him, just sink to the bottom to rot.

I have fed mine from my finger tip, just get a pellet moist with tank water and it will stick to your finger. Hold it over the tank and he will jump out and take it. He learned to do this very quickly and jumps every time I put my finger near him. It's great fun for the kids to try but I would t do it all the time.

 

[Colin_T]

Wild Bettas will eat small insects and insect larvae. You can use aphids, mosquitoes, mozzie larvae, small flies moths, weevils & their larvae, fruit flies, ants & ant eggs, grindal & white worms, and live daphnia. Make sure any live food is clean and free of pesticides & chemicals.

You can culture a lot of these at home and use them in addition to a flake or pellet food.
Aphids are regularly found on roses and you simply tap them into a bucket and freeze until required.
Mozzie larvae are found in containers of water sitting outside.
Weevil larvae can be grown in containers of flour, rice or any sort of grain.
Wingless Fruit Flies can be bought from lab supply companies and some universities (biology lab) and cultured at home in bottles.
Ants are everywhere.
Grindal & white worm starter cultures can be bought from some pet shops or aquaculture supply stores. They are kept in containers of peat or potting mix and can be fed on dry baby cereal.
Daphnia & Rotifers can be grown in containers of green water. You can buy dry dormant cysts from aquaculture supply stores or drag a fine mesh net thru a freshwater pond.

The following links has information about culturing green water, daphnia & rotifers.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/back-to-basics-when-breeding-fish.448304/

All live foods can be frozen in plastic zip lock bags or ice cube trays and used when needed.

You can also feed different frozen (but defrosted) foods like brineshrimp, daphnia, mysis shrimp, bloodworm, prawn, fish, squid & mussel/ clam meat.

And use a basic flake or pellet to feed him. You normally use a pellet or flake in the morning and then frozen of live in the evening. However, because you don't have an established filter on the tank, you should avoid frozen foods and just use dry food until the filter has established. And only feed him a couple of times a week. Don't worry, he won't starve, but the less food going into the tank, the lower the ammonia levels will be.

 

[Essjay]

I have just bought some Northfin Betta Bits for my betta and they seem to be going down well - he almost jumps out of the tank when I put these pellets in. Northfin pellets are available in 20g packs, perfect for a single betta. I had been using Atisons Betta Food but the ingredients of the Northfin pellets are so much better.
Other good brands include Omega One (28g packs) and New Life Spectrum (50g packs)

 

[Phil Fish]

Excellent advice! I won't bother with live food. Yes I forgot about the Hikari pellets. I will get some on the weekend.

My Betta doesn't seem so fussy. This morning I took one tiny freeze dried bloodworm soaked in his bowl water in a teaspoon for 15 mins and dropped it in his bowl with a pair of tweezers. He gobbled it up right away and 15 mins later he had a nice poop! Haha!

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Phil Fish]

Wild Bettas will eat small insects and insect larvae. You can use aphids, mosquitoes, mozzie larvae, small flies moths, weevils & their larvae, fruit flies, ants & ant eggs, grindal & white worms, and live daphnia. Make sure any live food is clean and free of pesticides & chemicals.

You can culture a lot of these at home and use them in addition to a flake or pellet food.
Aphids are regularly found on roses and you simply tap them into a bucket and freeze until required.
Mozzie larvae are found in containers of water sitting outside.
Weevil larvae can be grown in containers of flour, rice or any sort of grain.
Wingless Fruit Flies can be bought from lab supply companies and some universities (biology lab) and cultured at home in bottles.
Ants are everywhere.
Grindal & white worm starter cultures can be bought from some pet shops or aquaculture supply stores. They are kept in containers of peat or potting mix and can be fed on dry baby cereal.
Daphnia & Rotifers can be grown in containers of green water. You can buy dry dormant cysts from aquaculture supply stores or drag a fine mesh net thru a freshwater pond.

The following links has information about culturing green water, daphnia & rotifers.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/back-to-basics-when-breeding-fish.448304/

All live foods can be frozen in plastic zip lock bags or ice cube trays and used when needed.

You can also feed different frozen (but defrosted) foods like brineshrimp, daphnia, mysis shrimp, bloodworm, prawn, fish, squid & mussel/ clam meat.

And use a basic flake or pellet to feed him. You normally use a pellet or flake in the morning and then frozen of live in the evening. However, because you don't have an established filter on the tank, you should avoid frozen foods and just use dry food until the filter has established. And only feed him a couple of times a week. Don't worry, he won't starve, but the less food going into the tank, the lower the ammonia levels will be.

Wow! Thanks for this info! Yes I am only fed him twice this week. He also was fed at the shop where I got him from. I am not going to feed him again for the next 3 days. Once I get him in his new bigger tank I can put him on a regular feeding schedule.

 

[NickAu]

The following pellets are good
Northfin Betta Bits
Atisons Betta Pro or food.
New Life Spectrum betta pellets.

Because I also keep Bumblebee Gobys that point blank refuse to eat pellets or flake I have lots of frozen and live food and thats what my Bettas also eat.