Feeding

[Rediahs]

Ok my question is, how do you know exactly how much to feed your betta? What I've been doing is feeding mine 2 micro-pellets twice a day. But I've heard from some people that that is WAY too much, and from others WAY too little. He is fairly large, I'd say 2 inches head to rump, plus tail fin sticking out to make him total about 3... and he's very active. I guess if he were starved he wouldn't move as much...

But I have been thinking about whether I should just keep feeding him for a couple minutes until he won't eat anymore. That seems to be what most people do. But the idea kind of worries me a bit... what if he is surprised by the influx of new food and doesn't know when to stop eating and eats too much?

I'm just worried that I'm not feeding him enough or am feeding him too much. The package says 3-4 pellets twice a day, and I know that the packages generally tell you to feed them a bit too much because obviously they want to sell more.

Nobody seems to be consistent.... some say feed much less, some say feed much more, some say feed as much as he will eat... what do I do to feed my betta the right amount? I guess he is fine for now, he's not dying and he's active... but I am a bit worried because I really don't know how much I should be feeding him because everyone says something different and it's confusing me...

 

[Loko17]

Well I use flakes and I feed all of my bettas the size of about a penny when the flakes are on the water 2 times a day. Your betta sounds like he's doing fine and how much you feed him really depends on the nutrition value. If I were you I'd feed him about 3 pellets twice a day and that should be fine but like I said I use flakes so I'm not a pellet expert.

 

[Joby]

My adults get 4 pellets once a day and starved once a week

 

[Rediahs]

Hm, so seems fine so far I guess.. thanks guys.

By the way there are FIVE bettas in the house right now!!! lol!!! My parents have two and I have three now!! My parents have a VERY active and agressive female, a new male, and I have my old veiltail and two very pretty new males

 

[aquagirl]

I feed mine 3-5 pellets once a day...
Sometimes a flake or two or a bit of brine shrimp flakes as a snack.

 

[RandomWiktor]

There is no set amount of pellets or other foods a betta should get daily, because nutrition for ANY animal depends on their daily energy requirements (DER). While there are no formulas to calculate this in fish as there are for dogs and cats, many factors should be taken into account when devising a feeding schedule:

- What is the betta's current body condition? If a betta is underweight, it needs more food. If a betta is overweight, it needs less. If the body condition is ideal? You're probably doing something right.
- How warm is the water? Because fish are cold blooded, their metabolism is effected by their environment. A fish in 82 degree water as compared to a fish in 72 degree water will have a higher metabolism, so remember this when deciding.
- How large is the tank/ is there a current? (Or, how much exersize does your fish get?) Allthough 1g is the accepted minimum for bettas, it doesn't provide a ton of room for active swimming. A betta in a 10g filtered tank who has to cope with a current and a lot of space is going to need more calories than a betta in a stagnant 1g.
- What are you feeding? Some foods are more calorie dense than others. I feed 4 different brands of pellets, and the difference in fat or protien between some of them is as much as 10%. If you are feeding a low fat, low protien food, you probably need to feed more than if you were feeding a richer food.
- What is the betta's health state? Any animal recovering from infection, tissue damage, parasites, etc. needs more food, and higher quality food. If your bettas are "rescues" and are recovering from trauma, they should get more food, including live or frozen foods.

I know some people who feed their bettas just a few pellets a day and they are fine; most of the said people have smaller, colder-temp tanks. My bettas? Hah! They get 6 pellets AM, 6 pellets PM (2 hikari, 2 bioblend, 2 tadpole, 6 atison's), though two days of the week are frozen/live food days and one is a fasting day. You'd think they'd be chubby with all that, but they are all very lean, because I have high temp, large tanks with a current.