Too Much Feed?

[NameUser]

hello,

if i fed my betta LOTS, what would happen? I want to make sure he's eating enuff food.. and honestly id like to fatten him up a bit.

his stomach wont explode or anything will it? he seems to eat forever if i let him.

 

[Neon.Tetra]

hello,

if i fed my betta LOTS, what would happen? I want to make sure he's eating enuff food.. and honestly id like to fatten him up a bit.

his stomach wont explode or anything will it? he seems to eat forever if i let him.

Thats the problem, Fish don't often know when to quit. It's probably instinct to eat as much as they can to make sure they get enough to eat if there isn't that much in the wild. But I don't know if thats 100% true.
There really is no need to feed your betta that much food. If your feeding him flakes, a tiny pinch in the morning and in the evening should suffice. With pellets 2 or 3 in the morning and maybe 2 in the evening should be alright depending on the size of them.

Overfeeding fish can lead to all sorts of problems. Food that gets missed often sinks and pollutes the water and ruins its quality which can lead to health problems. It can also cause constipation in the fish which can lead to swim bladder. If this does occur then feeding your fish a deshelled pea should sort it.
You'd be surprised to know that some people actually go a day without feeding thier betta. By feeding them a suitable ammount all week and then fasting them for a day they can ensure that the betta will not become constipated.

You shouldn't worry about feeding your betta to fatten him up. A betta can go without food for over a week so he isn't going to suffer if you don't feed him for every other day, though doing this regularly isn't good, and he'll be ravenous when you do feed him!

 

[NameUser]

well from how ive been feeding him he is ravenous when food goes in there.

he's very small for some reason.. its like all the food stays in his head, cause if you look down on him, his heads big, but his body is flat.

maybe ill try feeding him, morning and night.. then a pea on the weekends.

 

[Neon.Tetra]

well from how ive been feeding him he is ravenous when food goes in there.

he's very small for some reason.. its like all the food stays in his head, cause if you look down on him, his heads big, but his body is flat.

maybe ill try feeding him, morning and night.. then a pea on the weekends.

Thats normal for a bettas body, but not for other fish. The first third of his body (the 'head' region) is actually the majority of all his organs! The rest of him is just muscle and swim bladder. He poops between his Ventral fins (the long ones by his head) so your betta is fine. Mines always happy to take food, more often than the other fish!

 

[loraxchick]

I agree not to overdo it with the food. they are what's called laterally compressed in their body shape, meaning they are "taller" than they are wide (so they should look rather slim from above). and their heads look almost unproportional. Most bettas are greedy little pigs and will eat like they are starving whenever food is present, even if fed on a good schedule. It's just part of their normal behavior. now, if he WASNT eating like a pig when you feed him, that's when i'd start to worry something else is up. and peas are always a good idea, especially with bettas who seem to get constipated more than most fish. helps to eliminate the problem before it starts.
CHEERS!!!

 

[ezrock]

He's probably a healthy guy! I would limit to a small pinch in the morning and one at night too. Do you have any pictures of him?

If you want him to grow more, a good combination is always high quality food (and a variety of it) and frequent water changes!

-ezrock

 

[azulfire24]

and not all bettas get huge,, if you dont know what his parentage is he just could be a little squirt. crud i kant rememer the name of that tiny betta varity i saw one .. so qute less the a inch but full grown!!

 

[NameUser]

hey, thanks people for the input.. ill try and get some pictures up. although i dont find these fish that fascinating.

my guy is super lazy. and i fed him a pea yesterday, two actually. cause the first one, although it put it right in front of him, it sank pretty fast to the bottom, and i completely missed it.. so i fed him a second, and even that one had lots of pieces that fell to the bottom of the tank.

and they're still there this morning.. he didnt even eat them off the floor. he's weird.

ps i think this weekend im going to buy three corys.. and force him to make friends with them.

 

[Neon.Tetra]

Does he have a heater in his tank? You may see more of his character if his water is heated.

 

[NameUser]

Does he have a heater in his tank? You may see more of his character if his water is heated.

oh yea, its heated, either 80 or 81 degrees.

 

[azulfire24]

lazy fish? how old is he? sometimes older fishes have less pep.

 

[NameUser]

lazy fish? how old is he? sometimes older fishes have less pep.

well i just got him about 3 weeks ago. how old i have no idea. he looks young to me, his skin and fins and everything look clean and nice and smooth.. unlike some of the older bettas ive seen.

ill try and get some pics up tonite, watch for my new post