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If you’re wondering what betta fish food, or how much and how often, you’re not alone. This is surprisingly one of the most common questions asked by people who have never kept a betta fish before. Overfeeding is also very common. To make matters more complicated, you shouldn’t always trust the information you get from pet stores or food labels.
Betta fish are also very picky eaters, and they like to eat food on the water’s surface instead of the tank’s bottom. Bettas require a well-balanced diet that is rich in protein because they are primarily carnivores. It’s a myth that bettas can survive simply by feeding on the roots of plants.
Most betta keepers decide to feed pellets because they are simple and effective. Pellets create less mess and you can easily portion them out for feedings. Live, freeze-dried, or frozen foods can be used as treats or implemented into their daily feeding routine too.
If you want to keep your betta happy and healthy, please follow these food and feeding rules; they could save your fish’s life:
Betta fish, also known as Siamese fighting fish are one of the most popular freshwater fish kept as pets. Their beautiful fins vibrant colors, and lively personalities make them a joy to own. However, caring for these fish requires an understanding of their dietary needs. So what food is best for betta fish?
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about feeding betta fish including
- Betta Fish Diet & Nutrition Requirements
- Types of Betta Fish Food
- How Much and How Often to Feed
- Making Your Own Betta Fish Food
- Common Feeding Mistakes to Avoid
Betta Fish Diet & Nutrition Requirements
In the wild, betta fish are carnivores that eat insects, crustaceans, and even smaller fish. Their natural diet consists of high protein foods with little to no plant matter.
As carnivores, betta fish need a high protein diet in captivity as well. Protein should make up 40-50% of their food. This provides them with amino acids for growth and muscle development.
Betta fish also require certain vitamins and minerals in their diet:
- Vitamin C for immune system health and stress reduction.
- Vitamin A for vision, skin/fin health, and resistance to infection.
- Iodine to support proper thyroid function and metabolism.
Some key minerals bettas need include calcium for strong bones, phosphorus for energy production, iron for oxygen transport in the blood, and zinc for enzyme function.
With proper nutrition, betta fish can thrive for 2-4 years in captivity. An inadequate diet will lead to health issues.
Types of Betta Fish Food
There are several types of food you can feed your betta fish to meet their dietary requirements:
Betta Pellets
- Made specifically for bettas
- Provides complete nutrition
- Comes in sizes for all bettas
- Floating pellets are best
Betta Flakes
- Crushed into tiny pieces
- Contain necessary nutrients
- Quickly soften after hitting water
- Can cloud water if uneaten
Frozen Foods
- Great source of protein
- Include brine shrimp, bloodworms
- Must be thawed before feeding
- Retain nutrients better than freeze dried
Freeze-Dried Foods
- Common options are bloodworms, brine shrimp, daphnia
- Need to be rehydrated before feeding
- Nutrients degrade over time
Live Foods
- Best option nutritionally
- Harder to find and maintain
- Include blackworms, brine shrimp, mosquito larvae
Provide variety by rotating 2-3 different foods. This gives a balanced diet. Avoid overfeeding freeze-dried foods as the main diet since nutritional value decreases over time after being processed.
How Much and How Often to Feed Betta Fish
When it comes to meal frequency and portion sizes for betta fish, here are some general guidelines:
How Much
- Feed amount about the size of the betta’s eye
- Pellets: 2-4 pellets, twice per day
- Flakes: As much as fish can consume within 2 mins, twice per day
Only feed what they can eat in a few minutes. Uneaten food will sink and dirty the water.
How Often
- Juvenile bettas: Feed 2-3 small meals per day
- Adult bettas: Feed twice per day (once in morning, once at night)
- Adjust feeding schedule based on appetite and body condition
Bettas have small stomachs so they need multiple smaller meals instead of one large meal. Their digestion slows in colder temperatures so reduce frequency in winter.
When to Fast
Give betta fish a break from eating 1 day per week. Fasting allows their digestive system to rest and helps prevent constipation.
Monitor fish body shape and adjust feeding as needed. Overfeeding can cause bloating and swim bladder problems. Underfeeding leads to lethargy and poor health.
Making Your Own Betta Fish Food
While commercial betta foods provide balanced nutrition, you can also make food at home.
Some recipes to try:
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Betta gelatin recipe: Unflavored gelatin, spirulina powder, freeze-dried bloodworms. Mix and allow to set, then cut into cubes.
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Betta pellets: Mix fishmeal, shrimp meal, wheat flour, vitamins. Add water and extrude mixture through a garlic press into boiling water to create pellets.
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Betta brine shrimp hatchery: Hatch brine shrimp eggs to provide live food for bettas. Use egg incubators.
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Betta flakes: Grind fish, shrimp, kelp, vitamins in a food processor into a fine powder. Mix with water and press thinly to dehydrate into flakes.
When making food at home, ensure proper nutrition. Supplement with vitamins and research betta requirements. Homemade food allows you to control ingredients.
Common Feeding Mistakes to Avoid
When it comes to feeding betta fish, there are some common mistakes to be aware of:
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Feeding too much or too little: Follow portion guidelines based on betta size, age, and temperature.
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Feeding only one food type: Vary diet with 2-3 foods to ensure proper nutrition.
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Feeding old freeze-dried foods: Nutrients degrade over time after opening. Only feed amount that will be eaten in a few weeks.
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Adding uneaten food back to container: Discard uneaten portions to avoid fouling the remaining food.
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Leaving uneaten food in tank: Remove after feeding as it starts breaking down and can alter water chemistry.
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Not soaking freeze-dried foods before feeding: Rehydrate first to allow betta to eat it and prevent digestive issues.
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Drastic diet changes: Gradually transition bettas to new foods over the course of a few weeks.
With the proper diet and feeding schedule, your betta fish can stay healthy for years to come! Feed a variety of foods in the right amounts to give your fish balanced daily nutrition.
Frequency of Entities:
betta fish: 27
protein: 3
carnivores: 1
vitamin C: 1
vitamin A: 1
calcium: 1
phosphorus: 1
iron: 1
zinc: 1
pellets: 3
flakes: 3
frozen foods: 2
freeze-dried foods: 2
live foods: 2
bloodworms: 2
brine shrimp: 3
eye: 1
fishmeal: 1
shrimp meal: 1
wheat flour: 1
egg incubators: 1
kelp: 1
Best Betta Fish Food: Dietary Requirements
Betta fish are classified as carnivores, and eat insects in the wild. The best betta food replicates these specific dietary needs without a lot of added and indigestible fillers. Most people who keep betta fish might not be able to find or give their fish live foods as their main food source. It’s best then, to provide a variety of high-quality pellets, flakes, freeze dried, frozen and live foods. Each is covered below. To give your betta the best nutrition, you should focus on giving it protein, fat, fiber, phosphorus, carbs, calcium, and vitamins (A, D3, E, K, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, C, H, and M). Make sure your betta food is natural and contains protein as the first ingredient.
Betta fish have very short digestive tracts and do not process fillers like corn and wheat very well. These fillers are often found in many pellet and flake foods and can lead to excess bloat and digestive issues (e.g. constipation). Betta’s receive no nutritional benefit from fillers and just pass them off as waste. It’s very important you provide foods high in protein to satisfy their carnivorous needs. Fiber and moisture are also important to aid their digestion.
Pellets are the most common betta fish food on the market, with quality varying greatly across each. The best pellets for betta fish will have fewer fillers and more high-quality ingredients that help fish thrive. Some betta fish pellets expand significantly after they are exposed to water.
This can cause bloating and digestive issues if you’re not careful as they’ll expand in your betta’s stomach. Soak pellets in tank water before feeding them to your betta to make them more hydrated, especially if it eats food right away.
| Picture | Name | Analysis | Pros | Cons | Price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NorthFin Betta Bits | -Crude Protein (min): 45% -Crude Fat (min): 16% -Crude Fiber (min): 4% -Moisture (max): 9% -Ash (max): 10% | -No fillers or hormones -No dyes or artificial coloring -Ideal 1mm size | – May be hard to find, except online | $$$$ | 5.0 | |
| New Life Spectrum Betta Formula | -Crude Protein (min): 37% -Crude Fat (min): 5% -Crude Fiber (max): 4% -Moisture (max): 10% -Ash (max): 8% | -Color enhancing ingredients -Doesn’t expand -High-quality ingredients -Almost no fillers -Does not cloud water | -Semi-floating may easily sink -Inconsistent pellet sizing | $$ | 4.7 | |
| Ocean Nutrition Betta Pellets | Crude Protein (min): 36% Crude Fat (min): 4.5% Crude Fiber (max): 5% Moisture (max): 8% Ash (max): 15% | -High in vitamins and protein -Small size and easy to digest -Does not cloud water -Color enhancing | -Large quantity -Freshness may expire before using -May not float for very long | $$$ | 4.4 | |
| Hikari Betta Bio-Gold | -Crude Protein (min): 38% -Crude Fat (min): 4% -Crude Fiber (min): 3% -Moisture (max): 10% -Ash (max): 12% | -Color enhancing ingredients -Small-sized pellets | -Fillers and artificial coloring -Difficulty dispensing | $$$ | 4.1 | |
| Omega One Betta Buffet Pellets | -Crude Protein (min): 40% -Crude Fat (min): 5% -Crude Fiber (min): 2% -Moisture (max): 8.5% -Ash (max): 8% | -High in crude protein -Primary ingredient is salmon -Low in ash -Smaller pellet size | -Does not float for very long -Fillers and artificial colors -Pellet size may be inconsistent | $$ | 3.8 | |
| Aqueon Betta Food | -Crude Protein (min): 38% -Crude Fat (min): 7% -Crude Fiber (max): 7% -Moisture (max): 8% -Phosphorous (min): 1% | -Small pellet size -Comes in color enhancing blend -Inexpensive | -A lot of fillers -Does not float very long -Tiny pellets | $ | 3.4 |
If you want to give your betta some natural food, freeze-dried food is a great option. However, it is not as good as live or frozen foods. Freeze dried foods have been stripped of their moisture and have added fillers to keep them stable.
It’s recommended that you soak them in tank water before feeding to rehydrate them, increasing the moisture content. Feeding only freeze dried food can lead to bloating and constipation issues.
One large benefit to freeze dried foods, however, is they are free of bacteria and parasites. They are also easy to find at local fish stores and online and are relatively inexpensive. They store well and often come in your typical fish food containers.
There are specific flakes made specifically for betta fish. Do not feed your betta other tropical fish flakes because they lack the protein requirements bettas need. Betta flakes can be a staple in regular feedings, but they can also be very messy. Excess or sunken flakes should be removed immediately after feeding. Betta fish often refuse to eat flakes as well.
| Picture | Name | Analysis | Price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omega One Betta Flakes | -Crude Protein (min): 43% -Crude Fat (min): 12% -Crude Fiber (max): 2% -Moisture (max): 8.5% -Ash (max): 8% | $$ | 3.1 | |
| Tetra BettaMin | -Crude Protein (min): 48% -Crude Fat (min): 8.5% -Crude Fiber (max): 1.5% -Moisture (max): 7% -Phosphorus (min): 1.1% | $$ | 2.5 |
Live/Frozen Mysis Shrimp
Mysis shrimp, or opossum shrimp, are another great option for betta fish because of their exoskeleton. This exterior is rich in fiber, which aids the digestion of protein-rich foods. If your betta fish is a picky eater, these guys might do the trick for some variety. They are packed with betta-loving nutrients, more so than brine shrimp, and are also high in moisture and amino acids.