I had been feeding my Betta ....?

Question

I had been feeding him Freeze Dried Bloodworms. I guess I overfed him because he died of that bladder disease. So how many of those dried strands should I feed a Beta on a daily basis ? Do you recommend a different kind of food ? If so, how often do you feed your Betta .. with which food ?? Thank you ! :)

Answer 1

A betta's stomach is about as big as one of his eyeballs so feeding portions about that size once or twice a day is best. That equates to about 3-4 pellets or bloodworms per feeding. They do tend to suffer from problems associated with overfeeding more often then a lot of other common hobby fish. These issues may include Swim Bladder Disorder, bloating or constipation.

It's also important to feed a balanced nutritious diet. Bloodworms alone don't contain all the vitamins and minerals needed to keep a fish healthy. Think of them like you would yourself. A variety of foods will ensure they are getting everything they need to stay healthy and strong. Most dry pellet foods made especially for bettas contain the variety that is needed. Not all of these foods are created equal however, so check the ingredients to make sure fish meal, crab meal and other meat products are listed first. Foods that contain wheat meal, rice meal or oats (non-carnivorous foods) are just fillers and not easily digestible. They should rank lower on the list of ingredients. I find Hikari's Bio-Gold to be one of the best and more palatable to the fish and they don't tend to expand as much when they soak up water making it less likely to cause blockages in the betta's gut. Also, just a note that dry pellet and flake food doesn't last long after opening. Once the seal is broken the vitamins begin to dissipate. Toss it after a few months at most.

You can also look into live and frozen foods. Personally, I feed my bettas a variety of bloodworms, mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, frozen daphnia, live black worms and occasionally flake for pellet food to make sure they are getting their vitamins.

Here's more on feeding bettas...
http://www.nippyfish.net/feeding.html

Best of luck.

Answer 2

I have tried it all with bettas, feeding bloodworms and every kind of pellet and dry food imaginable. I did get a tip from a breeder to feed my betta minnows, and that was the best advice I have ever received. I have had this betta (like #5) for 7 months now...much longer than any of the others, and his color is great, and he is very healthy. It might be worth a shot. Take care!

Answer 3

Well, I've had my betta for almost a year & I've only given him betta food (little round pellets). Not sure if that's what you're talking about. Anyways, the directions say 8-9 pcs. 2x a day, but there's no way he'd eat that. I give him 1-2 pcs. 2x a day & that seems to be more than enough. There's times he doesn't even eat that. Hope this helps :o)

Answer 4

I don't feed him Freeze Dried Blood Worms. I feed him Tetra BIts instead ( the red granules ) He likes them. I feed him very little, just one granule, once a day. Sometimes I even skip a day.
If you are going to try Tetra Bits with your betta, try to crush the granules into smaller pieces before feeding him, cos he may just spit them out finding them too hard to take in.
Sorry about your previous betta, I hope I've helped in some way.

Answer 5

i was told by the pet store person to feed Betta's every other day with those little pebble like Betta food..those bloodworms are kind of a "treat" for them..maybe 1 once a week or something like that.

Answer 6

About 1/2 an inch every day. Next time, make sure to change up to 1/2 of the water every week, but don't remove all of the poop when you do so. Constantly shocking the bowl by cleaning it too much is just as bad as not cleaning it at all.
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Answer 7

You could also feed it with live blood worms