The Myths and the Basics of Betta Fish Feeding

INTRODUCTION: People may not be aware but one primary key to increasing the lifespan of your betta is to feed it right.  (You can click here for other tips on maximizing their life span.)  It's just sad how many betta fish owners don't even have a clue how to feed their bettas right.  It's either they give betta fish the wrong type of food.  Or that they tend to overfeed the betta by giving them more food or feed more frequently than they should.  It's therefore imperative that you ignore these myths about betta fish feeding you may have heard and learn the basics from scratch.

Betta Fish False Fact #1:  Feed your betta every time it gets hungry.
But bettas are "hungry" all the time.  You will soon learn they seem to be ravenous eaters so don't be fooled by their deceptive behavior.  Bettas have tummies as large as their eye so how can one expect it to consume so much food?  Over feeding is a mistake in more ways than one.  Visit here to learn more about overfeeding's role in betta fish diseases.

Betta Fish False Fact #2:  Feed bettas with vegetable based foods.
This type of food should never, or at least very seldom, be given to bettas.  They have a specific diet plan.  That would go heavy meat, not veggies.  Sure they may not be joining any bodybuilding competition but their constant, all-consuming swimming requires them to eat a lot of protein to give them the fuel they need.  The only exception perhaps is when the betta gets constipated and you treat it by feeding a single bit of mashed pea.  But that's the only time.

Betta Fish False Fact #3:  You can feed bettas ordinary fish pellets.
Again, bettas have higher nutritional requirements. And ordinary fish pellets cannot provide them with complete nutrition.  Not even tropical pellets can supply them with what they need.  That's why you really need to feed them with betta fish pellets. These are usually floating pellets and they are usually a combination of different food sources.  Moreover, you cannot rely with betta pellets alone since many of these contain fillers which in no way benefit bettas.

Betta Fish False Fact #4:  Feed your bettas everyday.
It is recommended that you fast bettas once a week.  I don't know but that's just how it works if you want your betta to be healthy.  So don't be scared if your betta doesn't get to eat in a day. That's even helpful to your betta.

Betta Fish False Fact #5:  Directly feed frozen foods to your betta.
Unless you want your betta to choke up, don't ever feed frozen food directly to your betta.  It has to be thawed first.  And you can soak it in a small amount of tank water to shorten the thawing time.  However, any excess food that has been thawed should be thrown away and not saved for next time or refrozen.  That's just inviting problems.

It's funny how so many betta fish owners commit these mistakes when it comes to feeding their prized bettas.

Lastly, here are some quick guidelines when feeding your bettas to ensure they get the complete nutrition they need.

Vary your betta's diet.  Feed them with pellets one day, frozen food the next day, and live food after the next.  Bettas easily get bored when you don't vary their diet.

Feed your bettas 1-2 pellets per meal twice a day.  If you give them more than what they need, they might get bloated.  Or any uneaten food can make the tank water dirty.  Remove any uneaten food and never let it settle and then sit at the bottom of the tank.

CONCLUSION: After all this you should now be better able to answer the "What do betta fish eat?" question, don't you think?  While you may not know EVERYTHING about betta fish feeding, you should know more now than before you stopped by. Happy mealtime! For your betta that is.