Tell Me, What Do Betta Fish Eat?

OPENING: For some there are but two ways to feed their betta fish.  Give them what they think they want or give them what you think they need.  Yet either approach can leave health sucking holes in their diet.  So perhaps there's middle ground.  Or what you might call a better way to look at your perfectly imperfect feeding choices. 

The good news is grasping what it takes to supply your betta with what it needs to keep swimming for years and years is getting easier to do.  All the more if you have a quick guide that attempts to answer the "Tell me, what do betta fish eat" question thoroughly, if somewhat briefly, and quite clearly.  As luck would have it you'll find such a guide here.  Its purpose is to make it easy to shop the various fish food aisles of the pet shop.  (Okay sections would be more like it but work with me here.)  Wisely picking the best for your little fighting fish who wants you to believe they've got a big appetite.  So pick out your shopping cart and let's get shopping. 

From the Meat Aisle

Were you to bother to ask any self-respecting male betta on the prowl for something tasty "Just what do betta fish like to eat besides fish food?" their eyes would light up as if reliving the memory of their favorite meal.  Most likely it would have involved something that moved.  You know was alive?  Something that offered them a bit of a challenge and the thrill of the hunt and all that? 

There would basically be two categories here: Worms and non-worms. 

First for the worms.  Now you don't want to think earth worms - although if you bothered to cleanse them and them chop them fine enough they would work.  Still have you seen the size of your betta's mouth?  Given it is so small you probably want to think more along the lines of of grindal worms or white worms perhaps.  Both of which can be cultured at home cheaply with relative ease from a starter culture. 

Then listed among the non-worms would be things like daphnia, mosquito larvae, and gut loaded adult brine shrimp since any brine shrimp more than a day old isn't really all that nutritious.  You can change that by gut loading although we won't get into the how to do that here.  Again you can fairly easily culture any of these.  I'd say mosquito larvae would be the easiest of the three however - in season.  And bettas will scarf them up with reckless abandon. 

There is nothing fancy involved with feeding these live foods.  Just harvest a finger full in the case of the worms or net some of the non-worms, rinse and release.  No fish I know will turn up their nose to any of these living delicacies.

From the Frozen Food Aisle

There's no doubt that tasty treats await in the frozen food aisle.  Just short of live foods on the hit parade in terms of popularity, frozen grub comes in a wide assortment.  You'll find frozen brine shrimp, bloodworms - always a fan favorite, daphnia perhaps, and tubifex worms.  Although you'd want to stick with a name brand known for using parasite free tubifex sources.  Knowing as you do that these guys typically grow in less than sanitary conditions. 

Note too that I used the words "treats" for a reason.  Most of the choices are not exactly brimming with nutritional value capable of building strong bodies 12 ways.  Yet I know of no betta who wouldn't love to chow down on blood worms all day long.  Problem is so much protein can lead to digestive problems.  So you'll want to go easy.  Thaw some every now and again.  Just not too often no matter how much you see your betta with the freezer door open silhouetted by the light inside. 

From the Freeze Dried  Aisle

Then you can't beat freeze dried foods for convenience either.  Again there's a wide assortment to consider here too.  Typically blood worms, Mysis shrimp, tubifex worms, and brine shrimp.  Lots to choose from. 

Alas, not much of a fan of freeze dried.  For one simple reason.  Unless you bother to thoroughly, and let me emphasize thoroughly, presoak them really well, you are risking bloating and constipation problems for your bettas.   As freeze dried food not presoaked properly can suck up liquid in their guts and expand like crazy.  But not everyone thinks the way I do.  Understanding this I presented it, if briefly, as another somewhat viable option to choose from.

From the Prepared Foods Aisle

Lots of options here to choose from here.  Still commercially prepared foods come in two basic forms:  flakes and pellets.  And no discussion about your feeding options would be complete without at least contemplating, even briefly, the differences between the two.

Flakes vs. Pellets:  Sure flakes have been a popular option for feeding tropical fish for decades. Maybe the people's choice even although often not your betta's first choice.  Yet there's a compelling case to be made for pellets.  For one they are more densely packed with nutrients.  They tend to retain their nutritional values longer in water.  You see flakes, being paper thin, tend to absorb water quickly and as a result leach out any water soluble vitamins in next to no time.  Like in less than a minute no time.  And most commercial fish raising operations feed pellets for a reason.  They produce results.

Then there's the issue of swelling and again, pellets win hands down.  Flakes too can swell up in your bettafish's stomach.  That makes pellets less likely to cause bloating problems.  Which accounts for why pellets should be your prepared food of choice. 

Then the question becomes which brand should you feed and how can you tell the best from the rest?   You can tell the best by reading the label.  The labels of the blue ribbon winners will lead off with high quality, and preferably marine based proteins.  While short changing grain based ingredients like wheat middlings, soybean meal and the like are well down the list.  The rest, aka losers will reverse that order because it's cheaper to produce food full of filler.  For many in bettadom the choice of pellets  comes down to New Life Spectrum Betta Formula vs Attisons Betta Pro.  I'm not going to try to influence that decision one way or the other.

Feed according to fish size.  A couple of pellets twice a day should suffice.  Three if you've got a bigger betta's hunger to satisfy. 

Food from the Produce Aisle 

Awwwk.  And you thought bettas were strictly meat eaters.  Okay.  You got me.   But there's a reason to consider mixing in a blanched pea into their diet once a week.  Regularity.  They will help your betta's digestive system to keep humming right along.  Giving them the help they need in the morning - if you know what I mean. 

And you're right. Bettas are carnivores. But nothing like a little fiber to insure they are able to enjoy their mosquito larvae chase or chewing their favorite pellets without fears of getting all stopped up and bloated.  Not that they worry much about such things to begin with.  Which is why you should. And why you might want to read about curing betta fish constipation, just in case. 

From the Baby Food Aisle

Good things do come in small packages.  Once your fry have reached the free swimming stage, around day two, they can eat any infusoria found in their  tank.  Then from day five or six and beyond you'll want to feed freshly hatched baby brine shrimp (BBS).  Which your fry should be big enough to chase down and get into their mouth after about a week.  Prior to that you want to fill in with banana worms.  Or micro worms.  Or vinegar eels.  In other words, baby fish sized bits that can get them off to a fast start.  Eels might be the winner of the Breeder's Choice Award as they will tend to stay near the surface and can live in the water column for up to 24 hours.  That means the snack bar is open 24/7 making it easier on you rather than trying to feed them every two or three hours. 

Now for the next five or six weeks focus on feeding them freshly hatched BBS, mixing in the worms and eels for variety.  But the BBS with yolk sac attached will be more nutritious so should be emphasized on the fry menu. 

From the Specialty Food Aisle

Here you would be picking up some conditioning food.  Important since one part of conditioning the breeding pair is to feed them all primo protein laden food all the time.  So they get a steady diet of frozen blood worms, frozen Mysis shrimp, live baby guppies, live mosquito larvae.  You want to prep the for the rigors of breeding.  To do so you need to fatten them up just a bit for up to two weeks ahead of their big day.  Which includes bumping them up from feeding two times a day to three. 

That said, for normal feedings don't lose sight of the fact that bettas are relatively little fish.  And so the tendency is to over feed.  While they will try to convince you they prefer heaping helpings, really they don't.  Over feeding is not good for the fish, their water, or for helping them lead long healthy lives.

CONCLUSION:  So as you can see there is no one-size-fits-all answer for the question "What do betta fish like to eat?"  Perhaps the best answer might be a variety of highly nutritional, easily digestible choices.  Making both variety and nutritional are important.  Yet the real key may be variety.  Sure pellets may provide all your crowntail betta male needs.  But like someone famous once said, "Bettas cannot live on pellets alone!" Or at least they shouldn't have to.  Bon appetit.