# How much do you feed your betta? The Big Debate



## gabrielle09 (Jan 23, 2012)

Hi there,

I'm just curious how much everyone feeds their bettas and what they feed them. I have heard from friends and read online that some people feed their bettas once a week, some feed them six days a week and skip the seventh, some feed them every second day and some feed them every day. Also there is a variety of things that you can feed them, brine shrimp. blood worms, pellets, flakes... so what does everyone feed their bettas?

I feed my bettas two pellets nearly every morning six days a week. Sometimes I switch it up and feed them flakes one day or brine shrimp but for the most part I stick to pellets. It seems to be working for me, I've had my one betta for over two years and I've never had a single problem with him.


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## Stone (Jan 6, 2013)

2 times a day 6 days a week and one fo the "meals" they usually get a treat of frozen bloodworms and brineshrimp, and 1 day fasting


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

All my fish, including the bettas, eat NLS Thera A exclusively. They eat their fill and the snails get the rest - I don't count pellets. They get fed most days.


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## FirstBetta (Jun 14, 2013)

I feed my betta NLS betta formula .5mm size about a 1/4 of the scoop that came with the Ocean Nutrition Betta food I bought originally every day. The bowl of the scoop is about 3/16" dia. (4.5 mm) Occasionally I feed a few frozen bloodworms for a treat. 

I've had him for a few months and he seems fine except he is the most atypical betta that I've seen or heard about. He patrols his 5.5G planted tank (I call it his jungle) most of the time, occasionally hides in his sunken hollow log. Comes to the front of the tank when anyone approaches, if I put my finger on the glass at the front of the tank he will dart away for an inch or two or completely ignore it. Totally ignored a ping pong ball. He will come to the surface to feed. He totally ignored a makeup mirror (both sides) I held up to the front of the tank.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Haha my fish would all say not enough!

But all of my wild bettas are not very big and therefore, don't have to eat a lot of food before they are full. 

I am really irregular with my feedings so some weeks they may go a couple of days without food before I throw a whole heap in. 

At the moment I am out of live blackworms, but when I have them on hand, my fish would usually get a small serving of these daily. Every two or three days, they might get either grindals, white worms or frozen foods such as brine shrimp or bloodworms. 

Now it is warmer they also get regular feedings of mosquito larvae. 

Unfortunately, most of my wilds don't 'do' pellets. For the one tank that does, they get pellets daily (NLS 1mm) and then their diet also supplemented with the above foods.


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## sugarunicorn (Aug 20, 2013)

I just keep an eye on him - I normally do 6 days a week and one fast day. 

However, he's a bit of a pig and can get bloated at times when he tries to eat my cories' catfish wafer - if he's still looking a bit rotund when I wake up the next day, then I skip that day's feeding. It always seems to clear things up. 

I feed 4-6 NLS betta pellets once a day, and frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp as the occasional treat.


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## southernmdman (Sep 1, 2013)

After seeing how the Omega One pellets expand when wet, 2 or 3 pellets a day, a frozen blood worm or two for desert, and nothing on Sunday.


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## Polkadot (Feb 10, 2013)

I feed my boys NLS pellets,my Veiltail boys have 4 each twice a day & my Plakat boy has 6 each twice a day. :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

I feed 4 NLS pellets, twice a day, six days a week.


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## carrohason (Aug 23, 2013)

I feed two of my boys 2 pellets twice a day, and the other a small amount of flakes (pellets get stuck in his mouth because he's smaller than the other two). I fast them on Wednesdays.


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## sugarunicorn (Aug 20, 2013)

This thread is making me feel like I might be underfeeding! I feed 4-6 NLS pellets once a day - is that too few? He's a doubletail prone to bloating (though a lot of that has subsided since I stopped feeding Hikari) so I'm worried about giving him more. 

Should I be upping his feedings to 8 pellets a day since it seems like thats what most of you guys with NLS feed? He seems to nibble on the sinking catfish wafer I toss in for the cories, so I dunno...


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

I've never had an issue with bloating since switching to NLS, no matter how much I over feed.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

I've had one fish with bloat since I began feeding NLS, but she was already quite ill. 

IMO/E over feeding is less of a factor then poor quality foods.


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## RowdyBetta (Feb 1, 2013)

Gallifrey gets 4-5 Omega One pellets, twice a day, occasional FD bloodworm as a treat

Daniel gets 6-8 (he's a big boy for an average betta!) Omega One pellets, twice a day, occasional FD bloodworm as a treat.


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## GinjaHaZ (Jun 29, 2013)

I feed my 4 boys 4-6 pellets each 6 days out of the week using Sunday as a fasting day, and they get a couple of blood worms on tank cleaning days. .


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## RowdyBetta (Feb 1, 2013)

RowdyBetta said:


> Gallifrey gets 4-5 Omega One pellets, twice a day, occasional FD bloodworm as a treat
> 
> Daniel gets 6-8 (he's a big boy for an average betta!) Omega One pellets, twice a day, occasional FD bloodworm as a treat.


Forgot to mention. I fast them on Fridays.


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## RainbowsHaven (Aug 28, 2013)

My boy was getting 3 aqueon betta pellets, twice a day, and one fast day a week. The fast day really upset him last week though so we skipped it this week and I just bought some omega one pellets today. I wouldn't have cared about him sulking but a few days after he started tail biting and I didn't want to give him more incentive until I get his tank clean and get some new plants in.


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## Aquatail (Jun 29, 2012)

My boys get 8 Hikari Betta Bio-Gold pellets every day. I've heard people have had issues with bloating from Hikari, but I've been feeding it for like a year and haven't had any problems with it.


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## Mary Kathryn (Jul 17, 2013)

Kurgan gets 3 Omega One or NLS (I like to swap it up) twice a day. If he gets into the flake "mush" I put in for the shrimp I fast him at his next meal. He **hates** bloodworms. I've got the frozen ones and I thaw them but if I offer him one he will spit it right back out and swim off. The guppies in my other tank really love them, though. :lol:

I used to worry when I first got him if I was over\underfeeding him but as long as he maintains a healthy weight and doing well I'm letting go of that fear.


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## Torla (Aug 15, 2013)

I feed everybody 3 Omega One pellets twice a day. Everybody gets some bloodworms about once a week, although Romeo gets more since he lives in the community tank with the frogs, so inevitably some worms will be uneaten. I do a half-day fast about once a week -- they'll get food in the morning, but not the evening.


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## crumpledpaper (Sep 14, 2013)

Oh, thank goodness for this thread! Back when I had Moonlight, I'd give him two pellets twice a day, but now that I'm getting a new one... I'm not too sure.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

You know, until I came on this forum, I never realised how big an issue feeding bettas could be.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

LittleBettaFish said:


> You know, until I came on this forum, I never realised how big an issue feeding bettas could be.


Amen to that... I could add a few other things to that.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I stopped feeding flakes when one of my fish got swimbladder problems from it.


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## RowdyBetta (Feb 1, 2013)

dramaqueen said:


> I stopped feeding flakes when one of my fish got swimbladder problems from it.


Same here!


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

I feed my adult male bettas once day. I started doing so after a fish vet advised me to do this. She said their digestive system needs a rest between feedings I was feeding 3x daily. My sorority females are getting fed twice daily with 2 day with just once daily. I feed them more often to be sure to keep the peace. The males do get the correct amount for the food they are eating. NLS they get more since it's tiny and for Omega they get less because the pellets swell up alot.


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## rickey (Jul 7, 2013)

LittleBettaFish said:


> You know, until I came on this forum, I never realised how big an issue feeding bettas could be.





jaysee said:


> Amen to that... I could add a few other things to that.


I didn't realize Bettas had become so fragile, I didn't know that the were this many ill Bettas in the world.

R


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

rickey said:


> I didn't realize Bettas had become so fragile, I didn't know that the were this many ill Bettas in the world.
> 
> R


It's quite ironic...


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## Saber (Jul 13, 2013)

I feed my bettas about 3-5 NLS pellets per day, and I usually give them a day or two to fast each week.


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## gabrielle09 (Jan 23, 2012)

Has anyone ever had a picky betta? My one double tail boy won't eat anything I feed him anymore. He used to love his freeze dried brine shrimp every couple of days and now he turns his nose up at it. Even with his pellets he's being picky and only munching on them every second day. Before this he was a little piggy. He doesn't seem to be losing weight or showing any kind of illness though so I'm thinking his tastes have just matured lol has anyone else ever had this problem with their fish?


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## Ilikebutterflies (May 19, 2012)

Lol, no way on earth I have time to count out pellets. All mine get NLS in some form or other once a day-usually a small pinch. Breeders get fed smaller meals a few times a day. IME when you are feeding ultra high quality food you don't have the bloat issues so skipping a day and counting pellets goes out the window. I'm sure I forget to feed once in a while or I go out of town for the weekend and they don't get fed and are no worse for the wear. The only thing I would suggest is watch what you feed giants as they will eat themselves to death.


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## Chachi (Sep 22, 2013)

I don't have a set number of pellets. Some days they seem hungrier than others. I will usually put in maybe 4-6 and watch them and if they get eaten right up I give them some more. I've never noticed my fish having a problem. And occasionally they get a fast day when I forget to feed them! LOL My babies that I have right now I am feeding 3 times a day, as much as they'll eat in a few minutes. I figure they need to food to grow, right?


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## Chachi (Sep 22, 2013)

Oh and I used to feed Hikari but recently switched to New Life Spectrum.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

I hear people say that regular bettas will eat themselves to death. I've tried to make that happen, unsuccessfully.


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## Ilikebutterflies (May 19, 2012)

> I've tried to make that happen, unsuccessfully.


Lol, yeah, wouldn't that save time culling? ;-)


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Ilikebutterflies said:


> Lol, yeah, wouldn't that save time culling? ;-)


culling is not a time consuming activity for me, but i'm not exactly sure I follow....


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## galtgirl (Sep 25, 2013)

When you say "6 pellets" what size pellets are you feeding. I have NLS .5mm pellets but I noted that the Thera A pellets are 1.0mm. My boy acts like he's starving. I've been feeding him 5 of the small pellets twice a day. Maybe I should increase?


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

A 0.5 mm pellet has a volume of 0.07 cubic mm. A 1 mm pellet has a volume of 0.52 cubic mm. There is a significant difference.


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