# How much to feed my King?



## bettalove23 (Feb 28, 2010)

Hey guys, I have a king betta. So far I have been feeding him 4 pellets in the morning and 4 pellets at night and then I fast him on Sunday.
Should I feed him more pellets? I have 3 different brands I feed. Should I take away some? He seems like a skinnier King than the ones I see at Petco..and I feel as if I'm underfeeding him. Heres some pictures:

A couple weeks ago:

















When I first got him:


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Hello and welcome to the forum. Your betta is very pretty! I feed my bettas 2 pellets in the morning and 2 at night and they aren't king bettas so I think 4 pellets twice a day sounds reasonable.


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

That's about what I feed my king. Yours is very, very pretty.


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## bettalove23 (Feb 28, 2010)

Thanks everybody!
So I'm feeding him a good amount?
I'm trying to get him to grow  aha


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## doggyhog (Apr 30, 2009)

Oh my GOOOOSH!!!!!!!!! Can I please have him!?!! He is S T U N N I N G ! 

Does he live in a bowl? King bettas grow pretty big, so I'd recommend at least a 5 gallon tank, most people recommend a 10g though.


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## bettalove23 (Feb 28, 2010)

No, he lives in a 10 gal, I just put him there because I found a crack in my 10 gal  But he's in his normal tank now 
and thank you very much! haha.


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## doggyhog (Apr 30, 2009)

Oh OK! Just making sure. ;-)


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## ecoprincess (Jul 16, 2009)

Wow....twice a day!? Really?

The lady at the local pet store told me to feed him only once a day and as much as the size of his eye ball. My freddy gets fed once a day in the morning, two small pieces of flakes (the size of his mouth) and one 1/4 blood worm. He fasts on Sunday.

Ive been noticing he was so skinny....but awhile ago he got pretty sick...i thought maybe swim bladder, but as i learn more about betta health i think it was b/c i wasnt doing full water changes enough. 

So should i start feeding him twice a day? Do you think it could cause swim bladder if i do? I always think i can see it popping out.....maybe its b/c the poor guy is so skinny. 

(reason i dont feed him pellets is that it seems he has a hard time swallowing them as well and passing them)

Have i starved my freddy?? :/ I always just thought he was a "little guy". Hmmm....

now what?


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## bettalove23 (Feb 28, 2010)

I feed mine twice a day because I find it easier for him to digest when I feed him half his meal at a time so he's not completely bloated. But that's just my preference...you don't have to feed him twice a day. I feed him 8 pellets in total so I try to spread it out. If he's looking skinny, then maybe you aren't feeding enough. I usually feed my regular bettas twice a day..

I feed my king more because he's bigger, I would suggest feeding him more instead of just the small amount you usually give him. What kind of pellets have you tried? Maybe they were too big possibly?


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Some people feed twice a day. Some once.. I've even heard of breeders only feeding once a week (but I don't recommend that).

For a king I would feed just like a small betta.. the size of their eye. I feed twice a day and do not fast unless a fish is constipated (which never happens).


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## xxabc (Feb 1, 2010)

You could feed once a day, but that would mean a bigger meal as well. If he's looking skinny, then definitely feed him more. Take what the LFS says with a grain of salt~ 

I also feed mine twice a day. I actually don't have a fasting day, as I've never had a constipated betta, nor one who faced swim bladder. 2 pellets each meal, so 4 pellets the entire day. Sometimes 5 or 6 on a bad math day, ha


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## Jessiefish (Oct 2, 2009)

Wow, your fish is gorgeous!


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## bettalove23 (Feb 28, 2010)

Thank you Jessiefish!


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

That's what I fed my king (RIP). I love kings but they're to aggressive for breeding and if they can't be bred they're kinda wasting my jar space .


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## Jessiefish (Oct 2, 2009)

My Petco never even has kings.


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## xxabc (Feb 1, 2010)

Maybe 'cause they're always sold out? Lol mine always has kings 24/7. At least one, anyways.


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## bettalove23 (Feb 28, 2010)

Yeah my petco usually has like 5, but the ones I like usually have something wrong with them or they don't have any that appeal to me


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## ScuitoAmi150 (Nov 19, 2009)

SOOO jealous of your King!


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## bettalove23 (Feb 28, 2010)

Thank you Scutio! Your betta in your profile picture is pretty too!


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

I really want another but they only ever have blue/red/black ones like Kilo. I'd NEVER be able to resist yours! The day they have a color he's coming home with me! I have another 6g tank in hiding from my hubby.


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## bettalove23 (Feb 28, 2010)

Lol vaygirl! hahaha. I have bowls if i ABSOLUTELY just have to have another! and then buy the tank the next day. Yeah I've been wanting another king..preferably a blue one. But whichever one catches my eye will do 

Could you post a picture of your king? I wanna see what Kilo looks like!
My king's name is Colossus


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

Here's Kilo. He's kinda cool in that he's got that weird vertical stripe down his middle. It's only one the one side. The other side he doesn't have it. He's my puppyfish.


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## bettalove23 (Feb 28, 2010)

I love his coloring! He look's pretty big! Do you know how long he is? (just guessing) if you dont know.


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

He's just under 3 inches (tail and all).

I like the name for yours!


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## bettalove23 (Feb 28, 2010)

I think he's longer than my betta! Mine seems to be just a little under 2 inches.

and thank you!


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## Jessiefish (Oct 2, 2009)

Jessiefish said:


> My Petco never even has kings.


Lo and behold, they had about six of them today... I found an opal-esque guy with black spots and HAD to have him! His name is Rorschach. :-D


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## bettalove23 (Feb 28, 2010)

Yay! I'm so happy for you!  I love kings!
Have you taken any pictures yet?


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

Yeah, we need pictures! Kilo just moved into his own 10 gallon and he's loving life!


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

I wanted to ask you, Bettalove: Does your King ever flare? Mine never ever flares. Not at anything. Not even a mirror. He runs from it. He builds bubblenests though. HUGE ones!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

MrV says they're very shy.


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## bettalove23 (Feb 28, 2010)

Oh my King flares! lol. I have my super delta next to him and he flares at him all the time! He also flares at my female when I put him next to her. I found that he likes to flare more at actual bettas rather than a mirror..
mine builds nests too! He seems to only build them while he's flaring at another though...lol

btw vaygirl... i saw Kilo's new tank...and it looks amazing!


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

Yeah, he's real shy until he's leaping out of the tank to go after my lil pink fingers. 

Ah well, at least he's bubblenesting it. He loves his new home. He's always patrolling and investigating. It was a good setup. 64 bucks including the 50 watt heater at Petco. I'm tempted to pick up another tank... ya know... just in case I find another king.


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## bettalove23 (Feb 28, 2010)

Haha. I've been wanting another king also, I just need another 10 which is like $12 at walmart...so if I ever do decide to buy another..  haha

and try to get him to flare at another betta..and not just a mirror...maybe it'll work? One with lighter colors possibly


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## Jessiefish (Oct 2, 2009)

I really need to take pictures of my new guy. He's a character! He's very docile, hasn't attacked the ghost shrimp, etc. Though if one touches him he kinda freezes like, "OMG, IT'S TOUCHING ME!" He doesn't seem very shy, but he does like to wedge himself in weird places...


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## Jessiefish (Oct 2, 2009)

OK, here is Rorschach.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Very pretty!!


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## bettalove23 (Feb 28, 2010)

OMG! I LOVE HIM! He's such a beautiful color! WOW! I've never seen a king like that!
He's gorgeous!


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