# How many pellets should I feed my betta?



## Josh12

I just got my first Betta from petsmart today, and bought Aqueon Betta Food, they told me to feed my Betta 1-2 pellets per day and to skip a day out of the week, after reading topics on here.. I am seeing people using this same food and feeding there betta 3-5 pellets twice a day and to skip a day out of the week? How much should I feed mine? Thanks for the help!


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## Welsh

I don't use pellets and never have, instead I use tetra betta flakes - or something along those lines and I feed him everyday of the week, I dont know if the flakes have the same as affect as the pellets do but the pellets tend to constipate a betta and so I think thats why a few days are missed out. (but dont take my word for it)

Also a good range of foods can be used for your betta to give him diversity in his diet. I feed mine bloodworm once a week and he loves it, unlike my other betta who would spit it out lol


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## Josh12

Thanks for the tip Welsh! I may switch to flakes, they seam easier to feed to the Betta's.


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## Josh12

I have been feeding it 2 per day since yesterday... but she seams to be hungry! I was thinking of giving her 2 in the morning and 1 at night.


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## dramaqueen

I feed mine 2 pellets twice a day.


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## Josh12

Okay thanks for the reply! I have decided I will feed mine 2 in the morning and 1-2 before I got to bed.


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## Betta Slave

I find flakes fog up the water more easily. My guys refuse flakes anyway. I feed around 5 pellets a day, and my bettas don't get bloated or anything like that. The best pellets, I find, are Hikari Betta Bio-Gold.


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## Welsh

Betta Slave said:


> I find flakes fog up the water more easily. My guys refuse flakes anyway. I feed around 5 pellets a day, and my bettas don't get bloated or anything like that. The best pellets, I find, are Hikari Betta Bio-Gold.


Really? I have never had a problem with flakes clouding the water.


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## Josh12

I was thinking of switching to Top Fin® Color Enhancing Betta Bits anyone use these? is it good?


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## Alexanderismylife

Josh12 said:


> I was thinking of switching to Top Fin® Color Enhancing Betta Bits anyone use these? is it good?


 I have some of those and My betta's really don't seem to care for it :[ My friend has it thought and her bettas love it! How much you feed your betta mostly depends on how much they move around...because My betta fish Alex gets 2 pellets in the morning and two at night but my betta Riley gets 1 in the morning and one at night. I tried flakes but my betta's wouldn't go near them and they did seem to cloud up my tank more...:[


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## Betta Slave

I fed the amount specified (on the forum) and they fogged up the water anyway. Maybe it was just my flakes though.


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## Welsh

How many times a day were you feeding your betta with the flakes and which flakes were you using?


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## JKfish

With flakes, so long as you feed a few flakes at a time, and make sure your betta eats all the flakes quickly, will no cloud up the water.

I use flakes in the morning and betta bites in the evening, and my betta loves both of them. The only problem is that the betta bites are a bit too big when soaked before feeding.


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## XSprinkleFaceX

Josh12 said:


> I was thinking of switching to Top Fin® Color Enhancing Betta Bits anyone use these? is it good?


 That's the food that I feed Finn and he loves them.  I also found his colours are becoming more vibrant (that may be because of his new tank though) But anyways, I feed him 3 pellets in the morning when I wake up and 3 pellets before bed time. In the end it all comes down to your Betta's preferance. I've heard though that Hikari Betta Bio-Gold aren't as good as they used to be becuase they changed their formula...but, like I said, it's all in your Betta.;-)


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## SemioticSleep

I usually feed mine one since the fish's stomach is the size of it's eye and you should feed every other day so he won't get bloated. Fish products tell you to put however much your fish can consume in a few minutes, but they are hoping that you don't notcie the pellets that are getting wasted and you finish your bottle of food faster.


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## BlackLabelAxe

Mine get 1 or 2 frozen bloodworms a day, and snack on mosquitos and other very small insects that I kill or immobilize around the house. Nothing larger than a mosquito, since they can choke or fail to digest large food properly. Live food rules!

Bettas have excellent eyesight- after a few days of "training", mine will jump about 1/4" to 1/2" out of the water to grab a bloodworm I dangle over the water- it's really cool to see!

Agree with Hikari if you do pellets- 3-4/day is good to go as long as they have room to swim. If they act like they're hungry it means they're healthy. Eating food is half of their great lifetime goals- if they do that enthusiastically then you've got a healthy fish!


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## rockin3

*Reviving this thread*

Just got a small betta and am unsure how much of these to feed him. The bottle says as much as he can eat in two minutes. That would be a lot for this guy. I was thinking three in the am and three in the pm? I used to buy the big Hikari pellets for my large betta, and did four in the am and four in the pm with those, but they were much larger.


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## Camy

Hey, i've had a similar question i've had my new betta for a week now, feeding him everyday flakes n he ate them all (although some parts he just spits them n doesnt bother to eat them again) and today for the 1st time i tried the pellets(soaked in water first) n he simply ate then spit it for a couple of times then ignored them...advice?? should i continue trying with the pellets ? some say to try fasting him 1 or 2 days n then feed him again pellets any ideas?


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## Rosso1011

Camy said:


> Hey, i've had a similar question i've had my new betta for a week now, feeding him everyday flakes n he ate them all (although some parts he just spits them n doesnt bother to eat them again) and today for the 1st time i tried the pellets(soaked in water first) n he simply ate then spit it for a couple of times then ignored them...advice?? should i continue trying with the pellets ? some say to try fasting him 1 or 2 days n then feed him again pellets any ideas?


Camy, bettas can be notorious food critics. Is there a particular reason for switching away from the flakes? New bettas also tend to be finicky due to stress of a new atmosphere. I think maybe if your guy liked the flakes, switch back unless there's a good reason for the switch (low quality food, for example). 

If you really want, just continue giving him the new food for the next couple of days. He'll eat eventually. Sounds cruel, but sometimes it's the only way to get a betta to eat the food you provide them with. He won't starve himself to death if he's healthy.


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## BeautifulBetta14

i have two females and one male and i feed them three in the moring and onebefore i go to bed so they don't starve through the night but lots of females are males with act like they are hungry even though they look really really hungry. They are just full and all they want to do is eat and eat and eat! :shock:


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## BeautifulBetta14

Camy said:


> Hey, i've had a similar question i've had my new betta for a week now, feeding him everyday flakes n he ate them all (although some parts he just spits them n doesnt bother to eat them again) and today for the 1st time i tried the pellets(soaked in water first) n he simply ate then spit it for a couple of times then ignored them...advice?? should i continue trying with the pellets ? some say to try fasting him 1 or 2 days n then feed him again pellets any ideas?


My betta senshi he will spit his pellets out all the time and come back for them when he is hungry so if you feed your betta pellets one day and spits them out and the next morning you see them all gone he probaly ate them while he was hungry at night.


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## Myates

In the future please don't revive old threads- best to make a new one. 

For pellets, I always recommend 2-3 pellets per meal, twice a day. If your betta has a tendency to bloat easily, then 1-2 pellets per meal twice a day.

Bettas can be very picky with food- no two bettas of mine like the same things, so I have quite a selection of food in order to give them all a variety. All of mine also eat different amounts- my old guy who is curved down quite a bit from age, which makes him have a pot belly gets only 4 pellets a day (2 each meal), while another, say my girl Aanya who is about 5 months of age eats 6-7 pellets total a day. (Only counting pellets, but they are fed other foods as well.)

Flakes may cloud up the water, but betta specific flakes are fine to feed them- make sure that fish/meat meal is the first ingredient and the crude fat % is higher then 42%.. feed only a few flakes at a time, a couple times a day. They won't cause bloating or constipation, as some people believe.

Go ahead and try the 3/3 meal plan for him and see how he does- their stomachs can and do expand after eating, so keep that in mind. By the time the next meal comes up they shouldn't have a bloated looking belly anymore.. if that is the case then I would slowly go down in the amount fed to where he can digest it easily.. each one is different, like us, with their metabolism- but unlike us, they don't get fat.


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## rockin3

BeautifulBetta14 said:


> i have two females and one male and i feed them three in the moring and onebefore i go to bed so they don't starve through the night but lots of females are males with act like they are hungry even though they look really really hungry. They are just full and all they want to do is eat and eat and eat! :shock:


Are you using the Aqueon ones or something bigger?


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## BeautifulBetta14

rockin3 said:


> Are you using the Aqueon ones or something bigger?


 something bigger why?


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## rockin3

BeautifulBetta14 said:


> something bigger why?


I wasn't sure if I should up my amount or not since the Aqueon ones are so small.


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## Camy

Rosso1011 said:


> Camy, bettas can be notorious food critics. Is there a particular reason for switching away from the flakes? New bettas also tend to be finicky due to stress of a new atmosphere. I think maybe if your guy liked the flakes, switch back unless there's a good reason for the switch (low quality food, for example).
> 
> If you really want, just continue giving him the new food for the next couple of days. He'll eat eventually. Sounds cruel, but sometimes it's the only way to get a betta to eat the food you provide them with. He won't starve himself to death if he's healthy.


Thank you for your reply, and no i haven't removed the flakes. i just thought it better to have a variety in the diet of my betta so i thought to feed him pellets once a week or something !
but seems he rlly doesnt like them, because i made him fast 2 days then tried again, he barely ate one n ignored the other !! n when i feed flakes he eats them all


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## lovefordebbie

*Daily Betta Schedule*

My Betta typically goes on a schedule. he wasn't eating for 2 weeks but we just starting eating, and he would eat the whole tank XD

8:00
i put a bead and he pushes it around
10-12 am
2 food pellets
5:00
traing my betta
8:30 pm
flakes

*variations of food are essentail to a healthy, long living betta..


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## LittleDeer

Bettas do tend to be picky. I accidentally bought flakes the other day (and didn't realize it until I already had broken the seal, do I can't return them) but my boy will only eat pellets. He swallowed a flake and then spit it out. I haven't tried with my girls yet. But when a Betta is used to a certain food, it can be hard to get them to eat other things. Some Bettas will only eat bloodworms or will only eat live food or frozen. It depends on the Betta. But as a species, they are known to sometimes be rather picky.


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## LittleDeer

Also, my boy gets 3 pellets every morning and then gets bloodworms every once in a while. Though this week I'm gonna start fasting every Wednesday, since I have never skipped days and its supposed to be good for their bellies.


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