# Smallest Pellet?



## ksjuer (Oct 4, 2020)

My bettas are by no means, small, but the Tetra Min pellet food is to big! I have to cut the pellets into at least 3 pieces... Which as you can imagine- is a PAIN! Most end up in powder. The three bettas all like it, but can anyone suggest the smallest pellets they've used? Would prefer food with high quality protein sources first- fewer grains.


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## hiprasojo (Sep 21, 2020)

All my betta eat this
Im not quite sure if its available in your area, try search on ebay or amazon


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Welcome to the Forum!

The smallest Betta pellet I can find is .50-.75 mm. A majority are 1.0 mm.

Can he not fit the pellets in his mouth or does he spit them out and try again?


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## Antares78 (Feb 29, 2020)

I feed my boys mostly Omega One Betta Buffet floating pellets or Fluval Bug Bites Tropical Formula (for small fish). The Betta Buffet pellets are more than small enough. They can easily gobble up two or three of them, if they are close enough. The Bug Bites is so small it's almost a powder, which much of the jar is. My bettas eagerly eat both. But, they also have no problem eating whole frozen brine shrimp or blood worms (thawed first, of course) on Saturday nights. Since the shrimp and blood worms don't float, I think they also enjoy chasing them as they sink to the bottom.


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## ksjuer (Oct 4, 2020)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> Welcome to the Forum!
> 
> The smallest Betta pellet I can find is .50-.75 mm. A majority are 1.0 mm.
> 
> Can he not fit the pellets in his mouth or does he spit them out and try again?


He will grab the pellet and shake around viciously trying to bite off some, he'll do that a few times and will never get the full pellet in his mouth, then he just leaves it and won't eat anything. If I put a new one in, he will ignore it. Hide and sulk. It looks like he gets his mouth around it, but he never sucks it in all the way.


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## Antares78 (Feb 29, 2020)

"I have to cut the pellets into at least 3 pieces... Which as you can imagine- is a PAIN! Most end up in powder." This suggests to me that the pellets are too hard and/or dried out? Just out of curiosity, how old are they?

Since they are mostly carnivorous, I assume Bettas have some teeth. I see mine chomp on their food a couple of times before swallowing. Also, they not only have to get it into their mouth, but they have to be able to swallow it comfortably. I know it's hard to throw away something you paid good money for, but I'd suggest getting some fresh food of a different brand/type.


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## hiprasojo (Sep 21, 2020)

ksjuer said:


> He will grab the pellet and shake around viciously trying to bite off some, he'll do that a few times and will never get the full pellet in his mouth, then he just leaves it and won't eat anything. If I put a new one in, he will ignore it. Hide and sulk. It looks like he gets his mouth around it, but he never sucks it in all the way.


Is there a possibility that your fish just simply don’t like their food? I had experienced this too with several food brands out here. But just to be sure lets try with 200 microns size (+/-0.2mm) pellets available near you. I searched for mem prime on both ebay & amazon with no luck. It seems Tetra is the big brand for USA/Canada consumers yeah?

If possible, also feed live food (fresh or frozen) such as worms, water fleas every 1-2 times a week for diet variation.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Sadly, Tetra is the big brand that ranks right down there as one of the worst Betta foods. :-(

Found out why the so-called "mini" pellets aren't working: They are 2.0 mm! I found a lot of complaints on Tetra's web site that they are too big for even grown Bettas.

New Life Spectrum: 1.0 mm
New Life Spectrum for small fish: .50 mm
NorthFin Betta Bits: 1.0 mm
Omega One: 1.5 mm

I feed NorthFin Betta Bits and have no issues with pellet size for even my smallest Betta. I also have fed New Life Spectrum of the same size.


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## ksjuer (Oct 4, 2020)

I ordered these today. We will see what happens. Lot of great ingredients in the Zoo Med, lot of great reviews on the Hikari.

*Betta Micro Floating Betta Pellet Food*






*Hikari Tropical Betta Bio-Gold Baby Pellet Fish Food*


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Finger's crossed they work. 

Next time you buy, you want "whole" fish meal or whole fish. These contain prime parts. Any food that lists plain fish meal is using the scrapes. But none of that is important if a fish can't eat it.

The ones I listed are the best foods manufactured by big companies. I use foods not on the list: Grain Free Devour Bug Formula and Crayfish Empire's whole, roasted Black Fly larva. I break the latter up a bit.


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