# bio gold perfectly sized pellets?



## sammys14 (Nov 25, 2013)

is that a good type of food, cause thats what i use ...and how many should i feed my betta i know one day per week we fasten them...and should i soak them or not cause a lot of people say yes so its more moist and also does not expand in the bettas boday and other say no cause they lose some nutritional value.
thank you


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## Jinyi (Dec 28, 2013)

is it the same as this?









My mature betta eats them but my younger betta spits them out and prefers the smaller sized ones bout one third the size of bio gold

I give him about 3 pellets once or twice a day


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## sammys14 (Nov 25, 2013)

yes its that...all i here on this site is life spectrum and the betta buffet ones ...but no one talks about bio gold so i was wondering if its recommended or not


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## Jinyi (Dec 28, 2013)

I use them. I think they are quite good! My mature betta has more energy and fins growing nicely.
Though this is only one part of his diet.

I feed him raw shrimp and fish guts weekly


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I never soak mine. I just drop them in and watch them get munched. Lol


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## isntanything (Dec 9, 2013)

I use the 'perfectly sized pellets' and feed 5 twice a day.

At first Pablo needed a couple of attempts to swallow them, now he can take 3 in one gulp. But then he's a little piggy.

From a maintenance point of view, the best thing about the pellets is that they float. They even float if your betta spits them out a couple of times so you can avoid having wasted food in the tank.

As far as nutrition goes, I assume they are fine. People say to go by the listed ingredients, but manufacturers can be quite sly about that - listing whole fish because it weighs a lot more than the meal they have to turn it into, splitting the bulking agents into about 5 seperate items etc.


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## sammys14 (Nov 25, 2013)

isnt 5 twice a day a lot ?...wont he get fat?


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## isntanything (Dec 9, 2013)

The Hikari website says 5-10 pellets twice a day for a 1.5" betta.

http://www.hikariusa.com/articles/betta-care/

It's really hard to get a definitive answer to 'how many should I feed?'. My fish eats the 5 pellets in 30 seconds or less, he's very active and he doesn't appear to be fat or have a bloated stomach.

Most of the time he looks at me like he's accusing me of _underfeeding_ him.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

The reason omega one and new life spectrum are suggested on the forum is because the ingredients are better, and it is simply higher quality, more healthy food. Here is the ingredients in Hikari Betta Bio Gold- 

Fish meal, wheat flour, milt meal, Antarctic krill meal, gluten meal, clam meal, cuttlefish oil, soybean meal, enzyme, garlic, monosodium glutamate, dl-methionine, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite (source of vitamin K), thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, calcium pantothenate, biotin, inositol, niacin, choline chloride, folic acid, l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C), manganese sulfate, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, magnesium sulfate, cobalt sulfate, calcium iodate, aluminum hydroxide.

Notice the first two ingredients- fish meal and wheat flour. Neither are high quality or nutritious, and those ingredients are present in the greatest amounts. Then we have milt meal, which you can google if you want, krill meal, which is fine but it would be better if it was *whole* krill meal, then gluten meal, which is an unnatural filler or binder. The rest isn't bad, aside from the soybean meal and msg (why?!). Overall, it is made from a lot of cheap ingredients, and cheap food is, well, cheap. 

Here's the ingredients in New Life Spectrum betta formula (the ingredients may have been updated since I got my tin, but the quality would be the same) and Omega One betta buffet pellets, in that order-

Whole Antarctic krill meal, whole herring meal, whole wheat flour, algae meal, garlic, soybean isolate, beta carotene, spirulina, vegetable and fruit extract (spinach, red and green cabbage, pea, broccoli, zucchini, tomato, red bell pepper, kiwi, apricot, pear, mango, apple, papaya, peach), vitamin a acetate, DL alphatocophero (E), d-activated animal sterol (D3), vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydro-chloride, calcium pantothenate, L-ascorby-2-polyphosphate (stable C), choline chloride, copper proteinate, ethylenediamine dihydroiodide, cobalt sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate.

Whole Salmon, Halibut, Shrimp, Wheat Flour, Wheat Gluten, Fresh Kelp, Astaxanthin, Lecithin, L-Ascorbyl-2-Phosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Natural and Artificial Colors, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Folic Acid, Biotin, Inositol, Tocopherol (Preservative), Ethoxyquin (Preservative).

Notice that whole fish is listed as the first ingredient in both, and the first two or three ingredients are fish. The binder or filler comes after. There are also good extra things in both, especially the new life spectrum (garlic, spirulina, beta carotene). 


Soaking the pellets causes nutrients to be lost and doing so is not necessary. 

I don't count how many pellets I feed my fish because I simply don't have time, but generally you want to give a small amount (~5) at each feeding. It depends on the fish and he food you're feeding, though. Please do not listen to what the company or package says about how much you should be feeding, they give instructions so you will go through as much food as possible and have to buy more. 

Hope I helped .


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## isntanything (Dec 9, 2013)

Looking at the packet, I have a different ingredient list for Bio-Gold.

Far too long to type out, but doesn't have the milt meal or the MSG. Does have spirulina, astaxanthin (whatever that is), garlic, and grape seed extract.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

I must have got the old list. I think this is the new one, correct me if I'm wrong-

Fish Meal, Wheat Flour, Soybean Meal, Rice Bran, Gluten Meal, Starch, Krill Meal, Wheat Germ Meal, Brewers Dried Yeast, Dha Oil, Spirulina Dried Seaweed Meal, Dl-Methionine, Garlic, Astaxanthin, Grape Seed Extract, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Stabilized Vitamin C), Inositol, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Vitamin A Oil, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Niacin, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source Of Vitamin K), Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Ferrous Sulfate, Magnesium Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Cobalt Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Disodium Phosphate, Red 3 (Artificial Color).

If anything it's worse then before. Fish meal, which is a questionable ingredient at best because it is basically just everything no one else wants all ground up, is followed by _five_ fillers... The few good ingredients that are there in small amounts don't save it from being bad food.


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## relaxedcrazyman (Dec 19, 2013)

Ethoxyquin (Preservative) in the omega buffet pellets is bad for fish. and it is normally used as a pesticide.

I currently use the Betta BioGold, but as soon as it is finished I have and will be using New Lift Spectrum pellets.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

Yup, it is, but the absolutely tiny amount of ethoxyquin in the food is not nearly as bad for the fish as cheap food that's full of filler. I honestly doubt that if you performed a study that you would find any adverse effect brought on by the amount that is present in fish food.

That, and although a lot of foods don't have it as a listed ingredient, all ships entering US waters that contain fish meal are required to have that fish meal preserved with ethoxyquin. 

http://nlsfishfood.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Itemid=63&limit=1&limitstart=5


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## relaxedcrazyman (Dec 19, 2013)

thanks for the link, interesting read. i also like that new life has it posted on their website.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

It used to be that bio gold was the one everyone recommended but then we heard that they changed their ingredients and that it wasn't as good quality as it was.


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

isntanything said:


> ... Does have ,,, astaxanthin (whatever that is), ..


Astaxanthin is the nutrient that gives krill and some shrimp their red color. It is included, supposedly, to enhance the color of fish. I think high-protein promotes high-color in fish.


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## BettaCulture (Oct 9, 2013)

Ocean Nutrition Betta Pellets
New Life Spectrum Betta Formula


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

Why would Ocean Nutrition Betta pro (main ingredient: brine shrimp embryos) have ethoxyquin in it?


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## BettaCulture (Oct 9, 2013)

LOL!!! I actually don't use it I was on the way out this is what I missed on the typo.

Ocean Nutrition Betta Pellet 
Bad

New Life Spectrum
Good


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## FirstBetta (Jun 14, 2013)

MattsBettas said:


> I don't count how many pellets I feed my fish because I simply don't have time, but generally you want to give a small amount (~5) at each feeding. It depends on the fish and he food you're feeding, though. Please do not listen to what the company or package says about how much you should be feeding, they give instructions so you will go through as much food as possible and have to buy more.
> 
> Hope I helped .


I keep asking but never get an answer - What size pellets are we talking about???

NLS has all their formulas in different size pellets for each formula. If you run the calculations for the volume of the various sizes there is a big difference in the volume from sixe to size. The volume varies as the cube of the diameter. So the cube of the .5mm pellets diameter is .125 mm and the 1 mm is 1 mm. If you fed 5 1 mm pellets or 5 .5mm pellets the amount of food you are giving your guy or gal is quite different. In one you could be starving your pet and the other gorging it.

I bought Omega One Betta pellets first thinking that it was Betta Pellets Pro. It had a small spoon in the package. I use it for the NLS food as well and feed about a 1/4 of a spoonful once a day. It is quite a lot more than 3 or 5 .5mm pellets. He finishes them quickly and the nitrates stay around 5ppm even after 2 weeks between WC. 

Any comments?


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## sammys14 (Nov 25, 2013)

isnt their stomach as big as their eye ?isnt 5 pellets twice a day a lot for a little stomach like that
i feed the perfectly sized pellets from bio gold


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

As someone who has necropsied multiple fish, I can tell you that their stomach is substantially larger then their eye. If you are feeding high quality food like new life spectrum or omega one you can feed quite a bit without having to worry about constipation or bloat. Low quality foods like hikari and tetra are what lead to issues with bloat and constipation from over feeding.


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## sammys14 (Nov 25, 2013)

so i should feed them twice a day 5 pellets? i cant feed them anything elese than bio gold hikari or nutrafin pellets that id all my petshop has and i can not order online...which are best hikari or nutrafin?


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

Have you checked petco or petsmart? They both carry omega one pellets (make sure you get the pellets, NOT the flakes), and petco carries NLS. Neither nutrafin or hikari are really any good. 

I'm not going to give an exact number of pellets you should feed because I don't know how big hikari pellets are or what your fish is like...


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

The best food for betta that Ive found is Seachem Betta Banquet. Ive only recently began using this product but like it so far. Fewer bloating issues and fish seem more active. It does contain ethoxyguin as a preventative to vitamin oxidation, but there are few alternatives for this currently on the market. Top notch imo.


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## sammys14 (Nov 25, 2013)

i dont have a petco or petsmart


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## LittleAzul (Dec 7, 2013)

You can buy Omega One or New Life Spectrum from Petco or Petsmart online. I started using Omega One pellets as a better diet for my betta (still fighting either constipation or parasites) and I can already say Ive seen a difference.

I highly recommend Omega One.


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## isntanything (Dec 9, 2013)

sammys14 said:


> isnt their stomach as big as their eye ?isnt 5 pellets twice a day a lot for a little stomach like that
> i feed the perfectly sized pellets from bio gold


My fish isn't bloated or constipated. He's very active and always hungry. He eats all the pellets within 20-30 seconds of them hitting the water.

In other words, he isn't giving me any indication that I'm doing anything wrong. Fish are all different sizes and have different levels of activity and metabolism. This is why no-one can give you a definitive answer to how many pellets you should feed them.

On another note, the other food I have is JBL Novo Betta flakes.

Ingredients: Fish and fish by-products, molluscs and crustaceans, cereals, vegetables, vegetable by-products, vegetable protein extracts, yeast, eggs and egg by-products, algae

Contains 6% krill.

Would this be better or worse than the Hikari?


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

I've looked into that food, CJ. I like that there are no fillers but the fact that the meals used are not whole make me a little uncomfortable... "fish meal" can be everything no one else wants, but "whole fish meal" is made from the whole fish. Same goes for krill and whole krill meal. That, and with NLS you have garlic and spirulina. I might buy a pack just to switch it up for the fish a bit, it's still better food then most. I just really like NLS haha. 

Seachem Betta Banquet-
Ingredients: fish meal, blood meal, krill meal, fish oil, beta carotene, Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal-Sterol (D3), Vitamin B12, Riboflavin, Niacin, Folic Acid, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine hydrochloride, Thiamine, Biotin, DL Alphatocopherol (E), L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (C), choline chloride, cobalt sulfate, copper sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, ethylenediamine dihydroiodide, ethoxyquin (as an antioxidant). Added mineral matter not more than 2.50%

NLS betta formula-
Whole Antarctic krill meal, whole herring meal, whole wheat flour, algae meal, garlic, soybean isolate, beta carotene, spirulina, vegetable and fruit extract (spinach, red and green cabbage, pea, broccoli, zucchini, tomato, red bell pepper, kiwi, apricot, pear, mango, apple, papaya, peach), vitamin a acetate, DL alphatocophero (E), d-activated animal sterol (D3), vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydro-chloride, calcium pantothenate, L-ascorby-2-polyphosphate (stable C), choline chloride, copper proteinate, ethylenediamine dihydroiodide, cobalt sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate.


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

I agree Matt. I try to mix them up for pellet variety and like the spirulina and garlic in the NLS. The no filler in the betta banquet is good and lots of nutrition in the product.


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## DizzyD (Feb 7, 2013)

I use the bio gold and omega one pellets. My bettas gobble both of these brands up. the bio gold is a smaller pellet which is a little better if your fish is small or has a particularly small mouth. when I originally started I had the aqueon brand betta pellets my betta would eat them reluctantly, then I got the bio gold and I noticed they difference in preference immediately and my betta wouldn't even eat the aqueon pellets. Then I bought the omega one pellets and my bettas seem to not be able to tell the difference in the 2, but I feed them the omega more often because the container is easier to pick out exactly how much I want to feed them. I usually feed them 3 of the omega one or 5 of the hikari bio gold per feeding because of the smaller size.


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## BettaCulture (Oct 9, 2013)

I no longer see Seachem Betta Banquet on their site now I believe it's being replaced buy NutriDiet Betta Premium. Here's the link and now it has (ethoxyquin) as an antioxidant?
http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/NutriDiet-Betta.html


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

I covered ethoxyquin on the 2nd page of the thread.


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## sammys14 (Nov 25, 2013)

can you guys show me pictures of your bettas belly cause it been two days that im giving my fish 3 pellets per feeding and his belly got a bit bigger not big like hes going to explode just a bot and i was wondering if its normal for them to have a belly like that


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

Yeah, Sammy. That's just right.

Just read the list of ingredients for that Seachem pellet. What, exactly, is "blood meal?" There's another food I just saw with blood-something in it. I've been advised by a knowledgeable member here that animal (mammal) blood is not a good thing for fish generally (except, maybe, Pirhana).


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## sammys14 (Nov 25, 2013)

Seachem pellet?


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/NutriDiet-Betta.html

It looks like Nutidiet Betta has replaced Betta Banquet. Pretty much the same with garlic added.


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## sammys14 (Nov 25, 2013)

why should i look at their ingredients?...all i have at my pet shop is nutrafin pellets and bio gold perfectly sized pellets ....i can not order online ....im getting so confused ...ill just feed them what i think is right thats all ...cause i am so confused everyone started talking about different kind of food but i dont have a petco or petsmart that is all i can get no other options


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

You should look at the ingredients because that's the only way of determining whether the food is good or not... Just because the front of the package says its great food doesn't mean it is. Companies are great at misrepresenting their products.

Omega One and NLS are easy to find on amazon and if you don't have a credit card you can ask someone who does if they can get it and you can pay them. I don't know why you can't order online, but you might be able to find a way to do it. 

The other possibility is making your own food, if there is truly no way for you to get higher quality stuff and you don't want to keep using the low quality food.


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## sammys14 (Nov 25, 2013)

i already said it like 10 times i can NOT get anything on the internet unfortunately my fish will have to deal with bio gold.....


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## sammys14 (Nov 25, 2013)

and also i dont have the time to make them food bio gold is ok food ill just continue feeding them that hoping that everything will be fine


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## Tymbal (Dec 18, 2013)

Sammy, so long as your fish aren't bloated and are generally healthy, just keep feeding what you're feeding. :-D

It's interesting to know how to tell a good food from a less good food, but if your options are limited, then your options are limited and it's no use worrying about having the absolute completely best food ever. Your fish are happy? Then you're feeding fine  As you've seen, at some point the food debate just comes down to personal preference.


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## Tymbal (Dec 18, 2013)

Also, here's a picture of a bloated fish. See the red box? That's the poor boy's bloated stomach. (Disclaimer, its just a pic randomly grabbed from Google Images). Generally, bloated fish are really slow moving and tend to either float at the surface or lay on the bottom of the tank.


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## sammys14 (Nov 25, 2013)

THANK YOU SO MUCH! i was starting to really worry about my fish cause they have a little belly and i was scared it was the beginning of bloating but both of my bettas move fast and also accuse me of underfeeding which is not true!


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## Tymbal (Dec 18, 2013)

Mine do that too! You'd think I was starving them or something :lol:


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

> Sammy, so long as your fish aren't bloated and are generally healthy, just keep feeding what you're feeding.
> 
> It's interesting to know how to tell a good food from a less good food, but if your options are limited, then your options are limited and it's no use worrying about having the absolute completely best food ever. Your fish are happy? Then you're feeding fine  As you've seen, at some point the food debate just comes down to personal preference.


I have to interject here, sorry. 

Just because a food does not make a fish sick does not make it ok food. We could eat junk food for our entire lives and still survive and even avoid illness... Notice how I said _survive_, though, not thrive. Fish are animals with very few ways of telling us whether they are happy or not- we only know they are unhappy when they are showing physical symptoms of illness. That, and to judge their health we can really only go on what they look like and how they behave... We have no clue what's going on inside of them. We can do our best to keep them healthy inside and out though... Which includes keeping their tank clean, having an appropriately adjusted heater, and feeding proper, healthy food. 

And to address the statement that food choice comes down to personal preference at some point, you're completely correct, it does, but we can know that some foods are better than others because science and personal experience proves it- there is no question that hikari is lower quality than omega one or new life spectrum, but whether you use omega one or new life spectrum comes down to personal preference because they are both of comparable quality. 

You asked if hikari was a good type of food- we told you it isn't. If you're going to keep feeding it without trying anything else (does your petstore carry frozen food?), that's fine, it's your fish and in the end your choice, but you have to understand that there are much better options out there and hikari is not a healthy food. I hope I don't come across as too harsh, I'm here to help and offer advice .


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## sammys14 (Nov 25, 2013)

to mattsbettas 
you are not being harsh at all i completely understand your point but unfortunately all my pet store carries is nutrafin and bio gold pellets and a lot of flaked food and i can not order online at all ...and yes they carry frozen bloodworms but i do not know how to use them or anything since apparently the pack is always wrong .
in about a year ill be moving so maybe they will have better things there


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