# Can one accidental overfeeding kill your betta?



## Spectacled (Jan 15, 2014)

Hey!
So I finally found a food that Kaz will eat (it's only day 3 so it's not like he's gone ages without eating).
I'm using the frozen cubes of brine shrimp or bloodworms (I'll be alternating so he doesn't get bored).
He's my first fish and I wasn't sure how much to give him. I gave him a scraping off a cube and now it appears it might have been too much. He's swimming fine and all right, but his belly is a bit more distended than I'd like. 
I read on another site that even one overfeeding will kill your fish. I don't want to kill my new buddy. 
Is there anything I can do to make sure he doesn't die?


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## fleetfish (Jun 29, 2010)

I wouldn't give him any food for at least two days - this will help his digestive system unload and it won't hurt him at all. After the two days are up you can feed him regularly. If you see any signs of illness - excessive bloating, swim bladder disease, stringy/transparent poop, etc, we're here to help.


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## Spectacled (Jan 15, 2014)

His stomach is back to normal size after about two hours. So does this mean I'm in the clear and to just be more vigilant next feeding? I'll still fast him for a day to make sure he's alright.


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## Rana (Apr 27, 2013)

He'll probably be fine, but a fast is probably not a bad idea. While I wouldn't make a habit of overfeeding, if he doesn't get blocked up then I'm pretty sure the danger is behind him. Stomachs are designed to stretch, and from what I understand, it takes a lot of food to get into that danger zone of where it might burst.


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## gbose (Dec 2, 2010)

+1! Fast him for a day or two and he should be fine.


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## Spectacled (Jan 15, 2014)

Thank you all! I truly appreciate your help!
He's been acting great all night. We were playing hide and seek earlier. And by hide and seek, he'd go behind a plant and then pop out and flare until I put my finger on the tank. He enjoys resting in the plants on the side of the tank closest to my bed whenever I'm in bed.
He's also coloring out really well for only having him three days. He's getting more vibrant and he's got gold on his gills and beard. It's not a dusting, though. I checked to make sure it wasn't velvet or anything.
I'm working really hard to make his life as enjoyable as possible.


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## fleetfish (Jun 29, 2010)

Wonderful to hear he's doing better, sounds like a lovedly little fellow.


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

It;s better to teach him to eat high-quality pellets like New Life Spectrum Betta or Omega One Betta buffet.

Frozen BWs are fine as occassional treats. Brine shrimp is a mild laxative. Neither contain everything your fish needs, hence the pellets.


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## Spectacled (Jan 15, 2014)

Hallyx said:


> It;s better to teach him to eat high-quality pellets like New Life Spectrum Betta or Omega One Betta buffet.
> 
> Frozen BWs are fine as occassional treats. Brine shrimp is a mild laxative. Neither contain everything your fish needs, hence the pellets.


Do you have any suggestion as to how to encourage him to eat the pellets? He won't touch them. He won't even take them in his mouth. He just sees them and turns away. I leave him alone to eat, but after about 15 minutes, they're still there.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Spectacled said:


> Do you have any suggestion as to how to encourage him to eat the pellets? He won't touch them. He won't even take them in his mouth. He just sees them and turns away. I leave him alone to eat, but after about 15 minutes, they're still there.



First off fish don't get bored eating the same food every day. They're fish 

Yes, don't feed the fish anything for a few days and then offer the food again. If still no fast the fish for a couple more days and try again. When the fish is hungry enough it will eat. It takes a LOOOONG time for fish to starve to death.


To answer the question about killing the fish by over feeding - depends on the food. I have tried several times with NLS pellets and have been unsuccessful. It's an easily digestible food so bloat and constipation is not a concern. The lower quality foods can clog things up rather easily which can indeed lead to death.


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## Morguex (Oct 24, 2013)

Fast him for a couple of days and then he should be ready to eat the pellets, try feeding the pellets directly to him, when he comes up to the top of the water, drop them in above his head. 3 twice and day.

I give my betta brine shrimp on saturday only, I just use a small eye dropper and give him about 10 shrimp. 

You are doing a good job with you're new buddy


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## R0MPaige (Jan 3, 2014)

I have a picky fish also, he came from thailand and spits out pellets. For a couple days that's all I've had for him. I made the pellets smaller and once in a while he'll swallow a few. Maybe higher quality pellets will help and keep offering him that along with frozen or live foods (this is what I'll be doing) and if he doesn't like that try a different brand of pellets. I don't know if offering him frozen or live foods will make him hate pellets more or not, but I do know variety of high quality foods is super good for Betta's. If there big pellets try crushing them gently. I wiggle my fingers around to get my fishes attention then feed them to make pellets more exciting for them. Every fish is different, my one fish is jumpy and gets scared of my hands. My other two love to chase my fingers.

Yes, fish can die from constipation.... When I only knew about Betta's what the pet stores and food containers told me I over fed my Betta with cheap food he couldn't pass.  Such a beautiful red crowntail he was too, poor guy.


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## Spectacled (Jan 15, 2014)

Okay. So I was analyzing his tank today and I noticed normal feces, but one spot of pale feces. I've got water conditioning right now so I can do a 50% water change tonight, but I was wondering what the pale feces mean.


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## Spectacled (Jan 15, 2014)

Hm. It won't let me edit my post.
But arggghhh.
My mother just told me that she fed him another sliver from the frozen block last night while I was at work. It was bigger than the one I gave him that morning.
He's super spastic. He's bounding around and keeps attacking the side of his tank.
I have to go to work now, but I put a pillowcase around his tank to make it super dark.
He hasn't been fed today and I told my mother to not touch him.

Now I'm really worried...


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Your fish is new - it takes some time for them to settle in. I would not worry.


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## R0MPaige (Jan 3, 2014)

How's your betta been doing? Hope he's better.


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## Spectacled (Jan 15, 2014)

I think he's doing better. I'm starting to understand him more, too. Such as he hates the lid light with a passion and becomes lethargic as soon as I turn it on.
The only question I have is this coloring on his face. It's on both sides and I think he's just changing colors, but I'd love other input. Hopefully you can see it in the picture.


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## kittenfish (Dec 1, 2013)

jaysee said:


> To answer the question about killing the fish by over feeding - depends on the food. I have tried several times with NLS pellets and have been unsuccessful.


Huh??


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

kittenfish said:


> Huh??



I've over fed on purpose, allowing the fish to eat all that it could and more with the intent of observing its subsequent behavior.

There's a lot of fear mongering that goes on with fishkeeping - there is no shortage of people saying "don't do this or that will happen". I think it's funny how concerned some people are about how much their bettas eat, counting pellets and whatnot. There is a general fear that exists over killing the fish with food, and quite honestly I think it's sad. Fish keeping is supposed to be relaxing and I don't think someone can be relaxed if they are in constant fear of over feeding their fish.

I realize that many of you consider your fish to be pets and so the idea of experimenting and testing certain ideas may not be appealing. That's fine, but if more people decided to find things out for themselves rather than parrot what they hear, we wouldn't have as many of the misconceptions that are floating around.


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## kittenfish (Dec 1, 2013)

Oh I just thought it was funny how you worded that - sounded like you were shoving pellets into their stomach via feeding syringe while laughing maniacally. I agree that people should do their own research before accepting anything as fact. I've been realizing this with my own fishkeeping as I become more experienced.

As for experimenting on animals - I do that professionally, so I'm not one to judge.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Hehehe there may have been a maniacal chuckle or two - for emphasis 

You know, there are a lot of well meaning people that honestly believe that they are helping by repeating things that they hear. And for the most part I think that they are. However, sometimes ideas need to be challenged so that people spend a few extra minutes to think about the almighty question - why.


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## Spectacled (Jan 15, 2014)

jaysee said:


> You know, there are a lot of well meaning people that honestly believe that they are helping by repeating things that they hear. And for the most part I think that they are. However, sometimes ideas need to be challenged so that people spend a few extra minutes to think about the almighty question - why.


That happens FAR too often at my job. haha Working in news never allows for simple, yes or no questions.
I really appreciate the discussion going on here. It's given me some awesome insight into my little guy.

If anyone's wondering, he's doing wonderfully, by the way. He's been eating, pooping, swimming and playing just fine.
But he's starting to learn my sleep schedule. This morning I woke up to a fish staring at me. As soon as I opened my eyes, he wiggled his butt and swam away.
He also likes to taunt my cats. It's the best television I could ask for. (But don't worry! My tank is totally kitty proof.)


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