# Am I feeding my bettas too much?



## Leopardfire (Sep 23, 2012)

My Male betta
I feed my male 7 small betta pellets every day. He eats 4 in the morning and 3 at night. Every 5 days he gets 3 pellets in the morning and 3 blood worms at night. I feed him every day because I feel really bad about starving them for a day and he is battling fin rot so I don't want him to be weakened by hunger. Every couple of days I see notice a really big poop about the size of 3 or 4 of his pellets. At first I didn't think it was poop because it looked too big to come from him. He might be pooping more frequently, but I haven't been looking. If he has poops this big does that mean that he is constipated? Should I be feeding him less?

My Female betta:
I feed her 2 pellets in the morning and 1 at night. Every 5 days she has 1 pellet in the morning and 1 blood worm at night. I feed her every day. I have never seen her poop because her gravel is dark, so I'm not sure how often she does or how big it is. Her tummy always has a slight bulge and it never goes away. Most of the time it's pretty mild so I don't think she's bloated or constipated. Is it normal for females to have a little bulge to their tummy? Do you think she is eating too much?


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## LeoTheLakerBetta (Oct 12, 2012)

I don't think it is that much overfeeding; however if yu are worried about overfeeding I would incorporate one day each week where you don't feed your betta to give him time to digest and all that sort of digestive processes.


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

Depending on the brand of pellets you feed, thats not over-feeding.....in fact, what you feed your male pellet-wise is my feeding schedule with all my adult males. I feed NLS Pellets though, so they're quite small. 
Lol, the poo is normal. I often find pieces of poo that look way too large for them to have passed. Its not unusual at all. xD

Its been a while since I had females, but I recall that they often had slightly rounder bellies regularly then males. I think its just a female thing. So long as she doesn't look like she swallowed a marble and is having difficulty swimming, I'd say theres no real need for concern.

I'd say so long as you're feeding NLS or Omega One....or even Aqueon, those are quite small, even if is not the best of foods....and you don't notice any serious bloating(a slightly visible belly on the male isn't unusual)or buoyancy issues you're good with that schedule. 

Personally, I've always been a little skeptical about the validity of regular weekly fasting. Though a lot of people recommend it, I never have and I've never had any problems so long as I didn't over-feed. Personally, I don't think its necessary to fast so long as you're feeding a good pellet brand and don't over-feed with both pellets or their frozen/freeze-dried treats......but its up to you if you want to or not.


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## lelei (Apr 30, 2012)

I don't fast, I just cut down a pellet or two one day a week, usually Sunday..so instead of the regular 2 at breakfast..lol..I do only 1 and 1 at night..so they can have a break and still be able to eat something..it seems to be working well, they never have constipation, and never bloat..


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

I agree with Dragon, it all comes down to quality of food.. the higher quality food you can feed a little less as they are getting all the nutrition they need. But lower quality food you will want to feed more. I love Blue Buffalo dog food and will feed it to our dog twice a day, about a cup or so per meal and that is plenty to keep her healthy. But if we run out before shipment comes she gets Kibbles N Bits and she gets 3 cups a day because it doesn't have as good of nutrition so have to give her a bit more to make up for what her body is used to.

I think what you are doing sounds good though in a general sense- it isn't too much really, and yet there is enough to cover nutrition needed if the pellets are more wheat based.

I don't intentionally fast mine- or what I do is skip a meal here and there. Have yet to ever have constipation or bloat in any of my fish in the last 18 or so years. So must be doing something right lol  

I used to be a real stickler for rules and what is considered "ideal" for them, but now I've lightened up and basically gotten to the point where my bettas will tell me what they need/want, as each one reacts differently to different chemistry/foods/temp, etc.

Oh, and as for the slightly bloated look- after meals (and usually all the time for the most part) it is normal to see a slight bulge at the belly. Once I get my camera then I can show what a pudgy female looks like  So I wouldn't worry about it.. I have round ones, pot belly ones and slim ones. As long as she swims fine, eats fine and color is good then you have no worries


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## Leopardfire (Sep 23, 2012)

Thanks for all the replies. It's good to know that my fish aren't over eating. I feed Tetra betta pellets so do you know of those are good quality? If they are not, should I switch to Omega One?


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

Tetra, unfortunately, is probably one of the worse pellet brands....not only is the first ingredient Wheat Flour, but its pretty much all filler.

I'd highly suggest switching to NLS or Omega One.


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## Leopardfire (Sep 23, 2012)

I had no idea Tetra pellets were bad. I will get my bettas new pellets immediately. Probably Omega One since I know for sure Petsmart has that. Should I feed less once my bettas are on a better pellet?


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

You can. When I fed Omega One, I generally fed just 3 pellets per feeding, occasionally 2. This seemed to work just fine, though none my boys were too fond of the brand for some reason so I ended up switching over to NLS anyway.


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## LeoTheLakerBetta (Oct 12, 2012)

Oh my goodness. I don't want to post another thread so I have a question now. Are Top Fin pellets ok? The first ingredients are fish meal, shrimp meal, soybean meal, and then wheat flour.


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

LeoTheLakerBetta said:


> Oh my goodness. I don't want to post another thread so I have a question now. Are Top Fin pellets ok? The first ingredients are fish meal, shrimp meal, soybean meal, and then wheat flour.


Not exactly the very very best, but from what I've looked up they seem to be OK. They'res worse foods out there at least.


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