What to Feed Bettas [ May 9th, 2011 ] Posted in » Bettas

Trying to figure out what to feed your bettas?  Today I came across this article by Mischa which talks about the best types of foods to feed betta fish.  She discusses both how much to feed betas as well as what to feed betta fish.

She very much stresses the importance of feeding your bettas a variety of different types of foods.  Right now in my tank I don’t have any bettas as the female ones I had died a while ago and right now I’ve got an oscar in my tank which would have bettas for breakfast, but when I did have bettas I mostly just fed them flakes.  Mischa’s advice is to offer bettas a bigger variety of food.

Here’s the article she wrote:

Feeding Betta Fish

By Mischa Hill

If you are new to Betta fish keeping, feeding them might present a challenge at first. There are so many choices out there and so much conflicting information!

People present all kinds of theories on how often to feed Betta fish, what to feed them, etc. But once you start listening to those with many years of experience, some common themes begin to emerge.

Here are some basic tips for you:

First of all, you need to know that feeding Betta fish the best and most varied diet possible will have a profound effect on its health and longevity. In fact, next to the quality of tank water, it’s the second most important factor in caring for your Betta fish. And the two are very much connected. You will see in a minute, why.

The first question is: How much should I be feeding Betta fish?

Be careful not to overfeed it! That’s the most important thing. We can be very eager to make our Betta happy and full and we often go overboard. Remember, they are tiny creatures, with tiny stomachs (about the size of their eyes) and huge appetites. And they don’t have much will power when it comes to food. Yes, they can be finicky, but they will also eat until their stomachs are bulging, if left to their own devices.

So learn these quick rules:

  • Feed it only what your Betta will consume right away (in 2 minutes)
  • Do not leave any uneaten food in the tank (it can be a challenge to pick it all out…)

There are many theories out there, but it’s enough to feed your Betta fish once a day. Pick a time that is convenient for you and stick to it. Bettas like consistency when it comes to feeding time. It’s also perfectly fine to skip a day. In fact, regular “fasts” can do your Betta much good.

Here is a not-so-well-known feeding tip: the best time for feeding your Betta fish is an hour after sunrise or an hour before sunset. In the wild, this is the time when the insects swarm and land in the water for the Bettas to scoop them up.

The second question is: What should I be feeding my Betta fish?

We already mentioned the fact that Bettas are carnivores. A vegetarian diet will not sustain them. The healthiest food for them is called Hikari Bio-Gold. It’s imported from Japan and used by many breeders. Another very good choice for every day is BettaMin.

Since your Bettas need a varied diet, here are some other elements of their weekly menu:

  • Blood worms – give infrequently
  • Daphnia (water fleas) – twice per week at the most
  • White chicken meat
  • A tiny piece of steak
  • Vegetables – a cooked and peeled pea, for example

Variety will contribute to a strong immune system in your Betta.

And once again – whatever is not eaten right away, needs to be removed from the tank. Leftover food will rot and produce bacteria and ammonia, making the environment dangerous if not deadly for your Betta.

Bettas make wonderful pets because of the way they tend to bond and interact with their owners. Use your feeding routine to spend time with your Betta and cultivate that bond. You will soon find it most enjoyable!

Mischa Hill is a Betta fish enthusiast. He likes to contribute to the well-being and health of all Bettas by providing information and resources on Betta fish care and breeding Betta fish to Betta fish owners at http://www.betta-fish-care.net/

Find good Betta fish food prices on his site as well.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mischa_Hill

http://EzineArticles.com/?Feeding-Betta-Fish&id=2755954

As you can see she stresses feeding betas a variety of food, not just one type of food.  The female bettas I had died from being attacked by other fish, not from a lack of food variety so I can’t really comment on how valid Mischa’s recommendations are.

What do you think?

Do you have bettas?  Are you thinking of just sticking with one type of daily food, or are you going to feed them a variety?  Leave your comments below and let me know what you think.

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What to Feed Oscar Fish

Oscar fish are primarily meat eating (carnivorous) fish in the wild, typically consuming smaller fish, aquatic invertebrates, insects and insect larvae.  As they prefer a high protein diet you will need to feed the a diet that might be slightly different from other aquarium fish.

There are three main types of food I’ve tried feeding my Oscars with varying degrees of success.  Let’s start with the most basic:

Flakes

Cichlid Large Flake - 5.65 oz.

The first type of food you’ll find readily available on the market are Flake type foods.  One flake type food suitable for Cichlids is called Tetra Cichlid Large Flakes.  These types of foods last a long time, they are easily digested by fish and they promote naturally vibrant color and strong immunity.

I wasn’t sure if my Oscars would like this type of food, but they seemed fairly satisfied with it.  This type of food usually floats on top of the water for a few minutes and then starts to sink down to the bottom so if your Oscars don’t eat it before it drops, they might have a hard time finding it in the gravel or sand below.

If the Oscars don’t finish eating what’s floating on the surface, it’s recommended that you use an aquarium net to remove the excess food before it sinks to the bottom.

Floating Pellets

Cichlid Staple Pellets - Large - 8.8 oz.The second type of food you’ll find out there are floating pellets.  Hikari Cichlid has one that comes in four sizes – baby pellet, mini pellet, medium pellet and large pellet.  Depending on the size of your Oscar you would purchase the pellet size that fits in their mouth.

My Oscars are about 1.5″ right now so they are still pretty small.  I wasn’t sure whether to go with baby pellet or mini pellet so I bought both and tried them both.  It turns out that the mini pellets are still a bit to big for them right now especially since they do get a bit bigger once they absorb some water from the aquarium.  So if you just bought your Oscar and it’s still a small baby around 1-2″ in length you’ll be better off with the baby pellets to start.

There are two different types of floating pellets I have found out there and tried with my Oscars.  One is green and it’s called Cichlid Staple Pellets and the other one is red and it’s called Cichlid Gold Pellets.  Cichlid Staple Pellets are the economical food that has the nutrients that the fish will need at an economical price.  The Cichlid Gold Pellets are usually a little bit more expensive but they have something called Astaxanthin (a natural nutrient) in it which helps to promote rich coloration in Oscars and Cichlids.  My Oscars are dark grey and black with bright red markings and I do want the coloration to stay bright and pronounced so I bought a package of these pellets for my Oscars as well.

So far, the Oscars haven’t really liked this type of food though.  They like playing with it since it floats on top of the water, but they just eat it and spit it back out.  I left a few pellets floating to see what will happen and when I came back a few hours later they were still there uneaten.  I’ll try feeding them these pellets again over the next few weeks, but there is one other type of food that they absolutely love…

Frozen Blood Worms

Bloodworms - Flat Pack - 4 oz.Frozen Bloodworms (red mosquito larvae) sound really disgusting but the Oscars love them.  This type of food typically comes in small frozen individual cubes.  You keep it in the freezer and when you’re ready to feed your Oscars, you simply pop out one of the frozen cubes and feed it to them.

One thing to keep in mind though is that you don’t want to just dump the frozen cube into the aquarium water.  What I do first is I use a small shot glass which I’ve dedicated to this purpose and I put a frozen cube into the shot glass and fill it half way with hot water swirling it around thawing the cube.  It only takes a few seconds to thaw out the worms and then I pour the water with the worms into the aquarium.

The Oscars I have absolutely love this type of food.  At first I was a bit worried because the worms floated down and settled in the gravel below and I thought I would have a mess on my hands, but the Oscars are very thorough when eating this type of food.  They’ll move gravel around to get at the worms below.

Other Types of Food

From the research I’ve done, I’ve hard of people feeding their Oscars everything from feeder fish to small lizards.  Personally I am going to completely stay away from this type of food.  You never know what kind of diseases feeder fish carry when you bring them from the pet store, and you’re going to be really sad when your Oscar dies because he ate a sick fish.

I’m not even going to touch the topic of feeding lizards to your Oscar as I think that’s just cruel and disgusting, but that’s just my personal opinion.  I read an article about someone who tried to feed their fully grown Oscar a puffer fish to see what happens and they were really surprised when the Oscar spat out the puffer after a few seconds and then croaked.

You can spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars and countless hours taking care of your Oscar, so why chance killing it in a few seconds by trying to feed it something you shouldn’t just to see what happens.

Summary

I’m always on the hunt for new information about Oscars, but from my research and testing I believe the best bet for feeding an Oscar fish is to feed it a variety of foods of different types such as Flake Foods, Floating Pellet Foods and Frozen Bloodworms.

December 3rd, 2008 | 6 Comments

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