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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8 Fish Vanish!

Two nights ago I had the weirdest thing happen in my 55 Gallon Tank.  Before I describe what happened, first I need to explain what fish were in the tank. Here’s a list of fish that I’ve had in the tank for the last few weeks:

2x Female Betta
1x Cardinal Tetra
2x Bala Shark
3x Pictus Catfish
2x Giant Danio
2x Oto Catfish

Besides the fact that the two Giant Danio’s would swim round super fast and sometimes freak out the other fish and the two Pictus Catfish were skittish when I would turn on/off the lights, all the fish seemed to be getting along quite nicely with no fin nipping or aggression.

Then, a few days ago I got a Free 46 Gallon Tank so I decided to get rid of my 20 Gallon tank and put the 46 Gallon in that spot in my room.  To do this I had to transfer the fish that were in my 20 Gallon into the 55 Gallon.  I didn’t think there would be any problem with this, considering all the fish in the 20 Gallon are peaceful fish.  Here is what I had in the 20 Gallon tank:

8x Cardinal Tetra (Small)
1x Oto Catfish
5x Guppies (Small)
1x Pleco

Ok, so I moved those fish into the 55 Gallon.  My main concern was that the 55 Gallon isn’t completely cycled yet so I knew I would have to really watch my Ammonia levels carefully.  However, I’ve been doing daily partial water changes due to the Ich problem I had and it’s not that bad so I figured even if the extra fish put more strain on the biological filter I could temporarily compensate by doing more frequent water changes.  A small price to pay to get a nice 46 Gallon tank setup in place of my small 20 Gallon.

Anyways, I put the fish in there and I kind of figured a couple of the small Tetras might go missing or die but I never expected what happened next.

The following day I check the tank and I noticed that one of my Bala Sharks had the top part of his tail nipped off.  I thought that was pretty odd since I didn’t add in any aggressive fish and the existing fish that have been in the tank were getting along fine.  Then I started looking around and I noticed that a whole bunch of fish were missing!

When I say a whole bunch, I mean EIGHT FISH!  Here’s the casualty list from one night:

2x Female Bettas… GONE!
1x Bala Shark… GONE!
1x Bala Shark… Missing top part of tail.
5x Cardinal Tetras… GONE!

What the heck happened!?  I am pretty sure my 3 Pictus Catfish may be to blame.  They must have gone into a major hunting expedition that night and ate 8 of my fish!  I was devestated to see my Female Bettas gone especially.  They were so fun to watch.

I checked and no the fish didn’t jump out of the tank.  My lid is pretty tightly placed and I looked around the aquarium to make sure they didn’t all jump out.  And no it wasn’t my cat either.  I’m keeping a close eye on the Pictus Catfish and if I find that they are killing all my fish at night, they might just end up getting relocated to the pond in my back yard!

November 26th, 2008 | 3 Comments

Added More Fish to My Aquariums

I’ve added more fish to both of my Aquariums in the last week.  I bought 3 Cardinal Tetra’s, 3 Bala Sharks, 3 Otto Catfish, and one really cool looking Adonis Pleco.  For some reason I lost 2 Tetras and 1 Bala Shark the very first night, but the rest of the fish have had no problems and it’s been almost a week now.

I ended up putting one of the Otto’s in my 20 Gallon as I’m starting to grow some algae in there so I hope he starts to clean that up a bit.  Also, my younger brother Bart gave me 3 fairly sized Pictus Catfish and a Pleco the other day.  I put the 3 Pictus Catfish in my 55 Gallon tank and the Pleco in the 20 Gallon.  He can have a feast with all the algae in there.

Here are some pics:

One of My Pictus Catfish

Another Angle of My Pictus Catfish

My Lonely Survivor Cardinal Tetra. He Needs Some Buddies.

I’ve been keeping an eye on my Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate Levels and finally in the last couple of days the Ammonia levels in my 20 Gallon have started to go down rather quickly, so it looks like my cycle in that tank is coming along nicely.  As for the 55 Gallon, the Ammonia has just started going up in the last few days and today I noticed my Nitrites have gone up so the Cycle is just beginning in that tank.

I’ll be keeping an eye on the Ammonia levels to make sure they don’t go up too high.  Also, I picked up this Filstar Zeolite Ammonia Remover Cartridge for my Rena Filstar xP3 Filter.  It’s supposed to help keep your Ammonia levels from getting too high in new Aquarium setups and from hitting sudden spikes later on.

I’ll measure my Ammonia levels over the next few days and report back how effective it is.

November 12th, 2008 | 2 Comments

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