BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish How much should a Betta be fed??

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=16&cat=1911&articleid=2340

From the above url: "While starvation, chilling, and ammonia or nitrite poisoning are responsible for the vast majority of death in Bettas,..."

Right now we're feeding our Betta Betta Bits and Brine Shrimp with an occassional freeze dried bloodworm (1).

Trying to get him on a feeding schedule but we aren't on one ourselves really so makes it harder.

When I get up I give him 2 or 3 Betta Bites. Lately, later in the afternoon I've been giving him about a 1/2 mashed up green pea (skin too? not sure so didn't) (every other day) because I have yet to see him poo...ever....and I watch and watch. His stomach isn't too large (found pics showing different stages of Betta obesity) but thought the pea couldn't hurt even if he isn't constipated. Has anyone ever seen their Betta poo???

Then late at night we feed him 5-7ish frozen brine shrimp. Soo hard to count these. They are so small and you get more than one on your finger at a time and he's taking them right off our finger and eating what falls in the water faster than we can count. Seems dangerous this way. I don't want to kill him with food! Ugh.

Is our Betta getting enough food though? We have been going to bed around 2 or 3 in the morning lately and I'm up around 10 am.

Any suggestions for both quantity and a good feeding schedule? Are yours on a schedule? How much do you feed yours and what are you feeding him?

How do you feed/use the brine shrimp if you feed yours that, off your finger too? and how often/many? Do you go by minutes as most labels suggest? Can you do that with a Betta and not have him eat himself to death? Certainly you wouldn't want to use 'how much he eats in 3 minutes' with brine shrimp right?? Would that be like...dump a bunch in and see what he eats in 3 minutes? (can't be.) or is it one at a time for 3 minutes?

Also, I'm not sure if brine shrimp everyday (even just 5-7) is good for him. I read that it's really fatty.

Lots of questions I know. We've had him 35 days and I'm just getting around to the most important question next to water quality <sigh>.

((Everyone)) <img src="/images/graemlins/fish.gif" alt="" />

I have 3 bettas and I feed all of them in the morning and evening...no specific times. Betta #1 will not eat flakes, pellets, or granules so I give him about 5 freeze dried bloodworms. Betta #2 will eat granules but it takes him a long time to chew it. He will also eat flakes and bloodworms. Betta #3 will only eat granules and pellets. I give him about 4 granules and 1 pellet. I repeat the same servings to all three bettas in the evening.

Oh and it seems my bettas poo at night because I always see it appear in the morning. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

You have 3? Very cool! Maybe after we relocate to Tennessee in a year or so...maybe one for each room, heh.

You see their poo? How? Do you not have substrate down? I have the large rock-looking gravel. Impossible to see his poo with that. Bummer.

I haven't come across the granules yet. What brand?

((PaPeRo))

It's called TetraMin Tropical Granules for small fish and bettas. And yeah two of my bettas are in temporary tanks with no gravel that's why I can see their feces. In my main tank with plants and gravel I can't see them but I know the betta is releasing feces because he doesn't get constipated and he eats a lot too about 5 bloodworms in morning and 5 in evening everyday.

http://www.tetra-fish.com/catalog/product.aspx?id=23

Anyway it may seem like I'm overfeeding my bettas but I do keep track of the size of their stomachs to know if they're getting bloated. Also since they're in tanks with active water current and heating their metabolism is increased due to the higher temps and exorcise so they burn off the calories fast. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Ah hah. So no gravel is the only way to know. Ok. I'll look for that food. I want something a little smaller than the Betta Bites.

5 in the am and 5 in the pm doesn't really sound like alot. I've stopped giving Zen frozen brine shrimp every pm so am just giving him 4 Betta Bites in the am and 4 in the pm and once a week I'll replace 4 of the Bites with 4 or so frozen brine shrimp as a treat.


((PaPeRo))