Violet Veiltails Betta Blog

We’ve talked about suitable (and unsuitable) homes for bettas, how to build your own betta tank, and the water conditions needed for a happy betta. Now we need to talk about food and feeding. You should have some form of food ready before you bring your little guy home.

Let’s clear this up: Bettas are not goldfish. They have a stomach the size of their eyeball, so if they keep eating, their insides will rupture, and then you’ve got a swollen dead fishy. No matter what the directions on the container says, feeding “whatever your fish can eat within 3 minutes” is a bad idea. One, your betta can’t eat near as much as you think they can. Two, all the uneaten food will dirty the water and slam your filter with an overload.

They are also carnivores, so you need to feed them accordingly. There are several types of food on the market, but we’ll talk about 4: flake, pellet, freeze-dried, and live.

Flake Foods

Flake foods seem perfectly convenient. Everything your betta needs in a simple flake format that keeps fairly well. The only real problem I (and a lot of betta owners) have is that bettas just won’t eat it. They just don’t realize that that shapeless little thing on the top of the water is tasty and delicious. Most bettas are used to either live foods or pellets, since that’s what they’ve been fed throughout their lives. However, if flake foods are the only things offer, sooner or later, they’ll take a nibble out of curiosity and find out they flakes are food. Then you should be ok.

Pellet Foods

This is what most betta owners, including myself, feed as the staple diet for their beloved pets. It’s fairly balanced and easy to manage. It’s best to feed one pellet at a time and never more than 5 pellets. I usually feed my betta once a day at the same time everyday. Of course, man cannot live on bread alone, and fish cannot live on pellets alone…. Well, they can, but it’s very bland. If you use pellets as a staple, then try to break up the monotony with something special, like live or freeze-dried food. I use Aqua-Culture Betta Pellets, although I’d use Hikari Bio-Gold Betta Pellets if I could get a hold of them.


Freeze-Dried Foods

Freeze-dried foods have had a little controversy surrounding them. Some fish owners claim that freeze-dried foods like baby shrimp or bloodworms are simply too “rich” to be fed everyday to a betta. Dozens of betta owners and breeders around the world think that view is ridiculous. How can something be too “rich?” If you had the chance to eat at five star restaurants whenever you wants, you’d probably jump on it. (Though I wouldn’t mind slumming for a hamburger every so often.) In my personal opinion, I’d feed my bettas bloodworms everyday. I usually give Quinn 3 pellets and a good size bloodworm a day, and maybe a smaller worm as a morning snack. Shrimp is another good freeze-dried food that is rich in proteins and tasty for bettas.

Live Foods

Daphnia, live bloodworms, black worms, brine shrimp, and even chopped up crickets and earthworms are all acceptable live foods to feed a betta. Almost all breeders feed their breeding pairs and fry live food, simply because it yields the best results. More radiant colors, better looking body and fins, better immune systems, and more resistant to disease and infection. Of course, live food is a little harder to procure and definitely more expensive, but worth the trouble. However, now large chain stores like PetCo and Petsmart are carrying live food, and for reasonable prices. However, with all live foods, you want to make sure that it is not at risk for carrying disease.