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Feeding Betta Fish
After not changing the water enough, overfeeding causes more problems than any other betta fish care mistake. Overfeeding will make your
betta's bowl much dirtier than it needs to be, and that alone causes a whole spectrum of problems. It can also cause your betta to
get constipated, or eat itself into other digestion problems.
What constitutes overfeeding for one fish is different than what it is for another. The best way to tell is a) how long it takes the
fish to eat and b) how swollen their belly is after eating.
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A betta before being fed. |
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A betta after being fed - possibly being overfed. |
Most bettas can barely eat a spare pinch of food in that time. Some of them take a bit of time to find the food in the bowl, so starting counting how long they eat from when they actually find the food and start eating.
The swollen belly is a classic overfeeding sign. It will differ for each fish, but the pictures to the right should give you an idea of what to look for.
One way to counteract chronic overfeeding is to just not feed the fish one day a week. This won't hurt the fish at all - you can actually go on a week-long vacation and not feed the fish at all for that week. The one day fast will help your betta's belly clear out and get back to normal functioning. Think of it as a one-day cleanse.
What Do Bettas Eat?
In the "wild" bettas eat mostly insects. They are carnivorous, so feeding them the carbohydrate-laden flake food offered to most aquarium fish isn't going to be well received by the betta at dinner time, or by the betta over time. Poor nutrition leads to poor health. For bettas, we want to feed protein, protein, and more protein.
Offer your fish freeze dried or frozen brine shrimp, blood worms and other kinds of worms. If you can get them, daphnia, mosquito larvae and live brine shrimp are excellent choices. Frozen versions of these foods are available, too.
Flake food may be rejected. If you are having trouble getting your betta to eat, and you're feeding flake food or even pellets, switch to live live brine shrimp for a special treat. Then swap out the expensive live food with some frozen food.
There are many different flake and pellet foods made just for bettas. If your betta will eat them, that's great. Even if one of these foods is working for you and your betta, do vary their diet at least once a week. Varying it two or three times a week is even better. Different foods have different nutritional strengths, so switching between them is a good idea. If you could pick only one addition beyond the standard betta food, go with freeze dried brine shrimp.
Though protein is critical, getting some veggies in once and a while is good too. The mushy inside of peas is a classic remedy for a constipated betta. Unfortunately, the betta may have to be really hungry before it condescends to even try the pea. Just stick with it and remember, if the fish doesn't eat for three days straight, its not going to hurt it at all.
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