How often to feed betta fish? – 10 Essential Questions Answered

Introduction

Have you ever left for school or work knowing you won’t be returning home early, but like many people, somehow you keep forgetting to feed your Betta Fish?

Of course, it is a fish, and it cannot yell as it sees you stepping out. But feeding your betta fish often is necessary to maintain its good health and development.

How often to feed betta fish and what do betta fish eat? You need to know this to help you manage your daily activities without compromising the wellbeing of your fish.

This knowledge will help you seamlessly inculcate your fish’s health into your schedule. Thus, helping you keep your fish well-fed and healthy.

We understand your predicament of balancing what to feed and how often to feed your fish.

Therefore, we have taken the initiative to provide you with this comprehensive feeding guide. Your Betta fish will be grateful for this.

What food does betta fish eat?

Before determining how often you feed your betta fish, it is necessary to know if you provide your fish with the right food.

Before we answer what do betta fish eat, please note that Betta fish are carnivorous; it means that Betta fish food should include high portions of animal matter(protein).

Betta fish feed on insects and worms even in captivity.

However, adequately processed and sufficiently enriched pellets are also efficient. These pellets provide nutrients and make them readily available to your fish.

Betta fish are prone to be overfed, so it is vital to choose pellet formulas designed explicitly for betta fish.

How often to feed your betta fish, twice or thrice a day?

Betta fish rarely get satiated. They continue to consume food if their supply is not controlled, making it difficult to determine the satiety level for Betta fish.

It is also vital to disregard misleading instructions that come with the pellet container.

How often do you feed a betta fish? It is recommended to space the feeding of Betta fish 1-2 times a day between 6-8 hours.

However, if they are breeding, feeding them thrice a day at a spacing of 4-6 hours is recommended. This system is put in place to ensure that they are not overfed.

What food should you feed your betta fishes

Betta fishes are carnivores, which means they can’t survive on feeds of plant-based content. However, some fish stores will tell you the contrary.

The best betta fish food contains live food, freeze or dried food, and pallets or fish flakes. Bloodworms, mosquito larvae, and brine shrimp are excellent choices for live foods.

Meanwhile, your pallet diet should be high in crude protein to satisfy the predatory nature of the fish.

Your best bet of satisfying your fish needs is to culture the live foods yourself: culture and hatch wingless fruit flies, brine shrimp eggs, and mosquito larvae.

When you culture the food, you will regulate what they eat to meet the nutrient requirements and also watch the health status of your fish.

How much should I feed my betta fish?

Two times a day is enough to feed your betta fish. You may feed them at intervals of twelve hours.

Also, you may want to reduce the chance of constipation by fasting them eighteen to twenty-four hours without feeding them. Overfeeding them leads to bloating, and it causes serious health concerns for them.

Remember that the stomach of a betta fish isn’t much bigger than its eye. Therefore, feed them moderately.

How do you feed your betta fish?

After making a brand choice that meets your needs, determining the number of pellets to feed your fish rests on pellet sizes.

The smaller the size of the pellet, the more the number of pellets required. Betta fishes can eat dry pellets; they don’t require crushing or dissolution before giving them to your fish.

How often do you feed a baby betta fish?

The dietary requirement of baby betta is the same as breeding betta fish. You should feed them 3-5 times daily.

Their diet should include more proteins and fats to aid their development.

However, from 4-6 months of age, the pellet formula for their food can be similar to other baby fishes.

What is the cost of feeding a betta fish?

The cost of betta fish food depends on the brand, dietary needs, frequency of feeding, and the number of betta fish you own.

So, the more you need to feed your betta fish, and the number of betta fish you have to feed, the more costly your budget is. The cost of a container of pellet could cost between the range of $4-$8.

What to do if your betta fish does not eat?

Betta fish can stay up to 2 weeks without eating. However, if your fish goes beyond this period, it could be a sign of a problem.

Betta fish are very sensitive animals. Various reasons that could cause their lack of appetite include:

• The temperature change of water. Betta fish are tropical animals. They are sensitive to the cold and abrupt shift in temperature. A temperature of 74-82F is ideal for the fish. Outside this range of warm temperatures, Betta fish can become stressed and lose appetite.

• Poor water condition: A flawed approach to maintaining water tanks results in the diminished water quality available for your fish.

• Small tank size: The smaller the tank, the more stressed your fish can become, resulting in losing appetite.

As betta fish age, their appetite reduces significantly. If the temperature, quality of water, and tank size are the problem, adequately resolving these problems will promote your betta fish’s appetite.

However, if an illness is the cause of the loss of appetite, this necessitates a visit to a veterinarian for proper diagnosis and treatment.

How will I know that my betta fishes are overfed?

Feeding your fish is essential; however, it should be regulated. The tank water gives off signs to indicate overfeeding.

Signs of overfeeding your betta fish include:

• Fat fish
• Pellets floating on water
• Cloudy water
• Ammonia and Nitrate pollution of tank water
• Low pH
• Dirty Gravel

What are the consequences of overfeeding betta fish?

Overfeeding your fish contaminates the water in the tank. Thus, making the water cloudy. This abrupt change of environment stresses your fish.

When your fish is stressed, it results in loss of appetite and could lead to its starvation. Your fish also accumulates fat as a result of eating the above-required proportions.

Overfeeding also results in constipation and other digestive problems. All of these negatively affect the health of your fish and reduce its quality of life.

Conclusion

Your Betta fish is a very sensitive tropical fish that requires a sustained level of maintenance to thrive.

What to feed and how often to feed betta fish in your fish tank is a crucial question that we have answered.

This knowledge should help you to facilitate and maintain the good health of your betta fish.