Best Betta food

I'll be getting a Betta soon so I want to get him a good food

 

This is only my opinion mind you but the only food my bettas will eat is the HBH Betta Bites & Betta Treat. I've tried flakes (that had brine shrimp in it) but Raspy had a lot of constipation issues with that and Lilex wouldn't eat the flakes at all. I haven't tried bloodworms as of yet.



Good luck in your search!
-Kelly

 

I have used the HikarI Betta Bio-Gold pellets for the whole time I have owned Bettas, but I did not vote for them as I have a new favorite food for them and they love it. It is the Atison's Betta Pro by Ocean Nutrition. When I can find a food that 5 out of my 6 Bettas eat willingly and love, I have to say that it deserves my vote. It will never be 6 out of 6 because Marty would not put a pellet in his mouth if it killed him. (He strictly eats bloodworms - nothing else)

Rose

 

chickadee, my best bet is Atison's Betta Pro by Ocean Nutrition or HikarI Betta Bio-Gold pellets right

divakeeks, I'll keep HBH Betta Bites in mind in case Atison's Betta Pro by Ocean Nutrition or HikarI Betta Bio-Gold pellets don't work. I haven't heard anything about HBH (good or bad)

 

That's cool. I have tried several different kinds of food and really this is the only one that has stuck. The other foods they've just refused to eat. I have not though tried the ones that Chickadee mentioned. Perhaps those would work too. At least it gives me an option in case one day these guys decided they don't like the HBH anymore!

 

Rusty prefers any pellets but mostly Topfin Betta Food, which is fairly small and which he eats as greedily as a kid eats candy. I have not yet had a betta that would eat flakes but I have to admit to being curious about whether he would or not.

 

My two bettas eat the bio gold pellets and flakes TenshI (female) eats like there is no tomorrow, but InarI (male) is a bit more picky about what he puts in his mouth and if he is even hungary he has spit pellets back at me for no apparent reason then TenshI eats them I don't understand it but hey what every floats their boat I guess.

 

It is a physical thing. A Betta's mouth is just not made for flakes, although they may try one, the pellets and bloodworms go down easier.

Inari, if you are feeding your little female as much as it sounds like she is going to get sick. The Betta meal is:

Pellets 3 or 4 pellets twice a day (that is all or they will be SO constipated)

or if you happen to have a Betta who only wants bloodworms the meals are

Worms 6 to 7 worms twice a day ( same as above about the constipation)

This means pellets OR worms; NOT both.

Rose

 

got it no more than that
thanx rose ur a huge help

brent

 

If you can get your betta to eat more than one food, that would be ideal. Variety is the key if you can get them to eat other foods. Even my carnovore fish get veggies once a week. This will keep them balanced. My bettas always tried whatever I fed them, so I guess I've been lucky. I think Chickadee is right about bettas and flakes, but my bettas always ate them. I've also dropped those algae wafers in the bottom of the tank for my other fish (I like keeping bettas in community tanks), and I've seen the bettas peck at these too. So when you do get a betta, try to get them from the beginning to eat a variety of foods and see what works. I prefer the Omega One brand of foods, but Rose said her bettas did not like the size of the pellets and would not eat them.

 

ok variety thanx. and about once every other day
cool

I appreciate it

 

I have been feeding Patton frozen bloodworms. I am going to got the LPS and get some pellets for him. Any suggestions on what kind is good?

 

Ocean Nutrition Atison's Betta Pro. They're the tiny pellets you can feed to young bettas. The regular Atison's would be good, too, they're just bigger pellets, and younger bettas have small mouths. If you can't find those in the store (I had to order them off of DFS), pretty much every store carries HikarI Betta Bio-Gold, which is a larger pellet, like the regular Atison's.

The Ocean Nutrition pellets:
Betta PRO
Betta Food

HikarI Betta Bio-Gold

I also have freeze-dried bloodworms (which I haven't opened yet) and daphnia from this page:

The bloodworms for when Kappa's a little bigger and can manage something larger, and the daphnia was suggested because it's nutritious, is good for feeding a medicated fish (thankfully not an issue at the moment), and can serve the same function as peas...which Kappa also likes.

I don't get this "picky eater" thing that some people have put forth about bettas...Kappa will eat anything.

 

I feed HikarI betta bio-gold pellets to my bettas (in addition to frozen blood worms, frozen brine shrimp, and peas)

 

I find it a pain to use the HikarI bio-gold to my fish, because I have to break every pellet in two with my thumbnail or it comes floating out of his mouth. Would you guys recommend Ocean Nutrition Atison's Betta Pro? (as easy as it might sound, breaking each of those tiny pellets isn't easy. Anyone have a better way of doing this?)

 

If you soak the pellets first, they'll break easier. Use VitaChem if you have it, or just tank water.

 

I like Omega One's betta food. (okay, I like all of their foods). It's flakes, and I've found that you can switch between feeding whole flakes (which the betta has to wrestle with, a good little "hunting" exercise), and crushing them up, which allows the betta to eat them easily.

 

*flares and bites sds* >

 

Sorry but I still do not give my bettas flakes although I do know others do with great success. They get a combination of:

Atison's Betta Pro
Atison's Betta Formula
HikarI Betta Bio-gold

All of the above are pellets.

HikarI Freeze-dried Bloodworms
HikarI Freeze-dried Daphnia


Raw liver fresh from the grocery store (Beef or Chicken)

Thawed Frozen Peas

The last two items are chopped into very tiny pieces no more than 1/3 the size of their eye and they are given no more than 3 small pieces at a time. The peas are never given as a meal but as a treat at least 3 hours before or after a meal.

Rose

 

Sorry but I still do not give my bettas flakes although I do know others do with great success. They get a combination of:

Atison's Betta Pro
Atison's Betta Formula
HikarI Betta Bio-gold

All of the above are pellets.

HikarI Freeze-dried Bloodworms
HikarI Freeze-dried Daphnia


Raw liver fresh from the grocery store (Beef or Chicken)

Thawed Frozen Peas

The last two items are chopped into very tiny pieces no more than 1/3 the size of their eye and they are given no more than 3 small pieces at a time. The peas are never given as a meal but as a treat at least 3 hours before or after a meal.

Rose

Do you have a schedule of what you feed on what day? Do you feed mostly 1 thing (like pellets) and supplement with the others, or do you feed a variety all the time? I'm just curious... I feed mine pellets for the most part, with an occasional treat of frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp, or peas.

 

I feed ours HikarI frozen bloodworms and Ocean Nutrition Betta Pro pellets.

 

I got HikarI Betta Bio-gold. That is all they had when it came to good betta food.

 

I find it a pain to use the HikarI bio-gold to my fish, because I have to break every pellet in two with my thumbnail or it comes floating out of his mouth. Would you guys recommend Ocean Nutrition Atison's Betta Pro? (as easy as it might sound, breaking each of those tiny pellets isn't easy. Anyone have a better way of doing this?)

Atison's Betta Pro would probably be perfect for your guy. The pellets are about half the size of the Hikari. You could maybe feed the Atison's more of the time and continue with the HikarI when you feel like wrestling with pellets. Those two, a pea treat once a week, plus one or two other types of foods suggested in this thread would give him an excellent variety in his diet.

 

I feed mostly freeze-dried bloodworms but I do soak them in Garlic Guard or garlic juice from minced fresh garlic that you can buy in jars at the grocery store. It is an appetite stimulant and it also increases their immune systems properties. Fish love garlic and it is something cheap that is good for them. If you have a problem handling the bloodworms, get a tweezers to lift them out of the cup that they are soaked in and put them in the water with the tweezers. Just be careful not to use the same tweezers in more than one tank without cleaning them in a quick soak of dechlored water and vinegar and then a rinse in dechlored water. It is really best to give each tank their own tweezers.

The frequency I give the other foods is about like this:

Freeze dried Daphnia - this is the only food that I give to my fish when they are getting medication and in a hospital tank. It is mild and keeps their digestive system functioning great. It is a substitute for peas for fish that will not eat them, but peas do work great. I will not give up on peas until I have tried to fast the fish completely for a whole day and then give peas when I know they are hungry. Usually if you can get them to try them they LOVE them. Healthy fish usually get Daphnia about one or two meals a week just to enjoy it. You cannot overfeed Freeze-dried Daphnia so the fish can have all they want to eat, it will not constipate them and will actually prevent constipation. It is not a good food to be used for the only food for a long period unless the fish is ill.

Atison's Betta Pro - this is my new fish staple food as most of the new fish I get are babies. They get this at least 2 meals a day every day. The other meal may be bloodworms if they are big enough or daphnia if they are not.

Atison's Betta Formula - these are smaller than the Bio-gold pellets by far but not as small as the Betta Pro. They are for adult fish and I give them about 2 to 3 meals a week when the fish are acting bored with the bloodworms.

Betta Bio-gold - this is a strictly adult fish food and while it is great for fish it can constipate them if it is not soaked and the fish do not enjoy it soaked as much as some of the other foods. I can get them to eat it about once a week.

Liver - this is a treat and is given when I have it. No special schedule. Just when I want to do something very special for my babies. They may get it two or three times a month. Some of them are not super thrilled with it so they do not have to have it.

Thawed Frozen Pea Treats - this is a staple and ALL bettas do need them or at the very least the Freeze-dried Daphnia if they absolutely refuse them. It should not be fed as a meal but as a treat not at mealtime. They need at least 3 hours before and after the peas until they are fed regular food. It is to prevent or correct constipation. When you are preventing you feed them as usual. If the betta is already constipated and you are using peas to correct it, then you do not feed them anything else BUT peas for about 3 or 4 days to get them cleaned out good. It works wonders.

Rose

 

The Ocean Nutrition pellets:
Betta PRO
Betta Food


Ah my little Chickadee, thanks for supplying the DFS links for the Atison Betta Pro pellets. I was going to check my local stores but you made it so easy that I just clicked on and ordered. I'll probably get it just as quickly as if I spent a couple days checking my local stores. Hey, tell DFS you should get a commision on our purchases.

I've been soaking the bio gold pellets and the freeze dried bloodworms before feeding them to Fidget. I found that my pea treats always sank to the bottom of the tank right away and Gizmo would have no interest in them then. Is this normal? Do your guys eat them from the bottom of the tank?

LisaB

 

Umm...while I'd like to have her fishie knowledge, so could be considered a "little" Chickadee...I'm the one that posted the links, not Rose.



Yay for posting advice that was (almost) as good as Rose's!

As for the peas: Yeah, mine sink, too, so I try to hold them at the surface with my tank chopsticks (I don't use tweezers), so she'll get interested in them, and then she chases them as they fall towards the bottom of the tank.

 

Ahhh Luna, that's what I get for reading too many messages before posting. I'm going to have DFS forward the commision check to you. Ah if only that were possible. Anyway, thanks for the links, I would have wasted a few days looking around here first if you hadn't made it so easy to order.

I'll try your suggestion with the peas. I sure hope I can get this boy to eat them.

LisaB

 

If you can't get him to eat them, there's always daphnia.

 

I would definitely try the Freeze-dried Daphnia if he does not like peas. He is going to need to have one or the other and preferrably both. Daphnia is a great food to have on hand when they are sick. It is so much easier to deal with than a little betta with a sick little tummy.

My new little guys are getting used to eating it every day as one of their three meals. They have a meal of Atison's Betta Pro pellets, one of Freeze-dried Daphnia, and one of Freeze Dried Bloodworms every day. Since they are babies yet the meals are very small but they are getting used to variety and will maybe be better rounded bettas for it.



Those are the Daphnia and Bloodworms I buy and have the best luck with.

Rose

 

Most Bettas seem to like peas, even our wilds eat them but our first Betta wasn't a fan of them at first. Daphnia is great though, we've tried to keep some in our fish cabinet ever since Rose told us about it. All of our fish, including the livebearers and our Angel, Fred (who won't eat peas) love to nibble on the daphnia.

 

AND the nice thing is when they get Daphnia, you cannot overfeed them. They can have all their little tummies will hold. It cannot constipate them and as long as you do not have uneaten food in the tank when they are done eating, you can give them a little more and let them chase it like they are big, bad betta boy or girls hunters. They love it!

Rose

 

We just did that yesterday for their morning feeding. I'm so glad you brought that up Rose, it's something they enjoy and we enjoy watching them just nibble at pieces of daphnia whenever they want during the day... and it's also nice so that you can give in every now and then when they look at you and beg for a treat. drool

 

Yep, it is my "you have been a good betta boy so here is a nosh" treat. They get a tiny sprinkle and they are happy and I do not have to worry about making them sick. I do just try to make it not too often so it is a treat. They think they are getting something really great and it is kind of good for them too.

Rose

 

I am New to Betta keeping and am somewhat confused as to the whole pea thing,Why exactly are you feeding your Betta's peas?And How?

 

Peas are high in fiber and are pretty much like prunes to a Betta. They'll help keep their digestive system clear and can relieve constipation.

We buy a bag of frozen peas at the store and thaw them for our Bettas. Peel the skins off and then tear them little pellet sized pieces. We'll feed 3 or 4 of these tiny pieces to each Betta. Once or twice a week at the most, unless dealing with a constipated Betta.

 

Can anyone give me a type of betta pellet that's actually good for bettas. Also is it true that ghost shrimp and bettas are not good tankmates.

 

I feed my bettas NLS betta pellets and they go NUTS for them. They're the best I've found, nutrition-wise, to be honest.

As far as ghost shrimp and bettas...ghost shrimp are incredibly opportunistic. They will feed on anything they think would make a good meal. I had five in a 5gal bowfront with a male halfmoon betta. Within 48 hours, they completely decimated the betta's fins. He literally had NO fins left. He ended up dying from complications due to his injuries. I tossed two of the ghost shrimp into my 29gal semi-aggressive tank where they were promptly eaten by my South American bumblebee catfish and my tiger barbs. The other three I threw into my 55gal tropical tank. The three in my 55gal thrived and multiplied. At feeding time, EVERYONE gave them a wide berth, including my 6" adult featherfin catfish, my 5.5" adult male bristlenose pleco and the 5" adult male angelfish that I had at the time.

So yeah, I would say bettas and ghost shrimp absolutely DO NOT mix.

 

As far as food I have had my 6 bettas on Tetra BettaMin and Wardley Betta Food. The Wardley brand is pellets which I've been told are a little on the large size and might get caught in smaller bettas throats. Don't want that so I pre-soak them to where they soften, expand and break up into several crumbs by the time I feed them to the bettas. Those 2 are staple foods I feed daily.

Others I feel a few times a week are frozen bloodworms and frozen brine shrimp. Since they are carnivore I give these to them more than a once a week treat.

They also get regular Wardley tropical flake and Kens veggie flakes which are meant for their tank mates (they live in a community tank and the others need more than meaty and betta formula foods).

I am looking into Omega One and New Life Spectrum brands, probably will try those, as well as krill and earthworm to see how they take to them.

But so far they live on BettaMine, Betta Food by Wardley, frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp. Last 3 are all pre-soaked, the first is flake food.

 

Hello!

I feed my Betta Omega One Buffet Pellets (he LOVES these) and Tetramin flakes (community tank food).

Soon I'm going to try frozen bloodworms.

 

NLS thera A, and shrimp are good tank mates for a betta... doesn't mean the betta is a good tank mate for the shrimp But fish eat shrimp, so that's just life.