How much to feed young female Betta?

Hello,

I unexpectedly got my first ever female Betta about a week ago and I am hoping for some advice on how to best care for her considering she seems very young. I do have experience keeping Bettas just not such a tiny one.

My new girl seems like she has a lot of growing to do, although I am finding conflicting info online regarding how big female Betta grow to.
Right now I’d put her length at between 1” long including her tail to 1 1/8” as a maximum total length. She was labeled as a veil tail female.

I am wondering how much I should be feeding her in order to not restrict her growth. Current I am feeding two meals a day. Each meal is 4ish 0.5mm pellets or equivalent, I am feeding a variety of flakes brine shrimp pellets and frozen daphnia. Would it be better to up the number of feedings? I think she was a bit underweight when I first got her and her stomach doesn’t look distended or anything, it only looks a bit full for 10-15 mins after eating. I am just always a bit worried about causing constipation. If I where feeding my much much larger male Betta an equivalent amount of food in comparison to their respective body size, I’m sure he would have a very visibly full gut all day and would be over eating. So I am having troubles determining the right amount for her.

I am also wondering if she does have a lot of growing to do how much water I should be changing and how often? For example, I usually do a water change every day or every other day when growing out fry. However, she isn’t really a fry, but she isn’t really an adult either (at least I don’t think). However, it also seems that growth is more likley to be inhibited by hormones released when growing out multiple fish of the same species so I’m not sure how much it would effect her. Usually I change 50% of the tanks water each week on all my tanks. She’s in a 5 gallon because that’s all I had ready at the time. I don’t have a problem setting her up a 10 gallon if she starts showing boredom in the 5 gallon. My male Betta did not appreciate that tank and was upgraded a while ago to a 15 gallon which curbed his tail biting, so I am being very cautious to not have a repeat of that situation. However, she’s finally just started to feel safe and seems quite content, so I don’t want to move her if I don’t need to.

I’d be so grateful if anyone with experience raising Bettas could answer some of my questions or share any other tips they have. I’m always excited to learn more about Bettas!


Tank & Parameters:
Cycled: Yes
-Ammonia 0ppm
-Nitrite 0ppm
-Nitrate 10ppm (dosing some fertilizer)
Volume: 5 gallons
Temp: 79F
pH: 7.0
gH: ~4 degrees
tank has lots of plants

 

Hi!! I love betta fish! Right now I have 1 baby betta in my 20 gallon tank with other fishes.
1. You can feed your fish the size of its eyeball because, their stomach is the size of its eyeball.
2. You should also fasten once a week.
3. Feed brine shrimp or bloodworms once or twice a day.
When I had a 5 gallon, with the betta I did a 50% water change every week.
4. I feed mine hikari pellets.
5. I like using API master test kit for testing your water. It's really accurate!
6. Some snails or shrimps can go in if you want to.
7. LOVE YOUR BETTA!!!
Some other notes:
1. Don't forget to use water conditioner
2. Don't use soap
3. If you have plants, add fertilizers
4. Keep us updated & ask more questions if you want to!
5. LOVE your betta

 

Hi!! I love betta fish! Right now I have 1 baby betta in my 20 gallon tank with other fishes.
1. You can feed your fish the size of its eyeball because, their stomach is the size of its eyeball.
2. You should also fasten once a week.
3. Feed brine shrimp or bloodworms once or twice a day.
When I had a 5 gallon, with the betta I did a 50% water change every week.
4. I feed mine hikari pellets.
5. I like using API master test kit for testing your water. It's really accurate!
6. Some snails or shrimps can go in if you want to.
7. LOVE YOUR BETTA!!!
Some other notes:
1. Don't forget to use water conditioner
2. Don't use soap
3. If you have plants, add fertilizers
4. Keep us updated & ask more questions if you want to!
5. LOVE your betta

Thanks for the detailed reply! Will do

 

It depends on the fish. As long as you are feeding her until her stomach is slightly distended and it goes back down before her next feeding you're good. Another tip to help prevent constipation is to soak the pellets ~5min before feeding to make them easier to digest.

If the tank is cycled I would recommend a 50%+ WC at least once per week. I would also make sure there are a TON of hiding places for her as well, it will help her feel more comfortable.

 

It depends on the fish. As long as you are feeding her until her stomach is slightly distended and it goes back down before her next feeding you're good. Another tip to help prevent constipation is to soak the pellets ~5min before feeding to make them easier to digest.

If the tank is cycled I would recommend a 50%+ WC at least once per week. I would also make sure there are a TON of hiding places for her as well, it will help her feel more comfortable.

Thanks for the help. The pellets I feed are very soft, I can mush them flat easily but I still soak them for a bit just in case. I’ll continue to pay close attention to parameters. She’s really starting to come out of her shell now she’s quite a character!