Tetra Mini Granules Or On Atisons Betta Food

Hey everyone,

I was trying to decide the best food for my betta. He's got holes in his head (already had them when I brought him home with me) and read this might me either a symptom of a nutrient deficiency or bad water quality. Either way, I'm hoping it will heal with some good, nutrient dense food.

TetraMin minI granules BioActive: This is what I bought when I got him. I know Tetra is usually regarded as a bad food, but when I look at the ingredients and analysis of this one it doesn't seem that bad at all:
Crude protein: 44 %
Crude fat: 11 %
Crude fibre: 2 %
Crude ash: 9 %
Water: 8 %

Ingredients: Fish and fish derivatives, cereals, vegetable protein extracts, vegetables, derivatives of vegetable origin, yeasts, oils and fats. molluscs and crustaceans, minerals, algae.

Additives:
Vitamins, pro vitamins, and chemically well-defined substances having similar effects: Vitamin A 29870 IU/kg, Vitamin D3 1870 IU/kg,
Compounds of trace elements: Manganese 67 mg/kg, E6 Zinc 40 mg/kg, E1 iron 26 mg/kg
Colourants, preservatives, antioxidants.

Is it the additives or the fact that the fish are not specified, or something else entirely? It does have a higher protein percentage.

On the other hand On Atisons betta food pro seems to be very highly regarded for developing betta's or by breeders. The website descripes it as: "Ideal for the growth and conditioning of the Betta fish. This food is a totally new concept and cannot be compared with any existing pellet food. Bettas love it! This food is intended for use by Betta breeders from the serious hobbyist to professional. It is safer, more reliable and cheaper than live food and is of course easier to store and handle. We advise the use of Betta PRO if you want to condition Betta (before breeding or competing in a show) or for sustained growth. A stable diet for fry from the start of the second month up to the seventh month. Bettas love this food and prefer it to frozen or freeze dried foods." Does this mean it shouldn't be used for a regular pet betta?

Pure brine shrimp embryos, wheat flour, vitamins (stabilized ascorbic acid, vitamin E supplement, niacin, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, menadione sodium bisulfate complex, Vitamin A acetate, pyridoxine HCL, Vitamin B12 supplement, Vitamin D3 supplement, biotin) and preservatives (calcium propionate, ethoxyquin).


Protein 38.0 %
Fiber 4.4 %
Fat 7.5 %
Ash 7.6 %
Moisture 10.5 %

There's also On Atisons betta food, which is 2 euro's more expensive for some reason (You'd expect the pro one to be):

Ingredients
Fish meal, cereal meals, krill meal, minerals, vitamins and preservatives (calcium propionate, ethoxyquin).

Protein 36.0 %
Fiber 5.0 %
Fat 4.5 %
Ash 15.0 %
Moisture 8.0 %

They also have HikarI bio gold, but I heard the quality has gone down since they got a different recipe.

Can anyone please help me pick the best food? Over the past week that I had him I've grown very attached to this little guy and want him to heal up! Does someone maybe have a good source on what makes a good food? Thanks in advance

 

I wouldnt use the tetra minI granules since it sounds like its mostly plant based and bettas are carnivores.
ive never heard of or used atisons betta food so I can't really say.
national geographic's betta food, omega one, Northfin and there are a few other brands that have good quality food but can't think of right now.
I think the more fillers the food has then the less healthy and lower quality they are but not completely sure

 

JamieXPXP , I see, good point. I figured since the fish ingredients were listed first and the protein percentage was so high, the percentage of the first ingredient would very likely just be high. Maybe that's just because of the additives? There does seem to be an awful lot of vegetable ingredients...

I've looked around on the internet a bit and I can't seem to find a distributor of the brands you named (the betta food variants anyway) located in my own country, so I'd have to order that internationally. I read especially good reviews on Northfin though! I might just order some if the shipping costs aren't too high.

On Atisons betta food is from the brand ocean nutrition. Probably should have mentioned that ^-^'' It seems to be a european brand. Anyone who has experience with it?

 

what brands are you able to get in your country?
I use Northfin and my betta loves it he will eat all the pellets in just a few seconds and the pellets are pretty small which is nice about 1mm.

 

The only other one that also seems interesting (that I haven't yet mentioned) based on the ingredients and composition is Dennerle. This actually seems like a really good one:

Dennerle betta booster: Of the more than 30 ingredients, almost 70% are animal-based, such as insect larvae, freshwater shrimp and mussels, and 30% are plant-based.
Composition: Arctic krill (31%), wheat protein, cuttlefish, omega-3 marine oil, grasshoppers (4%), freshwater shrimp (4%), water fleas (4%), fly larvae (3%), coralline red algae, yeast extract, green-lipped mussel extract, Artemia (2%), Artemia naupliI (2%), Moringa oleifera, chicory inulin, Spirulina platensis, spinach, red mosquito larvae (1%), Nannochloropsis algae, herbal extracts, white cabbage, Melissa, garlic, chickweed, Chlorella algae, fennel, aniseed, flower pollen, grape seed flour, beta-glucans

Additives per kg: Nutritional additives: Vitamins, provitamins and chemically defined substances with similar effect: 2.000 IE E 671 Vitamin D3 Colourings: 300 mg E 161j Astaxanthin Zootechnical additives: Gut flora stabiliser: 1x109 KBE 4d1712 Pediococcus acidilacticI CNCM MA 18/5M

Analytical constituents: Crude protein 55.5%, crude fat 11.1%, raw fibre 3.5%, crude ash 12%, moisture 6.4%


- Of this brand they also have cichlid carny. Since they're obviously not the same as betta's I'm not sure if this would be healthy for betta's, but it contains a lot of the same:
Cichlid Carny contains 30% insects, shrimps and Artemia, 40% krill and, as the cherry on the cake, precious green-lipped mussels (3%). These practical granules are a perfect reflection of the natural diet of these mainly carnivorous cichlids.

Complete food for ornamental fish

Composition: Arctic krill (40%), wheat protein, freshwater shrimp, water fleas, grasshoppers, cuttlefish, omega-3 marine oil, fly larvae, Artemia, Artemia nauplii, green-lipped mussel extract, red mosquito larvae, coralline red algae, herbal extracts, beta-glucans

Additives per kg: Nutritional additives: Vitamins, provitamins and chemically defined substances with similar effects: 2.000 IE E 671 Vitamin D3Colourings: 300 mg E 161j Astaxanthin Zootechnical additives: Gut flora stabiliser: 1x109 KBE 4d1712 Pediococcus acidilacticI CNCM MA 18/5M

Analytical constituents: Crude protein 58.8%, crude fat 10.2%, raw fibre 4.2%, crude ash 11.1%, moisture 9.1%


Another thing: My oto's completely ignore the algae wafers I bought. I'm not sure if they just don't notice it or if they're just not interested. My betta seems to make up for that disinterest by carrying the pieces all over the place ^-^'' Probably not the best for my water quality... I've tried pushing the wafer on the glass, but it falls off after a while. How do I get them to eat the wafers? Do they even need them in an established tank?

 

Dennerle sounds pretty good to me, I would give it a try and see if your betta likes it.

haha yeah my betta tries to eat algae wafers but ends up making a mess because he doesn't like it (still tries to eat it anyways). hmm maybe they werent hungry or didnt notice? yep they need a source of food even in an established tank

 

I'll check it out. I can't imagine he won't like it if he ate the Tetra granules without problems x) I just hope it will help with the holes...

Well, I guess I'll have to up my gravel vacuums/ do more small water changes over the next couple of weeks until they get it. Fun times!

 

I feed Omega One Betta Buffet Pellets and my fish love it and it's awesome!