Food

activeness of your fish. Bettas are actually carnivores and eat all kinds or larvae on the surface of the shallow ponds from which they come in Thailand. Take a moment and either look at your betta or the picture at right. See how their mouth is upturned? The mouth of a fish actually contributes much information on their diet. Upturned mouths mean that the species of fish is a surface-feeder. Mouths that point ahead signal that the fish feeds in the water, and down-turned mouths say that the fish is a bottom feeder. Bettas, then, naturally feed on the surface, and many will do their best eating if you can replecate how they eat in the wild. As a result, in the petstore you will oftentimes see betta food that says "floating pellet" or "floating flake," because these foods are trying to match how bettas really eat. Buying a food that sinks often means that your betta will not eat it, and it will make its way to the bottom of the bowl, decay, and secrete ammonia, just like fish waste. So your best bet for a happy betta with a cleaner bowl is to find a floating food.

What Kind of Food?

I myself do not use fish flakes for bettas. They are harder for bettas to get their tiny mouths around and will sink to the bottom eventually as described above. I only use floating pellets: they are easy for the fish to see, they can eat them in one bite, and they are all exactly the same size, so you can measure exactly how much food you want to give. My favorite pellet is Top Fin Color Enhancing Betta Bits, and this is also what my local Petsmart uses for their fish, so my fish were already used to eating these. Last I checked this food was only $2.95 for an ounce, which lasts for years, really.

How Much?

The amount that bettas should eat is always a matter of opinion, and some things work differently for some bettas. What is agreed on, however, is that your goal is for your betta to have a rounded belly. I suggest that you do an internet search of rounded bellies, too-skinny bettas, and obese bettas (there are some actually really funny-looking pictures for this search, rather unfortunately) so that you can see what you are striving for. Obese bettas (and, obviously, skinny bettas) have shorter life spans, so while you may be tempted to give your fish an extra pellet, in the long run it is so worth it to stay within 2-3 pellets daily. Some people think that bettas should be fed twice daily (half of their daily amount each time, of course), but I personally think that it does not matter at all. I always feed mine at the same time of day, two or three pellets each. As small as the pellets are, rest assured that it is plenty to keep your betta full and happy. Bigger bettas will be happier with a little more food (maybe 3 pellets daily) and smaller ones, females and particular, are healthier with about two daily. I have only one warning about this food (and most pellets in general), and that is that they are very dry and can hence cause constipation in bettas, which causes Swim Bladder Disorder (see the Sicknesses page). To prevent this, soak pellets in a little medicine cup for 10 to 20 minutes before feeding (but not to much longer; the pellet will not float anymore and/or will fall apart). This will keep the food from affecting your betta's swim bladder. If your betta does get swim bladder disorder (SBD), continue to soak food after you cure the SBD, because you now know that your fish is more susceptible to the disorder.

Keep in mind that fish are cold-blooded, and because of this, eating extra food won't keep your betta any "warmer" or anything like that. In contrast, a lot of the energy from food aids the human body to produce body heat. Fish don't have that need as much and hence have a proportionally smaller caloric need.

One-day fasts are actually extremely healthy for the human body. They cleanse and almost "reset" the body and aid digestion in the longer run. Many studies actually suggest that the fewer calories a person consumes in their lifetime, the longer they will live. Bettas also tend to be healthier if they go unfed for a day, especially because bettas are very prone to constipation. Fasting allows their digestive systems to take a break. Many people don't do this, though, because they are afraid that their betta will "starve." However, this hardy fish can actually go up to two weeks without being fed. So don't let this be your excuse from giving fishie a break from all that digesting.

I've found in a few different places the advice to "feed with your mind, not your heart." This really is good advice, especially when teaching children how to care for fish and bettas in particular. Don't feed the extra pellet out of the goodness of your heart, because if isn't doing any good in the long run; in fact, it could be doing damage. Feed sensibly.

Varying the Diet

As I said before, bettas are carnivores and enjoy a varied diet at times. Some people periodically feed their bettas live food, but I do not advise this, as they can often