• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Bettas 101
    • Acclimation
    • All About Water
      • Nitrogen Cycle
      • Ph & Ammonia
      • Water Changes
    • Betta Fish Anatomy
    • Betta Vases
    • Choosing a Tank
    • Feeding Bettas
      • Food Myths
      • Frozen & Live Betta Food
    • Tankmates for Bettas
      • African Dwarf Frogs & Bettas
      • Apple Snails & Bettas
      • Neon Tetras & Bettas
      • Otocinclus Catfish & Bettas
      • Quarantine New Fish
    • Plakat Betta
    • Rosetail Betta
    • Veil-tail Betta
  • Sick Betta
    • Diseases and Treatment
    • Aging Bettas
    • Bloating and Constipation
    • Cotton Wool Disease
    • Dropsy
    • Fin Rot and Fin Loss
    • First Steps
    • Gill Hyperplasia
    • Ich
    • Popeye
    • Septicemia (Infection)
    • Swim Bladder Disorder
    • Sick Betta Symptom Checker
    • Velvet Disease
    • Wounded Betta
    • Fish Tank Granuloma
  • Behavior
    • Bubble Nests
    • Skittish Bettas
    • Tail Biting
  • Breeding Bettas
  • Equipment
  • Q & A
  • Other fish
  • Contact

Fish Care

Everything You Need to Know About Betta Fish

You are here: Home / Betta splendens / Choosing a Nutritious Diet for Bettas

Choosing a Nutritious Diet for Bettas


Buddy I
Originally uploaded by -Nat.

Bettas can be overweight or underweight without a proper diet. The Betta in this photo appears quite thin.

Q: Anon wrote,I feed my betta a combination of frozen bloodworms, Hikari Bio-Gold pellets and freeze-dried brine shrimp. Is he getting a balanced diet and also, can you recommend how much I should feed?

A: Yes, I think that in combination, you are feeding your betta a well balanced and nutritious diet. Hikari Bio-Gold alone is a balanced formula, but like you I feel Bettas can benefit from a variety of foods including frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp, which are closer to what they would be eating in nature. Dry foods like flakes, pellets and freeze-dried brine shrimp have a very low moisture content, around 6 – 10% and thus tend to suck up water like a sponge often expanding 2x – 3x their original size. For this reason, I find it can be beneficial to soak them is a container of tank water prior to feeding. Ten minutes is plenty of time and you will then be able to see the true size of the food particle. Determining how much to feed depends on the size of the food, size of the Betta and the Betta’s appetite. A general rule of thumb is that a Betta’s stomach is about as big as one of his eyeballs and should be fed that volume of food once or twice per day with one day of fasting each week. This equates to about 3 – 4 Bio-Gold pellets or about 4 bloodworms. Healthy Bettas tend to act ravenous, even after feeding, so it’s important not to fall for their theatrics and overfeed. Too much food or food that soaks up water in the Betta’s gut may swell and cause constipation or even Swim Bladder Disorder. Because I only feed my bettas once per day, I tend to be a little heavy handed on the feeding but I’m careful never to feed them to the point where they appear bloated. Bettas who have a less then enthusiastic appetite should be observed when eating and any food that goes uneaten within ten minutes should be removed so as not to foul the water. If nothing has been eaten, try again after a couple of hours.

Bettas can gain and loose weight too. If your Betta appears over or underweight, adjust your feeding regimen accordingly.


The Betta in this photo is a healthy size.


Filed Under: Betta splendens

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Olena says:

    Hi there =)
    I really love you blog and I have few questions to ask you.
    1.I feed my betta once a day and I give 3 betta flakes but after reding your healthy diet I was wondering what should i switch for?
    2. How much bloodworms should i give if i feed them once a day?

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search


Recent Posts

  • Cool Betta Fish Tank Ideas
  • How Long Do Betta Fish Live For? – 5 Helpful Tips For a Long and Happy Life
  • 3 Gallon Fish Tank for Betta
  • 10 Gallon Aquarium Stands and Cabinets
  • How Much Do Betta Fish Cost to Buy and Care For?

NippyFish Facebook Page

Visit the NippyFish Facebook Page

Featured Posts

Complete Guide to Betta Fish Diseases and Treatment

This complete guide on Betta fish illnesses and diseases from A-Z will help you pinpoint what is wrong with your Betta and how to treat it.

The 4 Most Common Signs of Illness in Betta Fish

This article focuses on the 4 most common signs of illness in Betta fish.

Betta Fish Tank Setup – A Detailed Guide For Beginners

This article will be providing a detailed beginners guide on how to setup a tank for your Betta fish.

Top 12 Betta Fish Toys

This article has a list of some of our favorite Betta fish toys. Don’t have a bored Betta.

Setup an Aquatic Plant Environment For Your Betta

Having a healthy plant in your tank will help to improve the water quality by filtering out waste and removing some of the CO2 that’s produced by your fish.

Copyright © 2025 All Rights Reserved | NippyFish | Privacy Policy

Nippyfish.net is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.