Betta fish have various food choices, each with its own feeding instructions. Pellets are a staple in a Betta’s diet, providing balanced nutrition. Feeding your Betta a diet rich in a variety of the five main foods ensures they get all the proteins, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Betta fish should be fed two to four pellets of food once or twice per day, once in the morning and again in the evening. They should also vary their diet with live and frozen food as well.
Beta fish will eat food whenever they come across it in the wild, so they can easily overeat when kept in captivity and offered food in abundance. Rite Aid offers pet food and treats products, including cat and dog foods, pet beds, litter, toys, and more. They also carry pet supplies like cat and dog foods, pet beds, litter, toys, and more.
When PETA learned that Rite Aid was selling Teddy Tanks, stuffed animals with tiny tanks in their stomachs, meant to hold betta fish, they contacted the drugstore chain. PetSmart offers amazing deals on supplies for your betta, including live, freeze dried or thawed, frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp, flake food, and more. Rite Aid also carries a variety of cereal, snacks, and other products from popular brands at great prices.
In summary, Betta fish have various food choices, each with its own feeding instructions. Pellets are a staple in their diet, providing balanced nutrition. Betta fish can easily overeat when kept in captivity and offered food in abundance.
📹 STOP Wasting Money On Fish Food! What is THE BEST Food For Your Fish?
This video addresses an interesting email I received about fish food. Get all the extra benefits by becoming a channel …
After 62 years in the hobby I have finally settled on a fish diet far superior to the many I have tried for years. Three key phrases- 1) Variety. 2) Natural Foods. 3) limit Highly Processed foods. What this means in my routine is that each aquarium gets at least 4 different foods fed on a rotational basis. Natural Freeze dried Krill, Ocean Plankton, brine shrimp make up 50% or more of what I feed my fish. I feed XTreme pellets on a limited basis- which is highly processed (baked, ground, dried, etc.). My fish have never done better as measured by accelerated growth rates, breeding activity and few digestive and intestinal issues.
Xtreme is the absolute best and I was excited to meet the owners at Aquashella Dallas. They gave away full size samples which was very generous. I’ve heard that the owner is a veteran so I’m even more happy to support the company. I also love Repashy and Hikari especially for my goldfish. All 6 of my tanks eat all the brands of food. Glasgarten for my shrimp. Plus steamed or blanched veggies for my omnivores. Plus blood worms and bbs. Variety is key!
Dude…. Dude….. What you and your wife are doing with your articles is insane. They are far better then any of the scripted fake stuff before. The old vids were good but the last few, like this one, are great. This is an important issue most new or unexperienced pet owners make. Not the “What is Best” issue but the “I think/feel” issue. Test, watch, learn, ask never just a worried guessing reaction or fretting over a self perceived untested unverified issue. It really does not matter if it is fish or any other pet.
John, thank You for sharing Your experience! I must admit, that You are right. In the last year, tried a lot of food, spend a lot of many on different food. I did not regret it, I was curios about the „quality food issue”. None of the food that give into the tank makes problems, expect the overfeeding. Some food makes the surface to have a thin oil film and that is the real issue that I can confirm to have, regardless of quantity. The only fish that was refused to eat a food was bettas. So, for betas, give them what they accept to eat. Of course, You can try to „accommodate” to a specific food, when they finally accepted its fine, when not, I suggest to give them what they like. I am breeding guppy just as hobby. Guppy, like goldfish, will eat everything you trow in the water. When Guppy did not eat a specific food, that means, that food is totally wrong. 🙂 And by the way, having an air-stone in the tank is one of the best way to check the overfeeding the fish. For that to tell, You must known very well Your tank and Your fish. That comes with the time. I am from Bucharest, Romania and have no access to the food specific for USA or Canada. I am sorry not to able to try the food described in Your article, John.
My question about fish food is… do they have a limited shelf life? Many foods come in really large containers and some websites say that flakes particularly lose their nutrients after 3 months. Is that true? My kissing gourami enjoys a combination of Fluval vegetarian flakes and Hiikari vibra bites, but not even half of the container is consumed within 3 months
I try to switch up food on occasion. I love omega one frozen food, I have staples though, north fin Cichlid flake, and Xtreme Krill flake. I also have hikari and north fin jumbo fish pellets for my oscars. Heck I even used fluval bug bites. Just like with humans…variety is the spice of life. Thanks for the info John, great article!!
Hey guys……. long time viewer but brand new subscriber here….. I absolutely love how honest you are. Especially in this article. You even tell people that you WANT to sell to them…… but if it’s not a right fit then there is no point! I love that! This hobby won’t grow if people are constantly upsold. It takes honest business owners like you to teach people! Actually it makes new people more inclined to buy off you in the future anyway! Because they trust your honesty! Thank you for this article! THIS is what this hobby needs! NOT sponsored articles! I would love to see a article on “mixing fish”…… whether that be African or South American cichlids or whatever. Doesn’t matter. So many people are confused and follow the old rules of fish keeping …….. meanwhile ive had friends who keep Africans with South Americans …. it would be nice to hear someone with experience talk about it !
I’ve got one betta and six albino cory cats and honestly none of them are picky about what they eat, they’ll eat anything. I can feed boiled peas to my betta no problem, he loves them. And the corys will eat anything from pellets to algae wafers. They mostly live of API fish food (because that’s what my local pet store sells mostly) but occasionally I’ll pick up a pack of Hakari food to see how they like it.
i mean as much as the point of the vid was to calm some people down with what to feed, its not the end of the world, some fish can eat things that arnt the best for them, blood worms are mostly terrible for fish, for example corys go nuts for them when they cant digest them, some africans prefer vege diets over carnivorous diets, same with plecos, i think the easiest answer in a sentence would be, “Reserch your fishes diet and give it a comlimentary food/foods that you can reasonably obtain” I remember having a eartheater that completly changed colour and sexuel hirarchy when i changed foods. food for thought.
Is it bad that I already knew this answer before you started. I think you covered this topic in an older article…the true test of fact, that answer is the same as it was then as it is now. A suggestion for a “Best” article, the best way identifying cichlids. As you know I just got my cichlid tank, and me thinking all cichlids are the same…..Face Palm….I have 10 fish, 2 plecos, and 8 cichlids in my 75 gallon tank. I have already secured a 125 gallon, but my current tank filled with all the wrong cichlids. Right now all of them get along, but when the bigger ones grow while others only get 4 inches I am gonna be in big trouble if I don’t have a back up tank.. Currently and have one Oscar, a peacock, an electric blue, yellow lab, bumblebee, jack demp., blood parrot, and another beautiful blue one I have yet to figure out…a common pleco and a leopard sail fin pleco. After perusal your articles I am now learning not all Cichlids are the same, I’m just shaking my head…what a major mistake. I wish I could got back 3 moths and stop myself….
Hey John, I just wanted to drop a line and let you that o appreciate your articles. Because if your article about your peacocks getting internal parasites and how to cure them, I successfully cure my juvenile electric blue acara. Great content and very informative, only thing that I had to figure was how long to medicate
my bettas eat small/medium fluval bug bites and they go crazy for it, they’re always excited when it comes near 5pm (their feeding time) every day. the growth has been so noticeable since I moved from that weird cheap expanding floating stuff, I’d even say that these new bug bites I’ve been feeding them for a few months even kinda smells good. very strong scent and they sink after a few seconds, or if I poke them. what are your (anybody may answer, I’d love to hear) opinions/experience on fluval bug bites and what did you feed them to?
Di alam liar (nature) ikan makan makluk hidup sesuai selera mereka masing². Sampai berebut dengan resiko nyawa nya sendiri. Kalah cepat, bisa mati kelaparan atau mati dimangsa ikan laen (saat lemah kelaparan) “yang kuat, bertahan hidup” Ikan di alam liar, tidak pergi dan “beli” pelet ikan. Keeper sudah memaksa ikan “keluar” dari situasi itu. Mau yang pakan ikan terbaik? Dengan pola point of view ala saya > silahkan pertimbangkan sendiri.
Love your approach. Common sense and simple. I’m sure there is a good debate if you go around the corner of “what ifs.” What if two of the same kind of fish in the same environment are fed two different foods, which one is better. Coloring, health, longevity, breeding will al be used to justify and support an outcome. I’m sure somebody could do this type of research and come out with an outcome, but, like you, I believe that the differences will ne minimal and insignificant at best. As long as you can find something that works for you, go with it. I would like to see a article on the “the best” tank equipment. Examples would be the best lights/filters/heaters. Fail rates, price comparisons, features, etc. Keep up the articles! Thanks!
I’m probably going to get a lot of haters but what the heck, I’ll share anyways. For 57+ years my staple has been Tetra flakes. BUT before you all shoot me… I do feed other foods. I make my own version of homemade food, a mix between the old Jack Wattley discus food and Mark Weiss. I also hatch baby brine shrimp, collect mosquito larva along with some other live foods. The adult fish get feed once a day (unless trying to get them in breeding mode) rotating between foods. The babies get BBS 3 times a day and the juveniles get feed twice a day with my homemade food and live food. I’ve had success so I’m sticking with it LOL. 😉
My fish have done well on omega one brand. They have the least wasteful flakes that I have ever used. The fish consume more of it and theres little to none left in the tank. My water doesnt get cloudy like other flakes that ive used. Over time ive noticed that all my fish have developed a clean shine that makes them look nice. That has been my exsperiance. Hard to beat Hykari for a good alga wafer though.
John and Lisa, hi! 😊 I would like to say that I partially agree with you but(there is always a but ), there are foods that do better for fish and it is worth taking the time switching the fish from tetra for example to north fin. I Personally, like a healthy combo between DR Basseleer and North Fin, agcore. If my newly acquired fish don’t take the food, I fast them for couple of days. I also feed repashy of course ( big pleco lover here ).
All I know is never feed your fish Hikari vibrabites they get addicted to the shape or something and start refusing regular pellets, flakes, and all other dry foods. If I want to get my fish off of it I’ll have to starve them. The only other food they will eat now is frozen foods. They won’t touch dry, or freeze dried foods, other then vibrabites now. I think personally if fish prefer that shape so much more then the round pellets, or flakes then that is the default shape food manufacturers should be using for all their dry foods. Why NLS, Tetra, NorthFin, Xtreme etc haven’t made their pellets that shape yet when they see those things sell like hotcakes with Hikari I’ll never understand.
Besides the Northfin, NLS, Dainichi, staples that I have used with success. Many breeders and vendors I know are using Cobalt Aquatics products now and are saying some good things about that company . Most articles with best food come down to sponsered or selling a particular product claiming it is best. IMO good quality staple is just that…can name several quality foods that would work just fine as ‘best food.’ Hats off to you saying the plug at the end and being honest. It basically comes down to the fish…and well price (for most people). Heck, you can buy 20kg of Otohime pellets fairly cheap…but the quality of the ingredients will not be the same as NF, NLS/Extreme, or Dainichi. Cheers. Good Vid!
Great article John! Thank you! Suggestions for other “best” topics….Best places on line to buy fish, best way to save money in the hobby – make your own stands, lids, lights,etc., and the best way to keep new fish keepers in the hobby – educate, support, ways to simplify water changes, ways to save money, etc.
How about non-processed food for a part 2? I rely on Hikari-mostly as the staple, but w/ my 3 1/2-tanks, I also have tossed in brine shrimp, live amphipods, greens, blue-berries…. The goldfish love the greens, blueberries, amphipods. ONE tank of guppies swarms the blueberries, while the guppy/shrimp/snail-tank ignores them entirely. What can we feed as supplemental that ISN’T processed?
My issue with Northfin is it is SO hard and doesn’t soften in a reasonable amount of time. I’ve lost guppies to pellets getting stuck in their mouths and not softening even after 24 hours. I’ve got the Goldfish pellet but I’m really worried to try feeding it because it doesn’t soften even after soaking. I personally believe in feeding a variety of foods and trying to feed the highest quality food you can afford that your fish will eat. But you’re totally right, the only thing that matters is what your fish will eat.
Probably in the next week or two I’ll be buying the first tank I’ve had in over 30 years. Due to the fact that I’m sending my first child off to college in a couple of months, I won’t be able to dump a bunch of money into the tank all at one time so I’ll slowly be adding to it little by little. So, it might be a while before I actually get fish in the tank. After perusal this article I’m thinking that when I go to my local pet store to buy my fish, just ask them what they are feeding those fish and go with that. Sounds logical right???
nice article. i feed mine with a mix of hikari freeze dried daphnia and decap artemia eggs from ocean free and up till now, those are the only two types of food that they loved. so i totally agreed with you. it is not necessary to buy a particular brand of food if they are not gonna like it. give them what they will eat. as the saying goes, don’t fix something if it is not broken.
I have been perusal your vids for a long time, and don’t really comment because they are always so genuine and there is no need…I have been in our hobby 20 years now and this article is about as accurate as it comes…….fish are like humans each one is different and unique……I have used lots of different fish foods with different results…and like it was said….it’s up to you fish what they eat……don’t be hesitant to try different foods. You may be amazed at the results
I use xtreme krill, spirulina, and nano bites, once a week some frozen brine shrimp or blood worms… except for my sparkling gourami… they get guppy fry also whenever the female guppy in their tank has babies And of course the rice fish get mosquito larvae all summer when they are outside My fiddler crabs pretty much get the same thing with some Hikari cran cuisine tossed in occasionally And blanched veggies once in a while too.. just during summer when I am harvesting for myself I blanch some pieces of cucumbers or zucchini or asparagus whenever I am making myself food
I’m new to the Hobbie but I feed my fish and Neocardinia shrimp everything. I read you should feed only 1 or 2 things. I don’t… My tank food is: frozen brine shrimp, live baby brine shrimp, blood warms, shrimp king shrimp sticks food, alge cubes, fresh spinach, fresh kale, Cucumber, bug bites flakes, daphnia, tropical micro pellets.
Weird,none of my fish will touch anything from northfin. I feed bbs(hatched by me,frozen by me),store bought frozen bloodworms and krill. And bug bites flakes and pellets. Can’t get extreme where I am without paying a small fortune. All of my fish(mostly rainbows)are always breeding and laying eggs. If I put northfin in,it goes to the snails.
I’m no biologist or nutritionist, but pretty sure that fish are not created to eat wheat, corn, rice, or soy. Pretty much all the manufacturers/brands/types contain these. I have used to use Xtreme, Hikari, and many other brands, until I read the ingredients. It’s difficult to find, but worthwhile, to find food that contains bugs, worms, small fish, plants, algae, and other non-grain, natural food.
OMG thanks!!! Too often we get lost in the discussions of what’s “THE BEST” when as you pointed out, what works is what works. Take filters, I’ve had great success with the El cheapo Tetra internal filters for decades. Yet from what I sometimes read online apparently if I don’t have a couple hundred dollar canister filter I’m not doing right by my fish. Yeah whatever random armchair warrior, I’ll stick with what works.
Can someone please help me. I bought a couple of aquatic plants. They came in plastic containers. 1st. Do I plant them with the plastic. Into my substrate? 2nd. When and how often do I put these fertilizer balls into my substrate? 3r do they rest top of the substrate or do i push them into the substrate? Thanks. Whatever happened to “keeping it simple” in this hobby?
Inexpensive self cultured live food, e.g. Cook white rice cool down stuff into a 0.5 to 1 ly container, put a teaspoon of micro worm culture in add dry yeast and leave for a few days. You will have micro worms for a very long time. Just add dry yeast from time to time. The best part is that it doesn’t stink and smells like fresh bread.
Anyone else getting Kenny Bania vibes from this article? “The best Jerry, the best” LOL. 🤣It all goes to show we all over think things when it comes to our fish. We want the best for them and cant help but tinker. Its the one thing this hobby tought me. If its working leave it alone. Dont keep trying to fix something thats not broke until its broke.
I have only had one fish ever be picky and refuse certain brands. He was a blue rim plakat that was going blind due to scales growing over his eyes. I’m convinced it was because he could recognize the old food but not the new food due to his poor vision. The rest of my fish are all garbage disposals they will eat anythiing I offer. I do have prefered brands also but TBH what I wind up buying largely depends on what is most convenient to obtain when I run out. Fish are easy. You want something with attitude get cockatiels. They scream at me if they run out of the yummy food and I refuse to refill it because they still haven’t eatten the healthy food. Obviously there well trained human caves into the vocal recriminations quite a bit just to maintain the peace and quiet.
i have a group of brichardi that don’t eat anything other than live black worms. I gladly give them the worms but its way too expensive where I live to feed only live blackworms as a staple. I need to get them on something else too like a pellet but they just wont even mouth the food and spit it out. like not even frozen bloodworms and I was very surprised to see that. Should I try the “they’ll eat when they grow hungry” method? I mean I’ve never even tried it, does it work?
Hello John an Carl. Great article and common sense answer is where I was going. My “best” questions tend to divide the fish keeping world and the “wrong” one causes rant with cues of “You’re a bad fish keeper.” First, strips vs kits for water checks. Do you need a mad scientist level kit for spot checks once the tank is established? I use strips once a week and after water changes to make sure generally things are good. I do have an ammonia test kit with drops for that check. Second, digital vs analog temp gauges. I have used both and find them guides. One is not better than the other IMHO.
great article many thanks from the uk what you have said is so ture my main tank has angels kribs and albino bristlenose pleco they get a mix of algea waffers, flake and every so often live or frozen food (daphnia, shrimp ect.) have you done a article on the best filter media for external or top loaded filters ie i use foam 2 different grades with a hand full of Ceramic Bio Rings and biohome ultimate to give me an alround bio habitat for my bacteria.. many thanks p.s sorry for any spelling mistakes
To me, the best fish food is whatever they’ll eat. But I believe in variety, as well. I have nano fish all the way up to Oscars. So I feed, flakes, 4 diff frozen foods(randomly), pellets\\sticks(micro to xl), crickets, nightcrawlers, and on occasion home grown feeders(when my mollies get over crowded).
Since your expert in Oscar care I need to ask is it something to worry about when Oscars fight? Mine do and for a while they’re mad at eachother and after a while they’re back together again like best friends, so is that something to worry about as this is my first time keeping Oscars even tho I’m a fish keeper since years
Hi John I found your website a few weeks ago. Love the content !! I just started my first African Cichlids 55 gal tank I’m only keeping the smaller mbuna’s. I have a few ?’s. How long do you keep yours lights on ? I thought a few fish were showing ick and I’m treating them with API Super Ick Cure and I have the temp at 85 degrees and cichlid lake salt. My ? Is will this treatment hurt the fish if they don’t have ick ? They have white dots on there tail fins but I’ve seen adults with dots on there tail fins that are suppose to be there. So I’m unsure.
I agree, John. Give your fish the food what they eat. I am the owner of rainbows, angelfish, and others and I feed them Premium flake food and dried frozen bloodworm. It’s always a good rule if you have a system that works, no matter what it is it pays to stick by it. Otherwise, things may get a little dodgy.
After trying several different foods that my Betta didn’t seem to like, I saw Lisa’s article where she mentioned the Xtreme Betta pellets. I thought, why not, and ordered some. My fish loves the new food! He eats much better now and his color (solid blue) is amazing! He seems much happier as well, so I’m happy too. Thanks so much for all the hard work you put into all your articles, all the information y’all provide, as well as the food. I’ve learned alot from y’all’s articles and believe I started off on the right foot as a first-time fish keeper from them, so thanks again John and Lisa.
How true. Fish can’t read and be taken in by the fancy packaging and where the food is placed on the shelves. That’s to catch us. I have Hap and Petcock Cichlids and I reckon if I threw in a chicken leg they would be happy.. in fact I sometimes feed them finely diced raw chicken and uncooked salmon. Then it’s on for young and old. Great to watch I gave up feeding larger pellets as the larger fish take them in one go, leaving nothing for the remainder. I went back to the 1.5mm size and everyone gets a feed. It’s just that the larger Cichlids now have to work a bit harde.r
You are absolutely correct! I have several tanks…my pea puffer will only eat bladder snails. (no purchase necessary) My gold desert gobies will only eat Hikari vibra bites. I choose to only feed Tetra pleco wafers to my otto cats. The majority of foods have some kind of protein in them & will not feed any protein. My bettas have an assortment but mainly the producer is Tetra. My ember tetras, pygmy cories & shubunkins all have a large assortment by many producers. I’m not concerned about the BEST. I’m concerned about variety & the shape of the food. I love pizza but wouldn’t want to eat it every day. The shape is for the benefit of the fish. For example, I have bought multiple betta foods that are supposed to float, the majority don’t. Also, the majority of the pellets are too large to consume. I mainly purchase flake food. The shubunkins, I prefer sinking 3 mm pellets. I have found some ‘poofs’/sticks but they float. They seem to like them & will still feed it to them but am concerned about them gulping air. Flakes are not enough. The gobies have trouble with pellets & granules. The embers & pygmies, I prefer flake so I can fine grind their food. I have gone through a lot of foods & some get thrown away. It’s trial & error. They’re like kids, they all have their own needs.
I agree with you 💯… I ran a experiment within the last year… What I have realized is… From my experience I see a difference between fish flakes and pellets vs frozen vs freeze dried… I saw more growth more activity more color but also a lot more aggression when feeding a combination of nothing but frozen food… Freeze dried was not bad at all just a tad harder to continuously feed and get a community to love or eat consistently and man made fish food like pellets and flakes each time the portions were the same but doesn’t get eaten the same consistency and being somewhat lethargic.. Me personally I see a difference when feeding individual servings of frozen.. not the the prepackaged carnivore diet you see but individual servings of blood worms … Mysis shrimp..brine shrimp… Krill… and using cut up or whole Earth worms… The color and growth rate can’t be matched… And it seems to me that it’s absorbed better and seeing less poop and less frequency of waste… But it can get expensive very fast… And the water clarity is much much better than when using freeze dried or flakes and pellets.. just my personal experience
I have a upside down goldfish who sticks out of the water quite a bit and im finding ulcers on her. Spring here so i fed them fresh garden weeds this week with great results. I have a couple of small filters from tiny tanks for her to use like a shower as they pull water through a spray nozzle as well as 2 6 inch foam filters with oxygen. I adjusted the temp right up to 20 thinking the warm air and cold water must have been difficult after realising the heaters had been unplugged by workmen recently. i got some mandarin yesterday which they enjoyed but i really worry about Angie my upside down goldfish.
I have been a fish keeper since I’ve been in the 6th grade (I’m 53 now). We live in the hey-day of fish foods. Literally ALL fish food these days are quality and you can’t go wrong. Also, fish food in general is not expensive. I personally don’t think there is a “best” fish food. I would say a properly made home made fish food would be the best and freshest food you could feed.
Welcome to North Carolina! I agree (fish, dogs, you name it); don’t make it more complicated or expensive than it needs to be. My go-to fish food brand isn’t the cheapest from Walmart, but it also will never show up in my lfs. I tried what they recommended and soon threw it out, because it didn’t suit my aquarium’s inhabitants as well. They ate it, but one of them also started eating things he wasn’t supposed to! Went back to my go-to, and everything was fine again. Now and then I gave them a freeze-dried treat, but not that often. I no longer have that aquarium (plumbing accident, and we will have to renovate our home), but I plan to set up another in a couple of years, and feed the same brand I fed before. Unless they don’t eat it, of course. I appreciate you and Lisa sharing your expertise! perusal your articles is currently helping me while away time after knee replacement surgery. Keep ’em coming!
I GOT 3 OSCARS LAST WEEK AND THEY LOVE THE fd BABY SHRIMPS more then the oscar pellets have to many mollys so fed a small 1 to them absolutely destroyed it what they could at least was a spin and head left there still only like 2-3 inches long not over feeding them even tho they already beg for food i resist for there own good
HI JOHN….I AM A SUBSCRIBER TO YOUR website….LOVE ALL THE article’S THAT YOU AND LISA PUT OUT..WHAT A HOT TOPIC YOU DISCUSSED TODAY….YOUR CORRECT IN SAYING THAT THE BEST FISH FOOD IS THE ONE YOUR FISH WILL EAT…..BUT THERES MORE TO IT THAN THAT….FIRST OF ALL…TODAY’S FISH FOOD HAS FANCY LABELS TO ATTRACT YOUR EYES….ITS AN ADVERTISING THING.. AND THERES WAYS TO MAKE YOUR FISH FOOD MORE PALATABLE SO THEY WILL EAT IT….I ONLY USE OMEGA ONE FISH FOOD…AND I TRULY BELIEVE, THAT YOU DO HAVE TO READ THE INGREDIENTS….OMEGA ONE USES WHOLE FISH….THEY NEVER USE ANY MEALS……MEALS ARE JUNK…GARBAGE….ANY FISH FOOD THAT CONTAINS MEALS…..IS NOT DOING YOUR FISH ANY GOOD….THEIR TRUE COLORS WILL NEVER COME OUT WITH GARBAGE FISH FOOD. AND THEY WILL NEVER ACHIEVE TOTAL GOOD HEALTH.. CHEAPER FOODS ALSO CAUSE MORE MAINTENANCE IN YOUR TANK, DUE TO THE INFERIOR QUALITY OF THE FOOD….I HAVE FOUND THRU THE YEARS, THAT EVENTUALLY A FISH WILL EAT THE FOOD YOU GIVE THEM…THEY WILL NOT STARVE THEMSELVES TO DEATH..THATS WHY I GIVE MY FISH OMEGA ONE FISH FOOD. I HAVE AFRICAN CICHLIDS…DISCUS….ANGELFISH AND NOW I STARTED WITH SEVERUMS…..ALL MY FISH ARE IN SPECIES TANKS AND THRIVING…..THEIR GROWTH IS TREMENDOUS….THEIR COLORS ARE AMAZING….I HAVE TRIED OTHER FOODS IN THE PAST….BUT I ONLY FEED THEM OMEGA ONE RIGHT NOW….ALL THE OTHER FOODS IN MY OPINION WERE INFERIOR. THEIR GROWTH AND COLORS WERE NOT THE SAME…EVEN YOUR NORTHFIN FOOD HAS MEAL IN IT….THEY ALSO PUT IN MORTIMILLITE CLAY.
Thank you for this. Because where I live we do not get the types of brand foods your website shows or other websites. I try to buy different types of food in not too big amounts to keep buying different types to provide them something different to eat every day. Tropical food about 3 types. Same for gold fish and same for cihlids.
Hi John, thanks for the article. I think you and Lisa are my favourite U-Tubers. You saved my fishes when I came into the hobby by accident. I had not the slightest idea about keeping fish alive until i saw your articles. Fast forward 1.5 years later, I now have 13 little fishes but I have 9 bottles of fish food. They eat them all except the most expensive one… LOL. I do have a question though, how long can we keep the fish food, once the bottle is opened? Even when I buy the smallest bottle or packet, they are not going to finish the bottle within 6 months.
I’m currently feeding my fish (Bristlenose, guppies, rainbow shark and yabbies) frozen peas, broccoli and other bits (putting them in boiling water for a bit first). Have been meaning to get more fish food, but they keep eating the vegetables, the large male bristlenose is wanting to do some breeding. So the vegetables can’t be too bad for them 🤷♀️ seems they will eat almost anything 😅 they love some of the real expensive fish food i have gotten them and will also eat the real cheap stuff (although the rainbow shark would like to live off bloodworms, thats simply not going to happen 😂). I will get them fish food this week, but agree with not wasting money.
Thumbs up for that great beard. I use Xtreme and Hikari products only now. I have found over time that everything else is not worth the time or money. Sera O-nip tabs are cool for certain types of fish but still don’t hold a candle to Xtreme and Hikari. Those two produce the most breeding as well. My guppies and danios both absolutely love hikari’s freeze dried daphnia and brine shrimp. I occasionally change it up because I have other less successful foods that I bought by mistake that I keep in a dehumidified freezer to keep them fresh longer, I also packed a fistful of extra food-safe dessicant packets into the containers. I got into the trap of buying every food that I see anyone using, and now have like 15 types of food so I had to find a way to keep them from spoiling and it’s working well, I occasionally added small amounts to balance out their diets more and slowly use it up. Now I have my favorite foods and don’t buy anything but these anymore, Xtreme Betta Pellets, Hikari Freeze Dried(everything eats it, and protein/vitamins/minerals are high), Sera O-Nip Tabs(I feed it to my neons but the bristlnose pleco makes a b-line straight to it before the fish even know it is there… he likes it more than pleco wafers, only the snails seem to eat those), Cory wafers, the high protein kind (the shrimp also love these), cheapo goldfish flakes powdered up to feed biofilm in any tanks with bottom feeders, and a thriving colony of live black worms(cory’s and everyone else love these).
Great article. LOVE the Carl-bomb! Also, I think people overthink this hobby. My tanks were fine years ago, then (for no apparent reason) I started adding the many additives they sell. I broke my neck growing live foods. I wound up with dead fish. Now I only use a dechlorinator and dry food. No more dying off.
Think about it this way – ask a 4 year old what’s the best food? I doubt any of them will say Christmas/Thanksgiving dinner. They’ll say chicken nuggests and chips, mac’n’cheese…. Any parent will say what ever they eat is good. Don’t overthink, if you have fish that like anything, then feed them what you think is best of their choices.
Man, I loved hearing your philosophy about buying from you. I appreciate it. I sell a product myself (I’m not going to get into what product/company) and this is the philosophy we have as well. Buy it because it makes sense, and we’ll give you the best advice we can to figure out what makes sense for you. Sometimes, the right answer is not us, and we’ll tell you that. You echo that sentiment, and that fits my moral compass so very well. Now you’re making me actually look at your store and debate where I can reduce my current spending (looking at a kid needing a car, among other things) to buy something from you. I’ll tell you that it may not be now, but I’ll definitely keep you in mind for future supplies.
The best food for your fish is no food. 2 angel. 7 guppies. 6 cory. 40 gal. I feed them a mix of blood worms, emerald entre, flake food, and sinking pellets. Not all at the same time maybe once a week at most. When there is no food they scavange and seem to be happier. If im feeling generous and they are cheap i will throw some ghost shrimp in there fo the angels
Yes I agree, and that was my answer at the beginning of the article. The best food is the food that your fish will eat. I try to keep a small variety of quality foods. Red Empress that I had for two years just decided out of no where he wasn’t eating Northfin any more 🤣 He scooped up about 4 or 5 pieces then spit them out. Switched up to Xtreme Big Fella and he’s back to being a food hog 🤣 What I’m saying is having a variety can help keep them interested. I keep Northfin, Xtreme, Hikari, Tetra freeze dried Krill all on hand for dry foods 😎
i work in a pet store and so many animals prefer the cheap budget brands then high quality food brands, its like fast food to them taste great but not great for them, at the same time I tell people all the time the best food is the food they will eat, dogs cats fish rodents will get their full nutrition and diet from a budget brand it just wont be as good quality of ingredients which i promise your animals dont care
Is any of that fish food free of preservatives and colourants, i only feed my cats natural food free from preservatives and colourants so i want treat my fish in same manner but all the dry flake and pellets i see in shops isn’t free from these except frozen/live bloodworm, brine shrimp etc Im on a quest to find natural dry fish food free of all the junk they put in almost all of human and animal food.
Thanks for the vid. We love the website. My wife and I have learned a lot of valuable info from you and your wife. Please keep up the great work. We recently purchesed our first common beta for our 20 high and we are hooked. We know have a common beta,3dwarf tree frogs, mystery snails,1 albino Cory cat.and 5 got shrimp. Tank is thriving. Thanks again guys.
Does anyone else have a huge connection with their fish? Like my fish only doesn’t flair it’s gills at me and will follow me in his tank, if I open my mouth he will open his mouth, he will follow my finger and if my mom or brother feed him he won’t eat it, if I feed him he will eat. And he understands me. I let him pick out his plants, color toys, and stuff like that. I even tested by moving the object he pointed at to a different location and he still points at the same item. I even take him out on walks in a small container. But only every once in a while so he doesn’t get super stressed. Sometimes when he gets stressed he goes against the glass towards my body because he trusts that I will protect him.
I’m getting a Betta soon, just waiting for tank to cycle, ans the food I got is this Tetra 3 in 1 betta food. Has colour flakes, pellets and brine shrimp. Imo, it was a really good choice, it was cheap and has variety. Someone on a tight budget could still treat their betta with store-bought food. Of course, you can prepare your own food, but I think its best to do both.
I’ve found a good mix of pellets I feed a few times a week. Fluval big bites, omega betta buffet, and new life spectrum. All 4 of my babies love it. I’ve found my bettas dont care for the spiralina brine shrimp compared to the regular, but sometimes a couple of mine can be picky. Great information in this article! Varried diet is key!
My fish doesn’t eat betta pellets, so I went for a different choice. Instead of prepared foods or pellets, I made my own food. I recommend brine shrimp. Sure she said no microscopic animals but 1.) It’s healthy for all fish 2.) My fish never leaves any shrimp uneaten 3.) Hatching is hard but feeding is no mess 4.) My fish goes crazy for brine shrimp and 5.) They don’t sink.
I have a female betta in a community tank. I tried the floating pellets but it seems like the rest of the community loves them as well (red eye tetras, guppies, etc). She barely gets 2 before they’re gone…sigh. But fresh frozen food works so well cause it takes the tank a bit of time to work on it (about 3 mins) that she gets a good mouth full.
I was worried about my betta not eating until I realized he was eating the herbivorous snail wafers I kept putting in my tank… and yet he won’t eat the freeze dried blood worms. I’ll have to try finding the bloodworm sheets because the cubes were messy and way too huge! Thanks for the great content, my betta is happier for it!
the hikari line of fish food has and probably always will be my #1 choice of betta food. any fish food in general that’s made by them has always been of amazing quality and my bettas eat up anything I feed them from their line of food. I’ve got two betta on my desktop currently in filtered tanks, and yesterday I fed them both freeze-dried brine shrimp for their weekly treat (one of them is significantly older than the other – I fed him brine shrimp for the first time thinking he wouldn’t like it as he just spat out the bits before and never touched it; he ate of it all this time though). I don’t go overboard with a varied diet, but I keep it a little varied as I don’t want them stuck on the same thing their whole life as I don’t have space enough currently for various kinds of fish food – I thought this article was excellent though, very detailed and flowed greatly! I’d get any beginner aquarist I know who’s planning on keeping betta to watch this to learn about their diet. please keep up the amazing articles! <3
Betta Bio-Gold is what I use. I’m lazy, so the pellets are what he gets 90% of the time. Sometimes I feed him Hikari Spirulina Brine Shrimp, but that’s rare, because it s,al,s bad, makes a worse mess, and is inaccurate less convenient container. I was inspired to give him the dead brine shrimp tonight after seeing this, at least he got it tonight. I’m such a good betta owner…..
Thank you! I finally found a good answer to how much and what to feed my betta. I got a bag of betta bits (tiny pellets, slightly larger than a regular grain of salt), but he spits them all out. I sprinkled some bug bites, and he eats those, but most fall to the bottom of the tank. I have a small, one gallon tank and I wish I’d done more research before. The girl at the pet shop was pushing even smaller ones for bettas. Anyway, Max doesn’t seem overly food motivated, and after only 3 days, the water is already getting cloudy.
My Betta is extremely picky.. A few months ago he I was perusal him and noticed he wasn’t acting right so that day I did a water change of 80/20…(80% new water with conditioner in it and 20% his aquarium water) then I cleaned his filter and his gravel ..I didn’t scrub them down..cause of the good bacteria..while in his quarantine tank I gave him a half of a quarter of pea..and he loved it…while his aquarium wasn’t ready for him yet .(.I wanted to do a cycle.. before putting him back…) While in the holding aquarium I didn’t want to use chemicals on him or his water..so I tried natural remedies…i forced myself not to feed him for 2 full days (that’s hard cause I can’t stand the thought of a animal or human going hungry)..after the full 48 hours .I gave him a quarter of a pea (to help clear his system) because he did look bloated..and he loved it…for 2 days he was on a pea diet..I would give him a quarter of a half size pea early in the morning and then another quarter of a half size pea in the evening..I did this for 2 days as well…after the 3 days I decided to try need foods cause my Betta is extremely picky..he only ate his pellets..and he liked his greens..so I decided to give it another go at different foods or treats I should say cause he only gets it once a week…the first treat I tried was frozen food.. blood worms..I gave him just 4 small bites… when I first got him I tried to give him blood worms and brine shrimp and he HATED it..so this was the opportunity to see if would try it.
I’m going to be buying my 3rd betta. I have always just fed them pellets but have freeze dried blood worms (unopened). Your article shows them floating. Another article shows that you have to prepare them by soaking and I don’t really want food on the bottom of the bowl. Are they definitely safe straight from the container?
The commenter down below mentioned something about feeding bettas I’ve not heard before. I’ve kept and bred these little jewels for many years. I feed them all manner of foods; some now possibly impossible to get any longer. But to my earlier point: I have never fed them anything that they have gorged themselves on with such gusto like larva; and right now the easiest one to both procure and to breed are the mosquito. I swear, they can’t get enough of them. It’s as if – dashing around in their space irritates them or something. It’s looks sometimes like they just snap’em-up just to get rid of them. In all my years of keeping bettas, there’s no doubt, it’s my number one food of choice. I vary this, as the animal naturally would. The fish needs nutritional balance. But the fish also needs metabolic reserves, most especially if you’re ever interested in breeding the little guys. A Huge 👍 to whoever that guy is; the one who favored his bettas with mos- quito larva.
Much like human food, pet food “best by” dates are for the store’s use not for the end consumer. As long as the seal is intact, don’t be afraid to use or buy out of date food. As mentioned in the article, the food degradation starts once the container is open. Cool dry and dark storage once opened, and being careful not to get any moisture in the container I use them for about a year after opening before tossing them. If they smell stale, toss them sooner. Personally, I would not recommend storing any dry foods in the refrigerator unless you live in a very dry climate. Just bringing a container of food into a humid fish room for an hour and returning to the fridge could risk condensation forming on the inside of the container and rapidly spoiling your food. Best analogy would be me and my 7 year old daughter, my fish foods are moisture free and fresh smelling 6 month after opening. While her fish food feeding technique usually means wet fingers going in for a second pinch, rapidly deteriorating the food. Great vids! just subbed and kinda binge perusal…
I spent all my allowance (I’m eleven) to buy a very expensive betta. It is a mustard gas plakat male and don’t worry I’m very experienced with pets. I have two other bettas also and a fifty gallon freshwater aquarium. But he is my favorite fish and well worth fifty dollars. (BTW if you are looking for good quality betta I recommend coast gem USA)
Used to feed the ones I had back in the days with live warms which I used to fetch nearby ponds, or flies/mosquitos or even a Good dirty pond/river water full of micro organisms, sometimes ground egg shell, never gave them comercial food. Took ages for them to pass, unfortunately one day everything goes.
I live in the Yucatan peninsula (tropical weather). We have a lot of mosquitoes, I left a bit of water on purpose to see if I’d get mosquito larvas, today there were several and I gave them to my fish, he enjoyed hunting them and chasing them, but now I’m worried after seeing your article, has anyone done this?!
I’m getting a betta fish on the 13th or 14th of October and I’m over the moon excited, I just picked up my tank today and set up the filter, but I haven’t gotten the food, (either blood worms or the little pellets that you mentioned) or the heater. So I have just been researching like crazy, and I’ve decided that I’m going to get a rose tail betta, I’m so excited! Thank you for all the information, Thank you for reading 💕💕💕
My Betta is suffering from swim bladder problem ☹️ I’ve separated him, starved him for three days and then started giving him cooked peas. So far, he’s on day 3 and still not improving. He’s sinking to the bottom of the tank and just chills there. He will eat everything that I give him though… Do you have any advice what can I do to help.him get better?
I like to put cubes frozen brine shrimp, daphnia, and blood worms inside a ziplock bag and hten mash them up with a rolling pin. I mix them all together as well as I can. My local pet store doesn’t sell the sheets, so I just basically DIY the same product! this way it contains a mix of very protein-rich food and very fibrous food. I think I’ll try to get some tubifex worms next time.
My first Betta, a colorful Koi Plakat, moved into my aquarium two days ago. 🙂He is a picky eater, but not as I expected. He really likes pellets, as long as they are big enough for him to see (for example Dennerle Betta Booster and Hikari Betta bio gold). He doesn’t eat frozen red and black mosquito larvae. He also ignores white mosquito larvae and adult Artemia from StreamBiz (which are in a preservative solution). The fish in my other tank eat all the food, so it hasn’t gone bad. Is it common for Bettas not to eat frozen food? 🤔My pet store is getting fresh live food in two days. I’m going to buy a pack of live red mosquito larvae and I’m curious to see if he will eat them. 😂
Yea I give my Gerry (Hes my bby) 💝 And I dont think I would want to To eat the same thing every day so we need to think about our bbys!!! I often give my Betta some Betta flakes (For his coat and color) I Also had Some Chiclid I have cichlids aswell that’s why) Veggie Ball thingies My Betta loves them that’s his F fav but I dont really like to give my Betta Blood worms because I have frozen Blood worms that you put I. Hot water and the would unfreeze I dont give them to my Betta because i give them to my Chiclids and my other fish (community tank) Why? Because I dont like to give my Betta bloodworms Because he stares at them And he just let them sink To the ground + I dont think that my Snail (Larry) would like bloodworms 😅
My bettas are weird… I try to give them blood worms sometimes they eat them and other times they don’t it’s kinda a shot in the dark with them… but they mainly like the pellets also very interestingly i have a half moon too his name is aang.. he likes to dig and find the tiny things in the gravel much like your half moon maybe it’s a common trait for them lol
Want ur betta strong and very aggressive. Make it condition with dry almond 7 days than take it out. Make him eat fresh blood worm (not dry )and exercise your fish by separate him into another jar and easy spinning the water 25 mins once a week. Find a big tank Make him chase female 5 mins every 3 to 5 days…make sure you can drink your fish water. Put live plants into his tank with dry banana leaf. If u do all this…your betta scale very hard and he very strong.
In addition to all these good foods you can also feed some pilchard (same fish as a sardine) and=or prawn. Both contain lots of nutrients and vitamins. And they are completely natural. No fillers, no additives, no preservatives and are completely safe and healthy so long both have no seasoning and aren’t cooked. They also are most likely the closest thing you can give your betta to give them their natural diet they have in the wild. Also please don’t feed your bettas peas! They are carnivores not omnivore or herbivores and can have a lot of trouble digesting them. I had to stop giving my betta peas as he started getting to bloated and I had to starve him for a day every time I did feed him a pea
Betta fish are not beginner fish! They are so particular and definitely have emotion. They NEED plants and toys. My Betta has a black head fades to a white blue mix to a heavy blue body then to a lighter blue fin fading to a bright red. His name is rainbow. My son named him. He is picky. Gets sad really quick too. He has issues.
Is it really okay to feed a betta fish 4-6 pellets a day? I feed my betta 2-3 of them and they are itsy bitsy pellets (once a day). But for some reason it got constipated, so I only feed it 1 pellet every two days. The weirdest thing is that I’ve only ever seen it poop once and its poop was white and it stuck to his body for quite a while. It is still constipated ;-; Please help!
I recently got a betta fish, and she is my first pet, just soo addorable, but she hasn’t been eating really well lately and also has been quite lethargic and this worries me a lot. Plus her fins look to be clamped. Please suggest something that I can do about all these… Thank you… And I would really love to know about the aquarium setup and it’s working.