Feed Me!

Sometimes I sit here and let the Bettas watch me. They seem to be on constant stare tactics for
food. Every time I glance over at them they are staring at me. Feeeeed meee, feed me....now! I'm sure
they are not underfed as I have seen pictures of bulkier ones. The closet one goes so far as to turn
his back to me until I get up and then will rush to the front of the tank. Maybe I'll give them a little extra tonight as its Sunday and see how they do.

haha they sound like right little characters

Awww, they make you feel guilty even tho you've just fed them...i love all their different characters.

I've noticed my Crowntail has been REALLY aggressive lately, come feeding time. He practially jumps out of the water 'cause he's so impatient! Since I got him in August he's had 4 pellets in the morning and 4 pellets at (my) dinner time. Once a week, I'll substitute a shrimp or blood worm in place of a pellet or two... and he devours his pea. (and when he pooped his pea, he chased it and ATE it!! ...which leads me to believe he's REALLY hungry!! LOL) I'm wondering if he's really hungrier than usual, since he's in a bigger tank and using more energy for swimming around. I know its a rule to never OVER feed them, but I don't want him "starving" either. I'd feel SO guility if I overfed him and he ended up w/bloat or something... it's hard to watch him be so hungry though. What do ya think??

What pellets do you feed? I find the Atisons really good, but feed about 4-5 twice a day same as you. I think bettas are good at being greedy and begging lol

I've come to the conclusion that all Bettas possess an inherent gene that
triggers the feeding wiggle and tend to abuse it! Its their strongest drive
I've seen and might even override their desire to spawn! Not that i'm a
breeder as of yet.

I feed mine twice daily (I'm such a softy) pellets and mix in frozen brine shrimp
or bloodworms. They seem to like flakes occasionally and think the peas are
definite treat!

I give my fishies a big variety of food to eat. Today I gave them two frozen bloodworms and a Bettamin flake. Yesterday it was a couple Top Fin pellets and some chopped freeze dried gammarus shrimp. Day before that it was a piece of krill and Betta Buffet flakes. And before that it was a frozen bloodworm and three Aqueon betta pellets. Soon I'll be adding frozen daphnia to their menu. (I only feed a pea if they look like they need it (constipation).) Needless to say they all go wild whenever they see people near their tanks. They never know what they're going to get! But I only feed them between 3 and 5 pieces of food per day.

@ Silverrabbit: I've been feeding him (check spelling) Hitari Betta Gold pellets. He loves them... it just seems he wants more! ...I gave this a.m. and gave him a bloodworm and his reg. amt. of pellets.

In general: does anyone know what it is about the peas that they love so much? the color? ...since they're "top feeders" I was surprised to see Finnegin dive for the falling pea pieces... he doesn't let a morsel get away! LOL

Bettas will eat other veggies too besides peas. I guess they just think they look tasty. I have to be careful when I feed the two snails who live with my crowntail Flame. I supplement the snails' algae diet with small pieces of veggies such as broccolli, spinach, carrots, etc.. I put one or two pieces in the tank at a time. Every time I put those veggies in the tank, Flame grabs some and eats it. I try to arrange things so that the snails are able to grab the pieces before Flame does, but I'm not always successful!

The only reason I don't feed my bettas Hikari Bio Gold is because since Hikari last changed their formulation, wheat flour is first in the ingredients. Since bettas are carnivores, I recommend Top Fin, Aqueon, or AquaCulture pellets because fish products are the first ingredients and probably healthier for the bettas.

Thank you! I'm going to the store and get a diff. brand pellet today! I wasn't sure that Finn would eat other veggies...AND wasn't sure if they'd be harmful. As a kinda new betta mom, I'm nervous about doing something to his detriment. As long as it won't harm him maybe I'll try a little variety once a great while just to see what he does. Thanks again!

As a follow up to my message of 11/22, I did go out that night and get Finnegin a different brand of pellets. My store didn't have TopFin, but they did have Aqueon, so I bought those. The first thing I noticed at feeding was that these pellets don't float like the Hikari ones did. I "soak" his pellets in some of his tank water before feeding, so they expand in the 'bowl' rather than in his stomach. However, when the pellets hit the water, they sink. Finnegin catches one or two, but the others sink and he doesn't chase them, so I end up siphoning out the sunken ones. Now I have to hold each pellet individually on my fingernail and make sure he's close enough to grab it and feed one at a time. I don't mind taking the time --it makes his meal more of a "ritual" for us. I was just wondering if its because of the diff. ingredients (i.e., less wheat filler) that these pellets sink. He seems to like the taste though! He's just as "starving" as ever.

my fish prefer the floating ones. I use the hikari betta ones, anything that floats seems to be left to go mouldy. I have one who prefers flakes. just seen a lovely pink betta....screech.........................no room......screech..

My Bettas are fed with a silver spoon. Just kidding! Stainless tweezers no matter what the offering. I try to avoid food sinking, but to no avail sometimes. I attribute ones case of fin rot to leftover food and I
now wear the guilts!