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I picked a very small betta and only had him a few days and he is almost double in side and definitely double in color intensity.
I have been feeding him those pellets. His first feed he kept pecking and spitting so I crushed the pellets (3) and he can eat those just fine.
But if he is so small that I need to crush his pellets should I feed him 2x a day?
(like you do baby bettas)
I have had bettas before but they all have been different breeds and a lot bigger than this one.
Right now he is in just a typical 2L+ fishbowl and I am going to upgrade him to a 5 gallon tank soon. All the food is gone when I feed him. Water is still clear since friday (cloudy indicates overfeeding)
I just don't want to starve the guy. Every time I go over to him he swims to the edge of the bowl or the top to look at me. And he already has recognized feeding time by seeing the spoons I crush the food with. He swims up and down like a puppy for it. (not in fight mode) I think that is fun and strange.
Maybe its not what he is doing...but let us pretend. LOL
I only had one other betta that acted like a puppy...awww..he is so cute...I always love to see them go swim crazy when you take them out of those terrible little cups and put them in a tank.
I feed my fish twice a day, too. Even my adult bettas. I also do weekly partial water changes, in fact, usually twice a week. My dh complains I take better care of my fish than I do my family.
I'd feed your little guy twice a day since he's still a baby. It makes me sad that stores have begun selling baby bettas, most people are not as concerned with proper care as you are, opsimathia.
I don't think it was a real baby. Maybe a teenager? LOL
He was just so small and pale. Does that mean he was a baby or just depressed he was living in a plastic cup?
Well he already had his breakfast and half bowl water change and is going swim crazy now in the freshness. LOL
I will give him dinner tonight. I just like to keep the water clear too. I need to get him a snail buddy when I get the bigger tank. Those two types seem to always get along well in tanks together and the snail gets all the excess food.
Totally random but I had my phone down beside the tank and he was watching it.So I held it up to the tank to let him watch. I know it sounds nuts...but he liked this video.
He was hypnotized ! ( i know it was probably just because of the color. The music was on my bluetooth headphones)
Feel free to see if your fish like it:
( i mean hey..they make vids for cats and dogs...why not fish?lol)
I picked a very small betta and only had him a few days and he is almost double in side and definitely double in color intensity.
I have been feeding him those pellets. His first feed he kept pecking and spitting so I crushed the pellets (3) and he can eat those just fine.
But if he is so small that I need to crush his pellets should I feed him 2x a day?
(like you do baby bettas)
I have had bettas before but they all have been different breeds and a lot bigger than this one.
Right now he is in just a typical 2L+ fishbowl and I am going to upgrade him to a 5 gallon tank soon. All the food is gone when I feed him. Water is still clear since friday (cloudy indicates overfeeding)
I just don't want to starve the guy. Every time I go over to him he swims to the edge of the bowl or the top to look at me. And he already has recognized feeding time by seeing the spoons I crush the food with. He swims up and down like a puppy for it. (not in fight mode) I think that is fun and strange.
Maybe its not what he is doing...but let us pretend. LOL
I only had one other betta that acted like a puppy...awww..he is so cute...I always love to see them go swim crazy when you take them out of those terrible little cups and put them in a tank.
I know you are going to get many responses, but I raise bettas. Once a day is all the feeding they need, and it is real easy to over feed, so just a very small amount is all they require. They do develop a recognition of you, so it's not always hunger that makes them move towards you as you approach, but more of an instinctive movement.
They also really do well living with apple snails, and they help keep the tank clean.
I feed my fish twice a day, too. Even my adult bettas. I also do weekly partial water changes, in fact, usually twice a week. My dh complains I take better care of my fish than I do my family.
I'd feed your little guy twice a day since he's still a baby. It makes me sad that stores have begun selling baby bettas, most people are not as concerned with proper care as you are, opsimathia.
lol...sounds like this house.
Probably why my bettas live so long. I usually have them for about 4 years or so.
I can't wait to put some real plants in there for him too. He already loves his little plastic tree for sleeping.
I know you are going to get many responses, but I raise bettas. Once a day is all the feeding they need, and it is real easy to over feed, so just a very small amount is all they require. They do develop a recognition of you, so it's not always hunger that makes them move towards you as you approach, but more of an instinctive movement.
They also really do well living with apple snails, and they help keep the tank clean.
Thanks for the snail name...I was just trying to remember the name and poof there you posted!
Do you also give them one day off from eating? I always did that too when they were with me for awhile and I knew they were healthy and stable.
It really seemed to energize them.
Well I just gave him one pellet to see if he would and could eat it.
He did eat it and then looked at me like he wanted another.
I gave him one more and that was it for the day.
I always watch their tummies to see if they are getting bloated from eating. I always worry about over feeding too.
But he is big enough to eat the pellets whole now!
He has this marking on his underside. There is a deep red streak that runs under his whole belly into his tail and fans out. It also fans into the long fins on the underside. When he eats, it gets really red and his body gets really turquoise. Its neat.
I think this is one of the most fun color changing bettas I had.
He was just so small and pale. Does that mean he was a baby or just depressed he was living in a plastic cup?
He was probably pale due to poor water quality. I recently bought a young, almost dead female betta that was an ugly tan color. I brought her home and started her off in a big bowl, and she quickly began turning red. A few days later I put her in an established aquarium and her true colors began to emerge, she's a beautiful red now with iridescent scales across her sides. As they grow their colors can deepen or change slightly, too. I agree with a earlier poster though, it's easy to overfeed them. I feed mine twice a day, but not huge amounts. On the other hand if you are going to feed once a day, I'd go with more than a pellet. Give them enough so that they are finished within 2-3 minutes, not finished right away. The quality of the food matters, too. Usually the cheap betta pellets you find have a lot of cheap non-nutritious fillers. I have probably a half dozen different types of foods that I feed my fish, ranging from shrimp flakes, earthworm flakes, kelp flakes, freeze-dried bloodworms etc. etc. I like brands like Omega-One, Spectrum Thera etc. Nothing you'd typically find at a grocery store, be sure to read the labels. Of course bettas are "meat-eaters", not algae eaters. In the warmer weather I like to throw a tiny ant in every now and then, making sure that it's a healthy ant and not exposed to any pesticides, of course!
Last edited by andthentherewere3; 02-09-2012 at 09:45 AM..
He was probably pale due to poor water quality. I recently bought a young, almost dead female betta that was an ugly tan color. I brought her home and started her off in a big bowl, and she quickly began turning red. A few days later I put her in an established aquarium and her true colors began to emerge, she's a beautiful red now with iridescent scales across her sides. As they grow their colors can deepen or change slightly, too. I agree with a earlier poster though, it's easy to overfeed them. I feed mine twice a day, but not huge amounts. On the other hand if you are going to feed once a day, I'd go with more than a pellet. Give them enough so that they are finished within 2-3 minutes, not finished right away. The quality of the food matters, too. Usually the cheap betta pellets you find have a lot of cheap non-nutritious fillers. I have probably a half dozen different types of foods that I feed my fish, ranging from shrimp flakes, earthworm flakes, kelp flakes, freeze-dried bloodworms etc. etc. I like brands like Omega-One, Spectrum Thera etc. Nothing you'd typically find at a grocery store, be sure to read the labels. Of course bettas are "meat-eaters", not algae eaters. In the warmer weather I like to throw a tiny ant in every now and then, making sure that it's a healthy ant and not exposed to any pesticides, of course!
Awww....can you imagine how crappy she felt before you brought her home...
Lucky fish!
Its says more feed 2-3 pellets 2-3 times a day. BUT has more directions on my packet that goes as low as one. He finishes the pellets now in seconds.
I think maybe he needs a couple more for dinner. He is a growing boy! lol
That is just the stuff I have been giving the ones all my years. I tried worms once and they didnt care. I thought about making another larger tank and breeding some sort of small fish in there. Maybe giving some of the babies to the betta. I would have to research what they would prefer though.
I would be open to any food suggestions for them to try. Maybe this one will actually like worms.
That's a good brand. It's funny how finicky some fish can be, it can be tricky finding the foods they really love. I had a betta once, I swear I thought he was going to starve to death before I found out what he liked. It's good that yours isn't fussy. He sounds like he has quite a personality, too.
Oh, I have 3 female bettas in a community tank with livebearers. They eat all the fry, they are quite the hunters.
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