I realize that there are a lot of new members here who may not have heard my tragic betta story so I thought I'd share it as a sort of warning. I was telling a customer yesterday and she couldnt believe it and thought I warn who I could so they dont have to have this happen.

I started out this year with 4 beautiful bettas and now have none, including my beautiful Cirrus, pictured above. I had been feeding them a variety of foods including Hikari Betta BioGold. Suddenly, all of my fish got constipated out of nowhere. They were in filtered, heated aquariums with clean water and good care. The only common denominator between all this was the food. I sadly ended up losing 3 of them to this, because the constipation was so severe that it led to an internal infection. No matter what I did I couldnt save them and it was heartbreaking to see them suffer and die.

I guess it was much like the goldfish–they eat the dry pellets which swell inside them and cause constipation. I had never thought much of it happening until it did. Their organs are all so squished up inside the very front part of their body I guess its easy for something like this to happen. So please, be sure and soak whatever betta food you can and unfortunately because of this experience I really can no longer recommend Hikari betta food. The old HBH Betta Bites seemed good because they were more solid and moist, not so dried out. Now they make a new kind (same packaging) where the pellets are much, much larger and more like the Hikari food.

Jenny,

I am so sorry! I lost a beautiful crown tail a few weeks ago too (he was old). I have gone to feeding my bettas ONLY the micro pellets. I think they are easier for them to digest and I can control the quantity much better.

Are you getting more bettas?

Jeanne

I can't find micro pellets anywhere...what kind do you get and where do you find them.

I was looking for really small food when I got a new really small fish, and never did find any suitable for bettas.

What a shame and it's hard when one of your fishies die. it's very hard to replace them and sometimes you just don't feel like doing that either because you had a close relationship with the other fishies.

Jenny,I'm so sorry to hear your sad news...I've lost a few myself,and I am still hurting from it. I just bought live culture food off of Aquabid for my betta babies that I was thinking to start feeding to the adults too. The only thing is ,is that your'e alaways hearing bad things about feeding live food too,so what the heck do you do? I could ffed frozen bloodworms everyday,but I'm sure that might also cause some problem. I'm at a loss as to a safe all around happy healthy food. It's frustrating.

sorry about your fish...if it happens again try to feed them a hikar mini pellet dipped in vinegar.Its a perfect laxative

sadly, i know exactly what jenn is talking about. a lot of you probably remember reading about my struggle with willie. he died of the exact reasons/symptoms as hers.

well, in doing a lot of research and thinking on the matter. ive come to the conclusion that bettas should always be fed VERY sparingly. no matter what your feeding them. they, just like goldfish, will eat until its coming out the other end.

another very important fact when feeding bettas is to remove uneaten food. once the food makes it to the bottom of the tank, it can find a little cranny to lodge itself into and begin to mold. this is especially true in betta tanks because of the lack of current drwing the bits of food to the filter (you are using a filter, arent you?? ). bettas can fall prey to fungial infections of their tails by "laying down" onto a peice of molding food for a while. all it takes is a microscopic pinpoint of opening in the slime coat/skin for it to begin its infestation.

so, as far as bettas and feeding goes (in my book), less is better. but variety is key.

does this apply to freeze dried food aswell?

how long should the pellet (s) be soaked before putting it (them) in the tank?

Hi, I feed tetramin. Is this a good food if soaked? Also like chrisinha asked I too would like to know how long to soak them for?

I've never lost a betta to this, but it is a good thing to know. I'll be feeding less now and making sure everything is fully soaked. I'd also like to know how long to soak food in vinegar, and can you do this for gf's too?

Remove < faeces > or < uneaten food>? ( I'm ready to lay an attack on those fungial infections )

Go get 'em! Remove both though, hehe.

should I soak sinking dry pellets?

Soak any dry pellet (sinking, FD or otherwise) just until its soft, just like you would for goldfish, and feed very sparingly. They really dont need much more than a pellet or two a day, or every other day.

Really?? When I had a betta I used to feed him like three pellets every day o.O Well thanks for telling me abouit the soaking sinking food and how much you should feed them. I really didn't know!

Wow...I have been feeding my betta the BioGold food since I got him...hmm...last year I think...And he is soo perfectly healthy! I feed him four pellets every day except Saturdays....I don't feed him then! Hehehe....hopefully the food doesnt hurt him!

Yikes - thank for sharing your sad story for our benefit - I just ordered Hikari Betta pellets! Now, I will certainly soak them - although I am a little nervous about soaking them in vinegar. I think I can feed Fafner a little bit less, too.

I just started feeding him ZooPlankton which is mainly brine shrimp. He loves them, and so do the Killifish. Is this a suitable food to add variety to his diet? (Occasionally, I feed bloodworms but I can only get frozen and I have reservations about them - and I hate them - Yuck!)

I'm so sorry to hear about your fish..
Would it be better if I soaked the pellets first?

That is so sad...I am so sorry
I just got a betta and I was wondering what else is good to feed him aside from pellets?

What size are the constipating pellets that started off this thread? I too feed betta Bio-Gold from Hikari, but there's a little label down at the spout that says "baby pellet". they're pretty small; Cletus (fish) eagerly eats 6-8 of them twice a day, five days a week (no food the other two days). Is that too much?

Nathan

I use the same food as you nday. At first I followed the 1-3 pellets a day that someone on this thread described. My betta kept getting thinner and thinner and soon he was almost paper thin I hope that member was reffering to another size. I feed my betta 2-3 pellets 2-3 times a day and he has fattened up but still keeping the lithe betta shape. I think what you are feeding is a bit too much..slowly reduce the amount of food to the amount I feed and see what happens

** Hi, all... new to this site, always looking for more Betta lovers. Anyway, I've read on so many Betta pages that the answer to constipation is to feed the fish some green pea. Yep... take the skin off the pea... it can be canned or frozen, but defrost the pea in a bit of tank/bowl water... mash up the pea and give just a tiny bit to the fish. I've read that some do this with a toothpick (I would assume a non-colored toothpick), and the fish (supposedly) will eat this, eagerly, and it is the Magic Cure for constipation. Also, from what I read, not just for Bettas, but your other freshwater aquarium fishies, as well.

** Hunca **

I just have to comment on this topic because I am dealing with this problem right now.

I have been feeding Hikari BioBetta Gold pellets. I am new to having fish - I have one goldfish and one betta. Recently my betta began acting sick. Fins clamped, color turning gray,laying at the bottom of the tank, not flaring at his reflection, refusing to eat. I new something was wrong so I checked out the website bettatalk.com and found that he had symptom of sickness, but not all the symptoms of any disease. I read her feeding suggestions and found that I have been over feeding. My Moonshine definitely looked extremely bloated. I immediately took him out of the tank and put him in a small (.5 gallon) bowl as temporary quarantine because I didn't want my Goldfish to come down with anything. I put this product called Betta Revive in the water, and 2 days (and 2 water changes) later, there was a GIANT terd at the bottom of the bowl. He still has not eaten, (it has been 4 days), he tries and inevitably spits it out, but I will try again today to feed him a pellet (AFTER soaking it). Moonshine is looking so much better now - his fins are unclamping (he did lose a little bit of his bottom fin - it rotted off), he is swimming around like mad, he is flaring, AND he has even made a small bubble nest around the ring of the bowl. After having this experience, and reading this topic, I will be soaking my goldfish and betta food before feeding, ALWAYS.

mfa.

Ok now am confused.Can I feed flake food to my betta?

i give my bettas a verity of differnt food . i don't just feed the pellets . and one day a week i fast them . then the next day i give them a very tiny piece of pea . hull taken off . sorry to hear about your fish .

Hi,
I have a betta that easily gets constipated,,,,,so have been experimenting with his food. He was on two pellets a day,,until he bloated up so bad thought I was gonna lose him for sure.
So did the "pea" trick and he gets better. Started him on flakes,,,they bloated him too.

I fast both of my bettas on Sunday,,,,and just found out thanks to google and this site that I won't be "starving" my betta by feeding him only one pellet a day or every other day whoohoo thanks.

I know that he is giving me the dirty betta look now,,but he got a pellet this morning,,and is fine.

Am going to start soaking them too.
Also feed bloodworms dried,,soaked first,,and a pea when necessary.

Guess I have a betta that has IBS it seems.....

Have a great day thanks for the info,,,appreciate it.
Winged and Finned Hugs~
Seagull
<><

Hey Guys I have a male betta that is over 2 years old and hes been eating only Bettamin from Tetra and I cant feed him any pellets because he cant seem to get it down. I always soak my goldfishes food but with my betta well hes really pickey he doesnt eat any food that goes at the bottom so I dont soak his food. Is there any other suggestions for him? because I dont want him to get constipated.

Wow, I'm glad I saw this. I feed my betta flaked food but recently started to give him the hikari mico pellets that I feed my tropicals. I'm going to cut that out or start soaking them!!!

I'm glad this topic is still going! I felt it was really important. I should say that in the time I was feeding them these pellets, I was also feeding a variety of frozen bloodworms and the shells peas. They were getting a good variety but those pellets really hurt them.

I had another betta again recently who I was only feeding Progold to (he was in with my goldfish). The Progold got soft immediately so he seemed to do just fine on that.

I have been feeding mine a variety of food and my oldest is almost 2 years old and going strong. But I do feed lightly and I also feed a half a pea ever week. When I feed pellets they only get two each. Thats it just two.
Sorry you lost your Betta's.