Topic: My fish book vs. Pet Store Guy

[joshandanne]

I have upgraded my betta to a 2 gallon eclipse explorer and he seems happy.  I would like to know how often to feed him, and how much (we feed bettamin).  The jar says "as much as he will eat in five minutes."  That can't be right.  That would be a lot of food; he's a voracious eater.  Plus I have kept cichlids for years and they eat a lot in 5 minutes!  The pet store feeds their fish every 3 days; that doesn't seem like enough.  Also, how long lived are bettas with proper care?  I have no idea how old this guy is obviously, but he isn't that big, and he seems very healthy; I'd like to keep him that way.

Thanks!

[modernrockjunkie]

Most people feed theirs once or twice a day. I give mine at home 2 or 3 pellets each in the morning, one or two in the evening, and fast them on Fridays. My office fish gets fed one pellet a few times a day, and fasted on the weekend. Is the bettamin the flake form? If so, you might consider branching out to other varieties such as Hikari Bio Gold pellets, live tubifex worms, baby brine shrimp. There's a lot out there. They should have one staple that gives them all-around nutrition, and that would be the flakes or the pellets. Worms and shrimp are treats and yummy, but not so nutritious.

For now, feeding flakes while keeping in mind that their stomachs are about the size of one of their eyes should be fine. With pellets it's easier to determine the amount of food you're giving them.

Bettas live about 2 or 3 years, but in some cases longer. Petstore bettas are typically around a year old, but since yours is small, it could be younger.

[joshandanne]

Thank you.  Yes, it's the flake form.  He absolutely refuses pellets and, as a vegetarian myself, I don't know if I can stomach buying live worms.  But I'll try.

I'm glad to hear he may live a year or two.  I have avoided getting attached to him (my husband thinks it's bizarre to be attached to a fish, but I'm sure you guys understand) because my other pet store bettas, despite my best efforts, have gone to the great fishbowl in the sky within months.  So now I can bond with my fish.  LOL!

[bubbles8]

I'm sure he'll be fine,he has a great mom!BTW I totally understand what you mean,I get attached to my fish too and when smth bad happens to them I feel so bad!

[Jessie226]

Congrats on your new fishie! I would feed him a few flakes twice a day. I'm sorry to hear your other bettas didn't last very long. Do you condition your water?

[swhite193]

You dont have to feed live worms.. U can buy frozen.. Right now i switch between frozen blood worms, frozen daphnia, live brine shrimp ( when i can make it to that one certain petstore that has them) pellets once or twice a week and freeze dried blood worms once a week.. I also have flakes that I crush for my juvenile plakats and feed them once or twice a week along with the frozen menu.

Congrats on your new fishy!

[frogsnbettas]

Yeah, you may be a vegetarian, but your betta definitely isn't... lol.  I'd think about treating him with the frozens like swhite said.  It's odd that he won't eat pellets... cause mine won't eat flakes (except the girls... they'd eat anything).  Try to stay away from freeze-dried as they don't have much nutritional value in them.

Definitely feed once to twice a day.  And they can live up to 5 years with proper care.  Depending on the size of the betta when it comes in, I usually guesstimate them to be between 6 months and a year of age.

[MommaofBettas]

Your betta will eventually eat pellets - you have to keep trying.
I've brought over 40 bettas home from various petstores all over the place, and even gotten a few from breeders who fed them nothing but live foods.  They may not like the pellets at first, or have the false illusion that you will cater to their every need (hehehehehe!) but just keep trying with the pellets.  Every single of the 30 remaining fish that I have are now fully converted to eating pellets for at least half their staple diet.  Try picking up a tray of frozen bloodworms.  They're easy to feed - just thaw out a cube of them and grab a few of them on a toothpick and drop them into the water.  Then you can do that once again and they're all fed.

On pellet days, the full grown adults get 4 Hikari Bio Gold pellets in the morning and 2 - 4 in the evening also, depending on their size and age (as best as I can estimate ages, anyway).  I fast them one day a week, too.  

Their diet consists of pellets, frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp, frozen daphnia every now and then and live bloodworms for christmas ( ).

And yep, they can live up to 5 years.

[CobraR]

I've heard from somewhere of a betta living to be seven years old because the owner chased it around with a stick every morning for excercise.  Dunno if it's true or not, though but it does make a little sense.

Bettas live about 2 or 3 years, but in some cases longer. Petstore bettas are typically around a year old, but since yours is small, it could be younger.

[Squidward]

I've heard from somewhere of a betta living to be seven years old because the owner chased it around with a stick every morning for excercise.  Dunno if it's true or not, though but it does make a little sense.

I certainly mean no offense to you personally, but that's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.