Betta Fish Facts

First of all, understand that in the wild betta fish are carnivorous, meaning they eat meat. In the wild, their diet consists primarily of insects and it larvae. While you may not be able to go out to your garden and grab some "ants" and "worms", there are products (fish food) that will help you replicate what they are used to in the wild.

Most people will feed their pet betta flake fish food, which consists of brine shrimp or beef hearts. However, if at all possible, a betta would prefer live fish food.

From a biological standpoint, a betta fish's mouth is upturned giving it the best possible chances of grabbing insects that live on the water. There are even instances where a beta will jump out of the water to grab food (as seen in a video I posted). A betta fish can eat vegatarian food but not for long as their alimentary system is shorter. Bottom line is these fish are built to eat meat.

If you can't feed your Betta live food, there are alot of products geared to the betta. These products are specialized to give your fish the nutrition it needs...most are freeze dried or frozen. If you elect to feed your Betta flakey food, then understand that you will need to supplement it as well.

• Betta Tubifex
• Beef hearts
• Daphnia
• Glassworms
• Plankton

Betta fish can also be fairly selective with what they eat as well. I have found that Brine Shrimpor blood worms work the best while flakey fish food is the least and should be a last resort. If your betta is not eating then you will have to experiment until your finicky friend finds something that it likes.

Labels: betta fish faq's, betta fish for beginners