# betta feeding question



## kris_leonardi (Jun 28, 2009)

As soon as I get back from my vacation I'm putting a betta in my tank.
But before I put it in I was wondering how many times should I feed him a day? I already know you should feed them about as much as their eye, but I'm not sure if I have to feed him multiple times a day. Thanks!


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## Chickadee (Nov 15, 2008)

It depends on the relative age of the fish. If your betta is very young (under 6 months of age) they need to be fed very small meals 2 or even 3 times a day but made to chew each piece of food before being given another piece to keep from having digestion issues and possible swimbladder problems. I realize this makes for a long feeding period but it also gives you some quality time with your fish. Even if you give the fish at this age 3 or 4 pieces of food at a feeding it is probably enough since you are feeding more than one time a day.

Adult fish should be given only really one meal a day unless they are the stubborn bettas that I mention in the STUBBORN BETTA article in the stickied article. I feed stubborn bettas and aggressive bettas and those who are especially abusive to tank mates twice a day as this helps to keep them from being as ornery tempered if they are less on the hungry side. They still need to be kept from being overfed at any one time. 

ALL betta fish need to be fed peas at least one to two times a week and for the young fish it can take the place of one of their meals when you do it since they get so many meals but the adult fish should not have them given as meal replacements unless they are constipated or having swimbladder problems or for some reason should not be getting regular betta food for a time. If you have trouble getting MR/MS betta to try the peas the first time you can hold a meal and then try in the morning to give a pea treat to a hungry betta. When they are hungry I have not seen them refuse them unless they are already sick. Once you get them to try them, I have seen them actually go after them like a dog to a bone after that. I have not seen one of mine that will refuse them and most will get very excited and happy when they think it is "peas" time. While I have known of people using canned peas and other forms of peas, actually they are not as good for them as the frozen ones and most contain salt and are already cooked actually. The ones in the bag frozen are good as you do not actually cook them but just defrost them and peel them and cut chunks of them and they love the raw veggie taste. Also the effect of the raw veggie is more of what we are looking for with the digestive aid. It has more of the laxative effect that we want in them. I have also seen them eat zucchini, carrot, summer squash, and other veggies (raw) if they are prepared with no skins and in the proper sized chunks (no more than half the size of their eye.). It is not a nutritional thing that we are doing but to give them some "roughage" so the raw part is more important than anything. This is why I say not to use it in place of a meal.

Rose


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