So this is the first time in my adult life owning a betta and the directions on the food say “feed only the amount the fish can eat in 3 minutes”. Me being me I need an actual number to go off of so how many pellets would that be? Food and pellet size for reference. sorry in advance for this kinda stupid question lol.
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Posted by Ok-Particular9887
6 Comments
I feed my betta 4-5 pellets in the morning and night
I would also feed 4-5 in the morning and evening. 🙂 You can tell pretty quickly if a betta has eaten too much, because it will have a round belly. 🙂
The rule of thumb I’d been given when I first looked into betta care was (about the size of their eye, twice a day.
Sprinkle some in my hand, remove a few if it looks too big.
The old saying of “having eyes bigger than your stomach” appears to be very true for betta (and most fish) – they’ll eat it all or die trying 💀
A betta’s stomach is the size of their eyeball. I use that as my guide. They are piggies and will gorge themselves if given the opportunity!
I use that and feed 3-4 at a time.
I’d suggest you personally float one in the water and watch how it swells up to get an idea of how large it can become.
Feed 2 pellets at a time (2, then 2 more, then 2 more) to see if he finishes them all within 3 minutes; note how many he finishes in that time. Do this over 4-5 consecutive feedings, then look at how many he has consistently finished in those 3-minute windows. That is your good-bet number; adjust based on observations about his health and activity and any food collecting on the substrate or clouding the water.
My bettas have typically done well w ~3-4 pellets in the morning, and 1-2 pellets at the end of my work day (rarely going over 5 for the day). B/c they have all been classroom bettas over the years, they don’t typically get fed over the weekend, and get & can finish an extra couple of pellets or some frozen or dried bloodworms on Monday mornings.