The 5 Best Betta Fish Foods You Need to Try
There are many betta fish. Some are born with bottomless stomachs like a miniature shark, and others are picky eaters who turn their noses up to everything you offer. The refusal to eat can cause stress if you are the latter. Fortunately, there are many high quality, high protein foods you can try feeding them to whet their appetites.
#1 Frozen Bloodworms
Frozen bloodworms, the bright red larvae of midgeflies, are an excellent food choice for betta fish. They eat small insects, crustaceans and meaty foods in nature. They are available at most pet shops in the form of individual foil-sealed cubes, or a frozen slab which you can cut into pieces. In the United States, our favorite brand to purchase is Hikari since their bloodworms are of the highest quality and feed out very cleanly.
One betta fish can usually finish a whole cube in one go. Therefore, you will need to freeze the cube in a container and then feed some bloodworms with a pipette, tweezers, or a pipette. Most betta fish would be happy to live off a diet of only bloodworms, but like humans, your fish requires a variety in nutrition. You can rotate between two to three different foods so that they have the right nutrients and vitamins to live a long, healthy life.
Blackworms Live
Because they closely match their natural diet, live foods are the best option for betta fish food. We recommend live blackworms because as a true freshwater species, they can live for quite a while in your aquarium without fouling the water. Your betta fish will enjoy watching them burrow into the substrate. This provides hours of enrichment as he hunts down each one.
The downside to live blackworms are that they can be difficult to find in local fish shops, and they could also bring in parasites. They are still recommended for bettas because of their mental stimulation and nutritional value. Just make sure to get the blackworms from a reputable fish store that keeps them refrigerated in clean, odorless water.
#3 Betta Pellets
Even though pellets are not the most natural looking option, they contain all the essential nutrients that a betta fish requires in a compact package. Betta food pellets are nice because they don’t tend to dissolve quickly in the water and they generally float at the surface (which is preferred since bettas have upturned mouths and are used to eating from the water surface).
Xtreme Betta Pellets
We like Xtreme Betta Pellets because they contain high-quality proteins like krill, come with a handy scoop to avoid overfeeding, and are packaged in a small container that’s ideal for keeping one betta fish. You don’t want a large jar of fish food that you can use for many years. Although the expiration date is still valid, the food can become stale due to repeated exposure to oxygen and moisture. This could potentially lead to health problems for your betta fish.
Freeze-Dried Foods
Freeze drying is a way to preserve food in a lightweight and dry form factor, while still retaining all of the original nutrients. As an alternative to frozen foods, we like brine shrimp and freeze dried bloodworms. They don’t need to be frozen and float in the water. They are easy to portion for the right amount of food and can be removed from the tank easily if they don’t finish all.
Hikari Freeze-Dried Bloodworms
Insect-Based Pellets
Fluval Bug Bites Betta Formula is another kind of betta food pellet that is primarily made of black soldier fly larvae to mostly closely simulate a betta fish’s insectivore diet. It contains high amounts of quality protein, as well as other essential vitamins and minerals to boost your betta’s health. This is a slow sinking granule, which some bettas may not go after, but if you have other tank mates like tetras and corydoras, they will readily finish up any leftovers your betta leaves behind.
Fluval Bug Bites – Betta Formula
In our experience, most bettas are not too picky and, if kept in a community tank with other fish, may even choose to snack on other foods you feed the aquarium. But if you’re looking to add more variety to your betta’s meal plan, give one of these top five go-to foods a try and your betta fish is sure to beg for more.