Newbie with Questions

[rejohnson53]

Okay, so I just got a Betta Fish a few weeks ago (Indigo) and I'm still trying to figure out the best way to care for it. Mainly I'm worried about how much I'm supposed to feed him. Some sites say three times a day, others say three times a week. Does what I'm feeding him affect how often I should feed him? (I feed him on dried bloodworms.)
Also, the only container I have to put him in right now is a small bowl, about a half-gallon. Is this okay until I can purchase a larger tank?
Thanks in advance.

[doggyhog]

I feed mine two times a day.

A 1/2 gallon will be fine until you get another tank. I recommend 2 gallons and up.

[Jynx]

feeding only dried bloodworms can sometimes make them constipated- I recommend also getting betta pellets and some shrimp based food and giving the shrimp and worms one day each a week and the pellets 4 times a week and fasting him one day a week. A varied diet helps with digestion and makes the colors pop. how often you feed your fish depends on how much you give him and how much he can tolerate. I'd worry more about overfeeding than underfeeding. If you feed too much he'll get the bloat- his stomach will swell up.

[dramaqueen]

Hello and welcome to FishForum. I would also recommend a tank 2.5 gallons or larger. I agree with what Jynx said about feeding.

[Jupiter]

I feed my girls freeze dried blood shrimp Wednesdays and Fridays, 4/5 pellets Monday, Tuesday, Thursday (2/3 in the morning and 2/3 at night), and fast them during the weekends.

[BakaMandy]

Freeze dried bloodworms aren't actually a healthy source of food because it lacks many essential nutrients. Pellets are usually better because they're made to be a balanced diet for them.

Actually anything 'freeze-dried' or dry for the matter is bad and often leads to digestion problems that lead to a lot of medical issues. It's mostly because of the low moisture content, so even dry pellets are bad in that department. What happens is that they will often expand when they absorb water in the betta fish's stomach and become up to 2-3 times their size. Your betta fish's stomach is roughly the same size of their eye, so feeding them too many pellets can lead to things like bloating, constipation and or SBD.

If possible, pre-soak your pellets in water before feeding it to them. And usually only 2-3 pellets twice a day is good enough.

And if you can avoid it, don't feed them flakes because it's hard to measure a healthy amount that should be fed to them.