what would happen if my betta fish has eaten fish food?

[Bettafamily]

OK so a friend of my younger brother won a betta fish at a carnival. Then she fed it turtle food. Finally she goes and gives it to my little brother and he brings it home. so whats gonna happen to the fish.

he also has a white ring around his mouth. is that normal.

[Perseusmom]

The fish food is okay but dont know about the turtle food. He needs Betta pellets 2 or 3 on the morning and 2 at night. Does he have a home for him ? He needs water conditioner and a heater since Betta need the temp of their water anywhere from 76 -82 degrees. Can you post a picture of him showing the white ring around his mouth cause I have no idea what that might be but it could just be part of his coloring.

This is the prefect place to learn about proper Betta care be sure and ask if you have anymore questions.

[teeneythebetta]

Turtle food does not meet the nutritional requirements for a betta. It probably won't kill him but will defenitely make him unhealthy. I would defenitely go get him some betta fish food, preferably omega one or new life spectrum brand PELLETS (not flakes, flakes are not good)

What is he living in? I wouldn't let the temp go less than 76 degrees, but preferably get him a 2.5 gallon or larger tank with a heater set to 78-80 degrees. A 2.5 gallon tank will do okay with 2 weekly water changes- 1 50% change and 1 100% change.

Can you post a picture so we can see what his mouth looks like?

Good luck!

[NeoViking]

Fish food won't harm him, though I tend to avoid flakes just because it scares me if they gulp any air with them it can be a cause of swim bladder so I've always used pellets for mine.
I know a lot of people do use tropical flakes for their bettas, but I always just say its better to be safe then wake up to a betta laying on its side (:
That and its easier to remove uneaten food from the tank in pellet form.
Even my cichlids are on pellets (separate tanks! don't put bettas and cichlids together haha, not a good idea!)

I'm not sure about the turtle food but as teenythebetta said, it can't be very nutritional.
I guess it'd be like a person eating cat food?

A food specially developed for bettas would be best.
The mini pellets are nice and small so you can control his servings easily and you'll know he's getting the right nutrition.

[Jully]

I use to have a turtle, I believe the food wont harm him, I would recommend getting him:

• 5 gallon aquarium at LEAST.
• A heater for a 5 gallon aquarium, make sure you have the correct watts.
• Betta pellets, a good brand.
• Aqua plus or some other conditioner to make the water safe.
• Soft or at least not sharp gravel, this is so he doesn't tare his fins.
• Real plants, or at least silk plants so (s)he doesn't shred (s)he fins.

Anyways, I am sure the betta will be fine, might get him a bloated belly depending how big it was. I have a Red Ear Slider turtle, and I know what type of food they have, not sure what type of turtle food it was. But I would hurry and get some proper food, if he's bloated give him a day and don't feed him till the bloating is gone.

[aokashi]

Hi there! you can feed him fish food temporarily. but you will need betta food very soon. Bettas are carnivores and most fish foods do not fulfill the nutritions bettas need. normal fish food may cause bloat an nutrition deficiency.

That said, he will need proper housing. if you read the faq tab at the top of the page, there are some very good info there for you.
you can keep betta in 1gallon tanks. but those tend to be generally harder upkeep. in a small tank ( less than 5g). id recommended to do two water changes weekly.
50% half weekly and 100% at the end of the week. you will have to be very diligent about this and not miss water changes. Since the ammonia build up in tanks those size occurrs swiftly.
A 5g+ tank with a filter (make sure the itake is safe for fish) can be cycled, have a 10-20% weekly water change and is a much more stable environment for the fish.

Live plants will also help water quality.

About the betta diet. A good betta food is recommended. The cheapest good one should be hikari's biogold. They recently changed their recipe to have meat as the first ingredient. However, variety is key. once every week you should feed your betta frozen foods or bloodworms or a very clean tiny piece of cooked shrimp(just plain shrimp nothing added) . Give him a piece the size of two expanded pellets instead of his regular food. :)

[Laki]

Can you post pics of the mouth?? Are you sure it's not his coloring?? Maybe a marble? Please post pics!