tetra brand pellets not healthy for my little guy?

[dbrooke1]

hello everyone! =)
so, have heard tetra pellet brands are not healthy for fish and i feed my betta tetra betta plus. is it true tetra is not a healthy brand of food for bettas?
tetra betta plus has fish meal and shrimp meal in the ingredients.
someone recommended new life spectrum formla and i think omega betta buffet.
if tetra is in actuality unhealthy, i may change to one of these two brands? hav never seen them yet.
appreciate your thoughts on this!! =)

[teeneythebetta]

Originally Posted by dbrooke1

hello everyone! =)
so, have heard tetra pellet brands are not healthy for fish and i feed my betta tetra betta plus. is it true tetra is not a healthy brand of food for bettas?
tetra betta plus has fish meal and shrimp meal in the ingredients.
someone recommended new life spectrum formla and i think omega betta buffet.
if tetra is in actuality unhealthy, i may change to one of these two brands? hav never seen them yet.
appreciate your thoughts on this!! =)

Tetra is a bad brand of food. I wrote an article about choosing a good betta fish food so I will cut and paste a section to explain a little bit.. New life spectrum and omega one are the BEST pellets available. Omega one is available at petco and petsmart; and NLS is available at petco. If you cant find them, theyre also available online.

what exactly should you look for?
Meat/protein as the first ingredients and fillers such as wheat or flour as far down in the list as possible. The ingredients label is listed in order from most concentrated to least concentrated. So, the first ingredients are the most important, and should be good quality proteins.

Take, for example the ingredients list on this Wardley betta food...
Wardley Betta Pellets Ingredients: Fish meal, whole grain wheat, shrimp meal, soybean flour, brewers dried yeast, wheat germ meal, wheat gluten, fish protein concentrate, fish oil, l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate, crayfish extract in soybean oil, iron oxide, vitamin premix containing (wheat middlings, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, B12 supplement, riboflavin supplement, niacin supplement, calcium pantothenate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex, folic acid, pyridoxine HCI, thiamine mononitrate, d-biotin), choline chloride, marigold petal extract, canthaxanthin, ethoxyquin (as a preservative).

...Then take a look at food like Omega one...

Omega One Betta Buffet pellets ingredients: Whole Salmon, Halibut, Shrimp, Wheat Flour, Wheat Gluten, Fresh Kelp, Astaxanthin, Lecithin, L-Ascorbyl-2-Phosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Natural and Artificial Colors, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Folic Acid, Biotin, Inositol, Tocopherol (Preservative), Ethoxyquin (Preservative).

Do you see the difference?
It is good to take a look at the protein content % in your betta food, but be aware that some fillers, such as soybean meal, are not quality protein, but will still contribute to that %. So that is not the only thing to look at when choosing a good food.

[buddhauser]

Just to add on in case you already dont... Frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms or Freeze dried blood worms are good for variety as well so your betta doesnt get bored of the same old same old.

[teeneythebetta]

Originally Posted by buddhauser

Just to add on in case you already dont... Frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms or Freeze dried blood worms are good for variety as well so your betta doesnt get bored of the same old same old.

Just keep in mind that these are TREATS and shouldn't be fed more than twice a week.
I gave my betta variety by giving her NLS pellets in the morning and omega one at night, so two feedings per day. And frozen bloodworms once a week.

Also one day out of the week you should not feed him anything. It is hard especially in the beginning, but this gives the diestive system a break so they don't get constipated, which is common in bettas.
It's hard to do but I just did this on the day out of the week that I'm away from home most xD

[dbrooke1]

thank you!! and i'm sorry for the very late response. betta is eating omega one pellets now. he likes it and gobbles it up like a little piggy, lol! so, he'll be fed this for now on with frozen blood worms and frozen brine shrimp once a week (each of them).
it's interesting fish need real good nutrients just like humans do. =) makes sense.
appreciate it greatly! =)

[sunlight]

i also feed them with Aqueon BettaFood

[teeneythebetta]

Originally Posted by dbrooke1

thank you!! and i'm sorry for the very late response. betta is eating omega one pellets now. he likes it and gobbles it up like a little piggy, lol! so, he'll be fed this for now on with frozen blood worms and frozen brine shrimp once a week (each of them).
it's interesting fish need real good nutrients just like humans do. =) makes sense.
appreciate it greatly! =)

Thats awesome! And yes, every animal needs a particular diet to be healthy. Same goes for dog and cat foods- you want meats as the first ingredients and little-to-no grains. (such as corn, wheat, etc.)
Most pet food brands are made for cheapness, not quality. So if you want quality you gotta know what to look for ;)

Originally Posted by sunlight

i also feed them with Aqueon BettaFood

Aqueon is not the worst brand, but the fillers start at the second ingredient so its not of great quality.