My Betta's Belly

[valleyankee]

My boy is royal blue but with a really black head. I was looking at him up close today and I noticed that he has a bit of a belly. It's hard to see because he is dark and it is behind his fins. How big should a Betta's belly be? It doesn't look grossly enlarges but it does show.

I give him about 5-6 small NLS pellets twice a day, so I don't think I am overfeeding. I fast him 2 days a week on the weekend.

???

[valleyankee]

Here is a picture of what his belly looks like...... I have a feeling this is normal. (this isn't my fish, just a link)

http://s4.hubimg.com/u/222575_f520.jpg

[Kytkattin]

5-6 twice a day is way too much food. Yes, those pellets are some of the smallest, but I wouldn't feed more than 8 pellets a day, max. 6 is probably a better number.

Of course it is natural for the belly to be that enlarged right after feeding, but no more food should be given if it still looks like that for the next feeding. It should digest within a couple of hours. My boys tend to look "normal" after about an hour.

[emeraldsky]

Crowntails are prone to bloating as well since they have a more streamlined body than other tail types.


I havent used that food before so I can tell how much would be good for him, sorry!



Very pretty boy too c:

[Rosso1011]

Valleyankee, another idea to help you out, if you can, watch him at feeding times and see how much he eats. My betta will usually only eat 3 - 4 pellets a feeding.

[valleyankee]

Originally Posted by Rosso1011

Valleyankee, another idea to help you out, if you can, watch him at feeding times and see how much he eats. My betta will usually only eat 3 - 4 pellets a feeding.

OMG, My boy is like a lawnmover when he eats. If he could (and he can) he would jump out of the tank and eat out of the container. Feeding time is a very frenzied experience. He even knows the container and goes nuts when he see's it.

[Rosso1011]

Originally Posted by valleyankee

He even knows the container and goes nuts when he see's it.

Rosso is conditioned to the shake of his pellet container. When he sees/hears the shaking food container, he perks up and starts swimming for the top of his tank. Fortunately, he can only eat so much in one feeding.

Funny you referred to his eating habits as like a lawnmower, I was personally reminded of pacman when I switched him to a more palatable pellet.

[Wulvie Sharpteeth]

I feed my Bettas 2 small pellets in the morning and then 3 at night (each)

They love Their nom-noms :3

[valleyankee]

That's a good new name for a yellow Betta, Mr. Pacman.

[TaraVictor]

I often wonder the same with Victor. There have been a few times where his belly has really been bloated, and so I tried the pea thing, which worked. Then I fed him the next day and he was bloated again, so I decided to fast him for a day or so, and his belly went back down to normal.

I didn't feed him yesterday either, because his belly was quite bloated the day before. I think I'm gonna treat him with some blood worms today. Maybe feed him like 3 at a time.

It's a lot easier now to control how much I feed him now that I have no other fish sharing his tank... xP