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I have a friend who just received a betta as a gift.

1) Are pellets the preferred food or only to be used as a "treat" ??

2) My friend bought pellets that sank!! Is that normal for a betta food? The poor fish couldn't even get to them. This particular food was a well-respected brand name.

3) The betta goes nuts at water changing time - his color fades (no doubt from stress). Is there something that can be done to aleve that stress for him? He is usually poured from his vase into a holding vase until the water is cleaned. I suggested a net instead. The net produced results that were just as bad as far as stress.

4) Lastly, please ounce "Betta" for me.

I am asking for my friend, but am also interested in purchasing a betta for myself.

Thanks everyone

I use a big mix of food sinking and floating also my Betta eats it all. Usung one food would not be the best over a period of time the fish could become very sick as it will be missing on a good varied diet.

How old is the Betta?
What size is his tank?
Is he alone or with other fish?
He could just be a very nervious fish.
Can you give more details re changing the water. (Cleaning Water)

BEE TAR BEE TA some say BEAT ARE There posibly many more as well.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

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Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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Betta is like better. "baytuh" only has one T

Pellets are fine. The main thing is that it needs to be high in protein, about 40% or more. Some worm or shrimp flakes would be fine too (but they are dreadfully fussy at times so pellets seem to work better)

I prefer floating food. My fave is hikari betta biogold, but betta bites are also ok (though they can sink and are a bit oily, so I usually buy guppy bites instead)

Just get him into a routine. If its expected, its less scary than the unknown. maybe tap on the desk twice before you go to change the water, pour him carefully into a holding cup or vase and perhaps feed him something messy while he's in there (frozen bloodworms are a nice treat) and then pop him back in.

I don't use nets on bettas, I use my hands and cups. Nets tend to stress them out and cause a bit of damage etc IME.

HTH

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

it isn't beta like in beta alpha and gamma,

bet-a is probably better.

i would get bio-gold as a stable food, and freezed dried blood worms as a special item.

beta if it was spelled with one t, but its spelled with 2 ts, which changes the sounds.

It's pretty obvious what people are talking about either way though, aren't that many things you could get it muddled up with

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

What about the sinking pellets?? Would the Betta stand a chance of digging them out of the stones? He was given some freeze-dried shrimp this a.m. and seemed quite intrigued. We are going to try worms on Monday

He is usually poured from his vase into a holding vase until the water is cleaned

How big is this vase he lives in?

About the sinking food, he may or may not go after it. My betta expects his food to be at the surface. He doesn't like to chase the food that sinks.

Most of the time I feed my betta Tetra Tropical Granules. Sometimes I switch it up with other foods I have and sometimes he gets some frozen blood worms.

I would mix the foods up. Feeding the same kind all the time will make them used to that particular food and they may not accept anything else. Also, they need a varied diet.

*Kristin*

Bet-uh is how you say it

I would avoid sinking foods myself, and stick with food that stays at the top. Pellets should be a main diet and bloodworms (frozen or freeze dried) should be added as treats about 1 or 2 a week

That is wierd about him losing his color when you do water changes. . . my fish seem to love it when I do water changes, they get really bright and my khulis swim all over the tank so I am not sure what's going on with yours. . .

Do you let the water sit for a while or do you use water strait from the tap. The tap water may be too cold. Try saving a plastic milk jug, rinse it out really well, and let the tap water sit for a few hours with the water conditioner to let the temp become close to room temp.

Pellets are the easiest form of food for bettas to eat. They can eat flakes but they prefer pellet formed food.

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

ummm vase? does it have anything in it like a plant or something? i heard about 1s with plants and these kill the fish... JW

Melafix is for fishies, not for people. Trust me, I know from personal experience.

It actually is quite a large vase, with a plant growing out the top of it. Much more humane than many betta setups I have seen.

Water is changed once a week. He lets the water set for awhile and uses water conditioner.

I think Mr. Fish is losing his color because he is stressed. My clown loaches do that sometimes.

I am going to share some of my bloodworms with Mr. Fish this week - we'll see how he likes those.

Thanks for the advice

Its not the plant that kills the betta. Some people still think the betta will eat the plant as a source of food. Bettas are carnivores mainly eating insects from the surface of the water. They need to be fed a high quality floating pellet food. It is the lack of nutrition that kills the bettas in these type setups.

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey