Best Betta Fish Food Compared & Reviewed 2023

Getting the best food for your betta and providing it with a healthy diet doesn’t need to be hard.

In this article, I’m going to teach you my simple process for choosing betta fish food, so at the end, you’ll be able to provide your betta with a healthy diet.

Overview For Best Betta Fish Foods

I would urge you to pick out several kinds of food I have listed below so you can offer your fish a varied and interesting diet.

Last update on 2023-05-30 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

What You Should Look for When Choosing Betta Fish Food

When choosing food for your bettas, there are two simple rules you can use:

Rule 1: Keep it Protein-Based

Betta fish are mainly insectivores, meaning they primarily feed on insects and larvae, so their natural diet contains high amounts of protein.

If a particular fish food has a plant-based item at the top of its ingredient list, its protein contents are likely to be low or solely plant-derived. That means it  probably isn’t a very high-quality protein source.

Here’s what to look for instead:

Select a feed that contains protein-rich ingredients like whole fish, insect larvae, krill and shrimp. It’s better to choose a food that specifies which species the protein comes from: “whole krill” is a high quality ingredient, whereas generic “fish meal” is made up of leftover parts, like scales, guts and skin.

Lastly, be sure to look at the crude protein percentage of the food. For Bettas, aim to choose a food that contains around 30-40% or more of crude protein.

Rule 2: Stay Away From Fillers

Fillers are nasty little buggers, and you’re going to want to avoid them as much as possible.

Here’s the deal:

We’ve just talked about how important it is for Bettas to consume high-protein foods, right? Well, it might come as a surprise for you to learn that many manufacturers purposely add crappy fillers from plant materials to their products.

This is because plants are far cheaper than animal-based ingredients like shrimp and worms, so companies stuff in plant-based foods, usually grains, as fillers to keep their costs down. 

This practice makes it pretty difficult for hobbyists to find high-quality foods for their Bettas.

Here’s what you need to know to avoid the dreaded filler food:

Foods high in specified animal proteins are often low on fillers, too. If the first three or four ingredients of a selected product are plants like soy, wheat and rice, you’re probably best buying something else.

In addition to this, you should avoid products with lots of long, unidentifiable ingredients added like butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) as these, too, are often disguised fillers that can be harmful to Bettas.

The thing is, no matter how mindful you are about your fish’s food, most products will contain at least some plant foods.

I don’t want to scare you off of Betta foods containing plant-based food. Even the highest-quality Betta good will contain some plant ingredients to add fiber and obtain the right consistency. You just don’t want plant-based stuff like oatmeal, soy or wheat middlings to be the top ingredient.

Best Foods For Your Betta Fish

Now you know what to look out for when choosing your betta food, let’s discuss the different types available.

1. Betta Fish Flake Food

Betta flakes are a staple among aquatic hobbyists, mainly because they’re so simple to use.

There’s just two things you really need to remember:

When feeding with flakes, you want to make sure that they have a high enough  protein content and that the pieces are small enough for the Betta to fit in its mouth.

That’s pretty much the long and short of it!

The only downside to using flakes is that it’s difficult to control how much food your Bettas are eating; quantities aren’t as easy to measure with flakes as they are with pellets, for example.

And when it comes to cleaning up after mealtime:

Flakes also have a tendency to sink quickly to the bottom of aquariums, making them difficult to clean up. 

It’s best to use a feeding ring  so the flakes will float as long as possible and so your Betta always knows where to find its food.

I like these feeding rings, I have a bunch throughout my tanks. The suction cup wears out after a year or so, but they’re so cheap, I just switch them out for new ones when they give out.

Last update on 2023-05-30 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

In my opinion, the best flakes for a Betta are Fluval Bug Bites Color Enhancing Flakes. The main protein source is black soldier fly larvae, an excellent source of protein that mimics what a Betta would eat in the wild.

Last update on 2023-05-30 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

You can also supplement with Omega One Betta Buffet Flakes. Omega One is hands down one of the best fish food brands on the market. Salmon, whole herring, whole shrimp and halibut are the top  ingredients of this food, all great protein-rich food sources.

Last update on 2023-05-30 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

2. Betta Fish Floating Pellets

Pellets are another popular option that sidestep some of the issues that come with flakes. 

They float on top of the water, and their spherical shape makes them look more like insects and larvae. This should help pique your Betta’s interest.

You should ensure that the pellets you select have a high (animal derived) protein content containing a crude protein percentage of at least 30%. 

Again, I recommend using a feeding ring so the pellets don’t get blown around by your filtration.

I highly recommend feeding New Life Spectrum Betta floating pellets. Whole krill  is the first ingredient and it includes ingredients, like marigold, that are color enhancing. I’ve had a lot of success using these pellets.

Last update on 2023-05-30 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

I also really like Fluval Bug Bites Betta Formula Granules. Just like with the flakes, the first ingredient is black soldier fly larvae, perfect for any insectivorous fish.

Last update on 2023-05-30 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

3. Freeze-Dried Foods for Betta Fish

Freeze-dried foods, like tubifex worms and bloodworms, make excellent treats for your Betta. 

I wouldn’t necessarily make these a staple of their diet since they are completely devoid of fiber, but they’re something that can be added on a couple of times a week as a snack.

I’ve always used Hikari Freeze-Dried Bloodworms and Hikari Bio-Pure Freeze Dried Tubifex Worms.

Last update on 2023-05-30 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

4. Frozen Foods for Betta Fish

In my opinion, the best frozen foods for Bettas are brine shrimp, bloodworms and daphnia. 

All of these are protein-rich foods that are a good size for Bettas to eat and are usually readily accepted. 

The only problem is that the cubes that frozen food often come in are much too big for a single Betta. If you can, grab one of the brands where you’re meant to cut pieces off instead of thawing a whole cube. Then you can use a smaller portion.

5. Live Foods for Betta Fish

Live foods often get a bad reputation amongst hobbyist communities as they can sometimes carry harmful parasites.

Here’s the truth of the matter:

Although store-bought live foods come with this risky possibility, it’s actually quite easy to culture live insects and fish at home, allowing you to feed your Bettas without having to worry about making them ill.

Live foods are a great food source as they stimulate natural feeding behavior. Your fish will be able to hunt live prey, just like they would do in the wild, boosting their wellbeing whilst providing them with some extra nourishment.

You shouldn’t use live feed as a staple due to the lack of fiber, but occasionally it still serves as a nutritious and fun food source for your Bettas.

Brine Shrimp

Brine shrimp are small saltwater crustaceans that lay dormant eggs that you can store for long periods of time. Baby brine shrimp are one of the most protein-rich foods you can offer your Betta.

Hatching your own brine shrimp is a relatively simple process, especially since a single Betta doesn’t need tons of food.

The only hard part about hatching brine shrimp is separating the hatched egg casings from the shrimp, which is why I recommend the Hobby brand Artemia Hatchery.

This hatchery doesn’t require an airstone. You just fill it with 3 cups of water and 5 teaspoons of aquarium salt and about ⅛ teaspoon of brine shrimp eggs.

At normal room temperatures, you should get hatched shrimp at around 24 hours. You can keep harvesting from the same hatch for another 48-72 hours.

I’ve hatched so many shrimp with this thing. It has inner rings that the shrimp swim over to get to the light, leaving the unhatched eggs behind. So simple!

Brine shrimp also have the added benefit of being a natural laxative. So, you don’t want to feed them every day. But, feeding them a few times a week can help prevent your fish from becoming constipated.

Last update on 2023-05-31 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Daphnia

Daphnia are tiny planktonic crustaceans that live in ponds, filter feeding on algae and other organic matter.

To grow your own daphnia colony:

1. Fill a container or bucket with dechlorinated/rain water and leave it to stand for two days before adding daphnia eggs.

2. Within two weeks your daphnia eggs will begin to hatch and appear like small grains of salt moving around in the water. You’ll need to add either dried yeast or spirulina powder to the water for the daphnia to feed on. I recommend the spirulina powder the most since it is so highly nutritious.

3. Catch hatched daphnia with a net or turkey baster, being sure to leave some remaining for future reproduction, and feed them to your Betta fish.

Wingless Fruit Flies

If you don’t have the time to set up brine shrimp or daphnia colonies, wingless fruit flies are an easier option that serve as a nutritious and varied food source for Betta fish.

Simply purchase a wingless fruit fly colony (they’re often sold in cups) after a few days your flies will reproduce. Providing you with a long-lasting food supply.

The most highly recommended fruit fly culture I’ve seen comes from Josh’s Frogs. They are an awesome company with outstanding customer service. They have really impressed me, again and again.

Last update on 2023-05-30 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Which Food is Best?

Proper feeding is essential if you want your Betta to live a long and happy life.

I can’t say that any one food is the absolute best. Instead, I would urge you to pick out several kinds of food so that you can offer your fish a varied and interesting diet.

Just like people, fish need to eat a wide variety of ingredients in order to get all the nutrients they need.

This can also help keep your fish from getting bored from eating the same food again and again for months on end.

I hope you find this article helpful.

I wish you and your fish the very best!

Last update on 2023-05-30 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API