Care & feeding guide

What to Feed a Betta: Pellets, Treats and How Much

A betta eats a few pellets, not a pinch. How much and how often, floating vs sinking, bloodworms and frozen treats, and signs of overfeeding.

A betta is a small, mostly meat-eating fish that feeds at the surface. It eats a few pellets at a time, not a pinch.

Feed a betta pellet, add a treat now and then, and take out anything left over. Most betta food problems are really water problems from too much food.

Right

A betta meal is a few pellets, not a pinch.

At a glance

Best staple A floating betta pellet
How much 3-4 pellets, never more than 5
How often Twice a day
Treats Bloodworms a few times a week
Leftovers Take out after a couple of minutes
Avoid Pinches of flake, bloodworms as the staple

What to feed

A betta pellet is the staple. Bloodworms and other treats are extras.

Five betta foods side by side: small floating pellets, tiny slow-sinking granules, thin flakes, dry red freeze-dried bloodworms and a small piece of a frozen cube — Pellets every day. Bloodworms and frozen foods as treats.

Pellets or granules

The everyday food. What makes it a betta food is the size: where makers list it, betta pellets run 0.25 mm to 1.5 mm, sized for a small mouth.

Betta flakes

Some makers sell flakes made for bettas. A tropical flake made for a school of community fish isn't the right everyday food for a betta.

Freeze-dried bloodworms

A treat. Hikari sells its own bloodworms as a treat. They are over 50% protein from one ingredient, so they go alongside pellets, not instead of them.

Frozen foods

Bloodworms or brine shrimp, as a treat. See the thawing steps below.

Floating or sinking?

Start with a floating pellet. You can see exactly what got eaten.

Two tank views: a betta taking a floating pellet at the surface, and a slow-sinking pellet lying uneaten on the gravel below a betta — Floating food stays where a betta looks for it.

Bettas feed at the surface.
Some betta foods float and some sink slowly. The bag says which.
Aqueon is the only maker that ties floating pellets to surface feeding.
A floating pellet lets a first-time keeper see what was eaten and what was missed.
A slow-sinking food works too. Just watch where each piece lands and take out any that reach the bottom.

Compare 17 betta foods: form, size, protein, fat and feeding

Pick a betta pellet that prints its numbers. Where a maker prints no protein figure, compare on the first ingredient and the pellet size instead.

Food	Form and size	Protein	Fat	How much, per the maker's label
Hikari Betta Bio-Gold	Floating pellet, 1.1-1.4 mm	38.0% min	4.0% min	3 pellets up to 3 times a day for a 1.5-1.75" betta, plus 1 per 1/4" of growth. Never more than 5 at a feeding
Hikari Micro Pellets	Slow-sinking or semi-floating	43.0% min	7.0% min	6 pellets morning and night under 1.5", plus 2 per 1/4" of growth
Fluval Bug Bites Betta Micro Granules	Slow-sinking granule, 0.25-1.0 mm	45.0% min	12.5% min	What it eats in 2 minutes, 2-3 times a day
Fluval Bug Bites Betta Flakes	Flake	46.0% min	7.5% min	What it eats in 2 minutes, 2-3 times a day
NorthFin Betta Bits	Slow-sinking pellet, 1 mm	45% min	5% min	4-6 bits a day
NorthFin Super Betta	Floating pellet, 1 mm	42% min	5% min	not listed
Ocean Nutrition Atison's Betta Food	Floating pellet, 1.5 mm	41.0% min	6.0% min	Up to 7 pellets twice a day
Ocean Nutrition Atison's Betta Pro	Floating pellet, 1 mm	38.0% min	7.5% min	Twice a day, what it eats in a few minutes
Ocean Nutrition Atison's Betta Starter	Floating crumble for fry, 0.3-0.5 mm	55.0% min	9.0% min	Twice a day from day 3 to the end of month 1
Zoo Med Micro Floating Betta Pellets	Floating pellet, size not listed	40.0% min	8.0% min	What it eats in 5 minutes, then scoop out leftovers
SFBB Betta Food (bloodworms)	Freeze-dried, one ingredient	53.6% min	3.2% min	Twice a day, eaten in 3 minutes, remove leftovers
Hikari Bio-Pure FD Blood Worms	Freeze-dried	55% min	4% min	A treat, up to 3 times a day, eaten within a minute
Repashy Spawn & Grow	Gel you mix with boiling water	45% min	10% min	Offer freely
Zoo Med Betta Banquet 7-Day Block	Vacation block	3.5% min	0.4% min	One block for a short trip. First ingredient is calcium sulfate
API Betta Pellets and Flakes	Pellet and flake	not listed	not listed	2 or 3 minutes; the label gives both
Seachem NutriDiet Betta	Flake	not listed	not listed	What it eats in 2 minutes
Aqueon Betta Food and Nutrinsect Betta	Pellet	not listed	not listed	Nutrinsect: 2-3 times a day, eaten in 2 minutes, leftovers out after 5

Figures are each maker's guaranteed analysis. Staple pellets run 38% to 46% protein and 4% to 12.5% fat, all for the same fish. The vacation block is far lower, which is why it's a stopgap, not a week of food.

How much and how often

Three or four pellets, twice a day. Never more than five at one feeding.

Two views of a betta at the surface: one with three pellets floating in front of it, one with a cloud of flakes spreading and sinking around it — Count the pellets. Don't pinch the flakes.

Our advice fits inside every label we checked: three or four pellets, twice a day, never more than five in one go. Anything still there after a couple of minutes comes out.

Why a count. Hikari's betta pellet sets 5 pellets as the most at one feeding. A count is hard to get wrong with a fish this small.
Why not "a few minutes". Makers give anywhere from 1 minute to 5 minutes, and once to three times a day. Those don't line up.
Growing fish. Hikari adds a pellet for each 1/4 inch of growth, still never more than 5 at a time.

Fish	Staple pellets	Bloodworms and other treats
Adult betta	Twice a day, 3-4 pellets	A few times a week
Young betta, under 1.5 inches	Twice a day, a smaller pellet	Not listed by the makers

For a young betta, Hikari's micro pellet suggests 6 small pellets morning and night. For a 1.5-1.75 inch betta, Hikari's Bio-Gold suggests 3 pellets up to three times a day.

How to feed

One pellet at a time. Watch each one go down.

Drop in one pellet. Hikari's own care sheet says feed one at a time.
Watch it go down. Then add the next, up to your count, so nothing sinks unnoticed.
Take out leftovers. Anything left after a couple of minutes comes out with a small net or a turkey baster.

One pellet at a time, then lift out what's left.

Space meals out. Hikari says at least three hours apart, and finish before lights out.
Keep the water warm. A cold betta won't eat well. A heater and a thermometer come first.

Treats: bloodworms and frozen food

Treats a few times a week, alongside pellets. Frozen food never gets heated.

Freeze-dried bloodworms

We suggest soaking them in a little tank water for a minute first. Hikari's FAQ describes soaking freeze-dried food too.

Wash your hands

SFBB's label says bloodworms can cause an allergic reaction in some people. Wash your hands after handling them.

Frozen cubes for one betta

A whole cube is far too much for one small fish.

Break off a small piece of the frozen cube.
Let it thaw in a little cup of tank water.
Feed a few pieces to your betta.
Throw away the rest. Don't save it.

A small piece, thawed in tank water. Feed a few, toss the rest.

put the rest of the cube straight back in the freezer.

Don't

use hot water or a microwave to thaw it.
rinse thawed food through a net. SFBB says a lot of the nutrients wash away.
refreeze food that has fully thawed.

Signs you're feeding too much

Uneaten food rots and raises ammonia. Take out leftovers.

Two bettas side by side: one with a slightly curved belly, one with a round, swollen belly — A slightly curved belly is right. Swollen means feed less.

Look at the belly

Fluval says a slightly curved belly is ideal. Judge by the fish, not the bag.

Look at the water

Hikari names ammonia spikes and cloudy water as what overfeeding does. Our betta care sheet adds bloating and swim bladder trouble.

Belly looks swollen? Cut back to a couple of pellets and skip a day. That's our own advice: no food maker prints a fasting day.

Three bettas showing warning signs: one with scales standing out like a pinecone and a swollen body, one lying still on the bottom with clamped fins, and one floating tilted near the surface — These go beyond feeding. Test the water and talk to us.

Some signs go beyond feeding:

Scales standing out like a pinecone, with a badly swollen belly.
Lying on the bottom, clamped fins, or not eating.
Floating sideways, stuck at the top, or unable to stay down.

Feeding setup and storage

Heater, thermometer, a small net, and a food jar kept closed and out of the sun.

A small heated betta tank with a lid, a heater and a stick-on thermometer on the glass, a small net beside it and a closed jar of betta food on a shelf away from a sunny window — Everything that makes feeding work. Tap a number to see why.

Heater: a cold betta won't eat. This comes before food.
Thermometer: shows what the water really is.
Small net or baster: to lift out leftovers.
Food jar: closed, cool and away from sun, heat and damp.

Water care. A water conditioner and a test kit. The risk from overfeeding is a water risk, so water care is the answer.
Buy the small jar. A betta eats a few pellets a day.
After opening. Hikari says use it within 90 days. Fluval and Ocean Nutrition say 6 months.
Keep it out of the sun. Hikari names sunlight, heat and humidity as what spoils it. Don't keep the jar on a sunny windowsill by the tank.

Going away

A vacation block is a stopgap, not a week of food. A helper with counted pellets is better.

The 7-day block. Zoo Med's Betta Banquet lists calcium sulfate as its first ingredient. Its protein is 3.5%, against 38% or more in a betta pellet.
Better, if you have help. Put a few pellets in a pill organizer, one per section, and have a neighbor drop one in every other day.
Automatic feeder. Zoo Med says its Bettamatic feeds your betta every 12 hours.

Quick answers

How much do I feed my betta? Three or four pellets, twice a day, never more than five at once. Take out anything left after a couple of minutes.

Can my betta eat tropical flakes? For a few days, yes. A betta pellet is sized for its mouth and made for a mostly meat-eating fish, so it's the better staple.

Can bloodworms be the main food? No. They're a treat, a few times a week alongside pellets.

Do I thaw frozen food? For a betta, yes: thaw a small piece in a little cup of tank water. Never with hot water or a microwave.

My betta looks bloated. What do I do? Cut back to a couple of pellets and skip a day. If it also sits on the bottom, stops eating, or its scales stand out, bring us a water sample and see a vet who treats fish.

How long does an open jar last? Hikari says 90 days. Fluval and Ocean Nutrition say 6 months. Keep it closed, cool and out of the sun.

Is a 7-day block enough for a week away? It's a stopgap. It's mostly calcium sulfate with food in it. A neighbor with counted pellets is better.

Shop this

Pick up in store or have it shipped.

Shop betta and fish food Shop freeze-dried treats Shop conditioners and test kits

Reviewed by our team 2026-11-09. Nutrition figures are each maker's published guaranteed analysis.