The Top 7 Treats For Your Betta

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Your betta fish is your pride and joy, right? So, every now and then, it’s only right to give him a few treats to show him how much you love him.

In this guide, we take a look at what foods and treats are safe to feed your betta fish and what are unsuitable. Also, we’ll be providing you with reviews of the six of the best betta fish treats that you can buy today.

To read more about each treat, simply click on the handy in-text links we’ve provided, and order something tasty for your beloved betta buddy; he’ll love you for it!

Our Top 7 Betta Treats

So, here are our magnificent seven best betta treats that your fishy friend will love!

Fluker’s Freeze-Dried River Shrimp

Fluker’s Freeze-Dried River Shrimp makes an excellent treat for your betta fish. Shrimp are a natural food source for many species of fish, providing a high source of good quality protein and essential amino acids that can make a useful addition to your betta buddy’s diet.

Also, river shrimp are ideal for aquatic frogs, so if you have African dwarf frogs sharing a tank with your betta, they are going to love this treat too.

What we like:

• Offers something a little different for your betta
• Can also be fed to frogs and shrimp

Room for improvement:

• Some fish will not eat the treats, causing waste in the tank. However, if you have a cleaning crew of shrimp or Corydoras catfish in your community, they will help to eat up any leftovers.

San Francisco Bay Brand Freeze-dried Bloodworms

San Francisco Bay Brand Freeze-dried Bloodworms are absolutely perfect for betta fish and other carnivorous members of a community tank.

The bloodworms are hygienically processed, so you can be confident that the product contains no harmful bacteria or pathogens. Because they are packed with fat, fiber, and protein, dried bloodworm can make a very useful addition to your betta fish’s regular diet.

Remember to soak the bloodworms in a little bit of tank water before feeding them to your fish, as that helps to prevent constipation.

What we like:

• A convenient way of feeding a natural, nutritious foodstuff to your betta
• Guaranteed to contain no harmful pathogens

Room for improvement:

• It can cause an oily film on the water surface, which you then have to clean up.

Aquatic Foods Inc. Gourmet Blend

Aquatic Foods Inc. Gourmet Blend is a high-quality treat that contains tubifex, white worms, bloodworms, California blackworms, and beef heart mix, all of which provide valuable nutrients for your betta, as well as making a tasty, healthy treat.

The product also contains spinach, shrimp, vitamin B1, spirulina, multi-vitamins, astaxanthin, and menhaden oil and is high in protein whilst also being a great source of fat and fiber. You can buy the treat in packs of 10 grams, 50 grams, 100 grams, and 200 grams.

What we like:

• The product contains a good mixture of treats that your fish will love
• Extra vitamins are included in the mix, making this a healthy addition to your betta’s diet

Room for improvement:

• Some users report that the quality of the product is variable.

Freeze Dried Tubifex Worm Cubes

Freeze Dried Tubifex Worm Cubes make an excellent substitute to frozen and live betta treats, being much easier to store and having a longer shelf life.

The cubes contain small to medium-sized tubifex worms, and the good news is that there are no preservatives, chemicals, or additives included. This USA-made product is a high-protein food that can be included as part of your betta fish’s regular diet.

What we like:

• Product is easy and convenient to store
• Contains no chemicals or other additives
• Made in the USA

Room for improvement:

• Some users reported that their fish wouldn’t eat the treats
• A few people complained that the product made their tank water cloudy

Beef Heart Mix

Aquatic Foods Beef Heart Products is a freeze-dried mix that contains California blackworms and beef heart. The ingredients are freeze-dried, flash-frozen, and sourced from farms in the USA.

The mix contains mostly beef heart with added shrimp, spirulina, vitamin B1, astaxanthin, menhaden oil, and multi-vitamins to promote excellent health for your fishy friend.

Each of the cubes is approximately half an inch square for convenient storage.

What we like:

•  A nutritious, tasty snack for your fish
• Easy to store
• Contains added vitamins

Room for improvement:

• Some purchasers reported that their fish wouldn’t eat the mix

S&C Aquatics Super Betta Floating BIT Mix

S&C AQUATICS Super Betta Floating BIT Mix comes in a convenient range of pack sizes from just a one-ounce sample, right through to a massive two-pound bag.

These treats come in the form of tiny floating pellets that are the ideal size for bettas and other surface feeding fish species. The pellets contain a mixture of krill, spirulina, brine shrimp, fish meal, fish oil, astaxanthin, together with added vitamins and minerals.

What we like:

• The treats are in pellet form and float on the surface of the water, making them ideal for betta fish
• The mix used is very appetizing for bettas, so there is very little waste

Room for improvement:

• Although the product does contain added vitamins and minerals, it also contains a high percentage of cereal and artificial colorings

Aquatic Foods Inc. Blackworms with Plankton & Mysis

Aquatic Foods Inc. Blackworms with Plankton & Mysis is a betta treat that comes in the form of cubes of various sizes, with approximately 175 to 200 cubes per 100 grams pack. The cubes contain a mixture of freeze-dried California blackworms, PE Mysis, and plankton.

What we like:

• The product contains no artificial colors, preservatives, or additives
• All-natural food that complements your betta’s diet

Room for improvement:

• We couldn’t find any negative user reviews for this product

Why Should You Feed Your Betta Fish Treats?

Betta fish like to have a varied diet and including a few treats each week can be a great way of providing variety and extra interest for your fishy friend.

Bettas can be picky eaters, especially if they are stressed. If you just bought your betta fish home and he is refusing to eat, offering him a few tasty treats can be just what he needs to kickstart his appetite again.

Another cause of poor appetite in betta fish is constipation. That condition usually occurs because the fish has eaten too much and has excess dried food impacting his digestive tract. In cases of constipation, usually a day or two without food can be all it takes to get things moving again.

Where can you buy betta fish treats?

You can buy all the products we’ve reviewed in this guide by following the in-text links that we’ve provided for you. Also, most pet stores will stock a more limited range of treats and specialist foods that would be suitable for your betta.

In their natural environment, betta fish feed on insects and insect larvae. So, by including some live food in your fish’s diet, such as mosquito larvae or bloodworms, you’ll be giving him a nutritious taste of the wild!

However, you must take care to source any live food from a reliable provider who can give you their assurance that the food is home-reared and does not contain any contaminants, bacteria, or pathogens that could harm your fish.

Never take any form of betta food from the natural environment. That’s a surefire way of introducing disease to your tank, which could wipe out the whole community.

DIY Betta Fish Treats

As well as feeding your betta the treats that we’ve reviewed in this guide, you could have a go at making your own betta fish treats.

Peas

Even though they are primarily carnivorous, betta fish love peas!

Simply, thaw out a frozen pea, and remove the shell. Finely dice the pea and offer it to your betta, who will quickly make short work of the treat!

Although peas do make an excellent betta fish treat, they are also great for curing and preventing constipation in betta fish, so it’s a good idea to offer your betta buddy a pea once a week anyway.

How to make gel food

Gel food is often used by fancy goldfish keepers, which can suffer from swim bladder problems if they are fed exclusively on flake or pellet foods.

To make your own gel food, choose what ingredients you’d like to feed to your betta, puree them together, and then bind them using agar agar or gelatin. Gel food can be frozen and then thawed before use.

Here’s a simple gel food recipe:

• Frozen bloodworms or mosquito larvae
• Frozen shrimp
• Spinach leaves
• Fresh garlic
• Agar agar or gelatin

Betta fish only require a very small portion of food at a time. Use lots of gelatin so that the resulting mixture is quite stiff. That enables you to cut the gel into smaller pieces, which are a perfect size for your betta.

Live food

Live foods are an excellent betta treat option, as that’s what betta fish eat in their wild environment. So, hatching and raising a few bugs will add variety to your betta’s diet and stimulate natural feeding behavior.

Brine shrimp are minuscule saltwater crustaceans that are very easy to raise. The shrimp produce inactive eggs that you can store. Get yourself a brine shrimp hatching kit and simply follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Wingless fruit flies are incredibly simple to raise. Wingless fruit flies, as you would expect from their name, cannot fly, making them the ideal food for your betta fish.

All you need to do is buy a fruit fly colony that you can find online or from your local fish store. The colonies come in handy cups that keep on producing new flies for weeks.

Simply feed the fruit flies, then begin offering them to your fish after just a few days.

Other live foods that you can “grow” at home include:

• Vinegar eels
• Micro worms
• Moina (similar to daphnia but smaller, so ideal for your betta)

Raising live colonies of food for your betta is not as tricky as you might at first think and has lots of benefits.

First of all, you know exactly where the food has originated, and you can be confident that everything you are offering your fish is free from contaminants. Also, breeding your own live food is much cheaper than constantly having to buy it.

Powdered spirulina

To make this quick and simple treat for your betta fish, pour roughly 3 ounces of tank water into a small cup, and add 1 teaspoon of powdered spirulina.

Stir the mixture thoroughly so that the powder dissolves and evenly fills the water. Add ¾ tablespoon of fry fish bites, ½ teaspoon of finely ground flake food, and ½ teaspoon of ground bloodworm.

Add a few drops of the treat to the tank water directly above your betta fish so that they can see and smell it.

Infusoria

The simplest way to create a liquid treat for your betta is to use an infusoria, although it isn’t fast food and does take a few days to grow.

Take a glass jar, fill it with water, and pull a leaf from the head of lettuce. Immerse the lettuce leaf in the water and place the jar on a windowsill where it will get lots of direct sunlight. After a few days, you will notice that the watercolor changes to a greenish hue. That’s because of the build-up of algae in the water. You can then feed the algae-rich water to your betta fish as a treat.

General tips on feeding your betta fish

Here are a few useful betta feeding tips to take note of:

• Never overfeed your betta fish. Your betta’s stomach is about the same size as his eye. So, one or two pellets or two live bloodworms are plenty for one feeding.
• Betta fish will continue to eat if there’s food available, but overeating can lead to swim bladder problems, bloating, and constipation.
• Schedule one day a week when you don’t feed your fish. A fasting day will allow undigested food to pass through the fish’s digestive tract, helping to prevent constipation and other health issues.
• Betta fish are picky eaters, especially when stressed. Do not be alarmed if your new fish does not accept food for up to a week or even longer.
• Betta fish enjoy a varied diet, so be sure to include a few of the treats we have suggested, and don’t always feed your pet the same food every day.
• Remove any uneaten food from your betta tank. Uneaten food will slowly rot, releasing harmful toxins into the water as it does so.

You can read a full, detailed article on how to feed your betta fish at this link.

In Summary

The key to a healthy betta is to feed him little and often. You should offer your betta fish a varied diet that includes a few of the treats that we’ve recommended in this article.

Why not have a go at making some treat food or even growing your own live snacks that your fishy friend will love?

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