What Do Betta Eat in the Wild?

Betta fish (scientific name: Betta splendens), or Siamese fighting fish, are native to tropical areas around Thailand and Malaysia. The betta commonly found in pet stores are selectively bred fish that differs from their wild counterparts. Captive bettas were bred for coloration and the aquarium environment; therefore, they are used to prepared fish foods. However, you can simulate their natural diet with certain frozen and live foods.

  1. Natural Wild Diet

    • Bettas are commonly found in rice patties, canals and some rivers and floodplains. They are a type of air-breathing fish called "labyrinth fish" and can thrive in areas that cannot support other types of fish. Although they will occasionally eat plant matter, they are mostly carnivores that eat mosquito larvae and other small insects that land on the surface of the water.

    Simulating a Wild Diet in Captivity

    • Although it is common to feed captive betta fish food specially prepared for their species, you can simulate their natural diet with a variety of other foods. The first method is to feed them live foods, such as baby brine shrimp. Don't feed live foods too often, as the betta can become accustomed to them and refuse prepared foods. For a food that is not live but closer to the betta's natural diet, try frozen bloodworms.

    Simulating Betta's Environment

    • Fishbase advises against keeping bettas in small containers and recommends an aquarium size of at least 60 centimeters (about 23 inches) in diameter, or roughly a 1 gallon of total water volume. Bettas will tolerate colder water conditions, but they are tropical fish and need a water temperature between 74 and 86 degrees. You can also add live or plastic plants to the water to better simulate the rice patties and floodplains of their natural environment. Live plants will also have the added benefit of removing nitrate from the water, a toxic chemical and byproduct of feeding.

    Housing Bettas With Other Fish

    • Male bettas will fight each other, so an aquarium should house only one male. Males may tolerate females, but it is best to keep them apart unless you are breeding them. Although bettas have a reputation for being aggressive, their aggression is focused mainly on their own species. Therefore, they should not be kept with other aggressive fish, particularly if the other fish may nip at the betta's fins. For feeding purposes, house bettas with omnivorous or carnivorous (but not predatory) fish that will accept the same foods as the bettas.