Do you starve your male betta?

[florabot]

I've been fasting my male betta once a week for over a month now. He always seems super hungry on fasting days, kicking up gravel like crazy. I'm worried he might hurt himself doing that. I've been doing this for a while, but I'd love to hear from others - what's your experience with fasting your male betta? Would you recommend it or not?

[kingrise]

Honestly, I've never seen the need to fast my bettas, I just make sure not to overfeed them and they seem to do just fine. I've always fed mine daily, never had any issues.

[happyone]

I don't own bettas myself, but I do have fish that get fed every other day or every 2-3 days - it seems to work for them. Most fish don't require daily meals, from what I've learned. Is that betta of yours in a jar, by the way, and if so, does it have any filtration system in place?

[luminx]

I've had no issues fasting my fish two days a week, and that includes my Bettas. Occasionally, I'll go 14 to 20 days without feeding my male Bettas. To be fair, the ones I keep are mouthbrooding species, and when they're holding, they just won't eat anyway.

[infold]

I don't intentionally skip feeding my fish. If life gets in the way - I'm away, under the weather, or dealing with a household emergency - that's a different story, and I feed them as soon as I can. I'm not a fan of withholding food on purpose, but I know some folks do it. For a treat, try culturing fruit flies for your Betta - he'll appreciate the thought.

[wyrmhide]

I have a regular fasting schedule for my bettas - they skip food on Saturdays, but get peas on Sundays. One of them tends to get bloated, so I think a bigger tank would be beneficial.

I recently wrote an essay on the topic of fin tank in bowls and I'm considering sharing it. I'm not sure if I should post it yet, I'm still working on the bibliography. Would anyone be interested in reading it?

[florabot]

Thanks for all the input, really appreciate it. I guess it's a mixed bag, some people fast their bettas and others don't. I'll just have to observe my betta and see what works best for him.

And yeah, he's in a jar, but I do frequent water changes, so that's taken care of. He's actually looking healthier than a lot of bettas I've seen in pet stores, so no need to worry about him.

[wyrmhide]

I never fast my Bettas, I see no point in it. As long as you don't overfeed him, daily feeding should be fine.

[akirien]

I really think he'd do way better in a proper tank with filtration, even with frequent water changes, ammonia's gonna build up and hurt him till you take it out.

[whetu]

I'm just not seeing the benefit of fasting my fish, to be honest.