Who Gives A Fish Forums

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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?

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.

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

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.

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