Betta pellets are specially formulated with the optimal nutrients for bettas to thrive. Unfortunately, these pellets don’t have the right amounts of protein and nutrients that angelfish need to thrive; however, angelfish can still eat betta food and be satisfied. Betta food should be ok for angelfish in the short-term, but shouldn’t be sustained longer than a meal or two
Although angelfish may be satisfied with eating betta food, you should not rely on feeding only these pellets to your angelfish. Betta pellets may provide angelfish with enough nutrients to stay alive. But they may have a shorter lifespan, have more difficulties when trying to reproduce, or be less healthy than other angelfish fed a balanced diet with proper nutrients.
Feeding Betta Food To Angelfish
Angelfish can be fed betta food pellets, and they will be able to survive perfectly fine.
However, as a responsible fish owner, you should want to give your fish the proper food they need to survive and thrive in your tank. Therefore, you should ensure that you get fish food that is specifically formulated for your angelfish.
Angelfish are omnivores and eat everything from flakes to algae and live foods. Although angelfish cannot survive purely on a diet of algae, it provides additional nutrients to supplement the diet to allow it to be more well-balanced.
Angelfish also have relatively large mouths and often attempt to eat smaller fish in the tank, which can fit inside their mouths.
Feeding Tropical Fish Flakes To Angelfish
Angelfish are a species of tropical freshwater fish; therefore, many people pair angelfish with other tropical freshwater tank mates such as guppies and tetras.
A fish owner with multiple species of tropical fish in their fish tank may choose to feed all their tropical fish the same type of food – tropical fish flakes.
Tropical fish flakes contain all the nutrients needed for your angelfish to stay strong and healthy. They are a popular choice for many to use as a staple food for their angelfish because it is the most commonly available fish food at a pet store.
Many angelfish owners also tend to feed their fish cichlid flakes with tropical fish flakes interchangeably.
Feeding Brine Shrimp To Angelfish
An essential part of an angelfish diet is protein. Brine shrimp are a popular snack with angelfish in the wild, filled with protein content, so it is recommended to incorporate this as a food in your angelfish diet.
Feeding brine shrimp to your angelfish will allow them to remain strong and healthy and meet their nutritional requirements for protein intake.
Feeding Bloodworms To Angelfish
Another popular food that angelfish tend to enjoy is bloodworms. Bloodworms can serve as a snack for angelfish, or they can be an entire meal on their own.
Bloodworms are very convenient to feed your fish as they are found primarily as frozen cubes, which you can store in their freezer for months, so it is a wise snack to feed your angelfish from time to time for extra protein or as a meal supplement.
Feeding Mealworms To Angelfish
Mealworms are a slightly larger snack you can give to your angelfish occasionally. Mealworms are an excellent snack to feed your fish as they contain a lot of protein and fats.
However, it would be best to not feed mealworms to your angelfish too often, as they are a filling snack, and you don’t want to risk overfeeding your fish.
Keeping Angelfish And Bettas Together
It is not recommended for one to keep angelfish and bettas in the same tank with one another as both species of fish have an aggressive temperament and quite a territorial nature.
One can keep angelfish and bettas in the same tank under certain conditions, although it may not always work out depending on how aggressive the temperament of one’s fish is.
Should one want to keep angelfish and bettas together, to ensure the best possibility of success, they will need to have a relatively large fish tank with lots of ornaments and live plants.
A larger tank reduces the chances of the angelfish and bettas from running into one another in the tank. In addition, it allows more room for each fish to establish their own territories away from the other.
Ensuring that one’s tank has many ornaments and live plants allows a fish to have many hiding spots to retreat to should they be chased by another fish showing aggression towards them by chasing them and nibbling at their fins.
One must note that even if they provide the right living conditions, keeping angelfish and bettas together may not always be successful.
How Often To Feed Angelfish
Juvenile angelfish require food three to four times per day. They require more daily feedings because they need more nutrients from food to grow to be full-sized, healthy adult angelfish.
Adult angelfish only need to be fed two times per day. You can feed them less than juveniles as they only need enough nutrients to maintain themselves and survive, as they do not need any extra nutrients to grow bigger as they have already reached their full size as adults.
Although it is recommended to feed your angelfish multiple times per day, should angelfish not be fed for a while for any reason, adult angelfish will be able to survive for over three days without food.
In contrast, juveniles may die after the first or second day of not being fed. The period for which they can survive may vary depending on the overall health and age of the fish.
Over-Feeding Angelfish
Fish don’t necessarily know when to stop eating, so avoid giving your angelfish too much food by feeding them the right amount. It is recommended only to feed your angelfish as much as they can consume within two minutes. Feeding them any longer can lead to over-feeding.
Over-feeding can be detrimental as the leftover food not eaten by your angelfish will float around in your tank and can cause the ammonia levels in your tank to rise. This results in poor water quality, which can harm the health of your fish living in the tank.
Over-feeding your angelfish can cause your fish to become constipated, which may cause issues with your fish’s swim bladder. The swim bladder helps to control the buoyancy of your fish and allows it to swim around normally.
Constipation may cause your angelfish to get a swollen belly and makes your fish’s swim bladder unable to fill up with gas. This results in your fish being unable to swim properly, which can result in the death of your fish if it cannot excrete the excess food.
Conclusion
Although it is always recommended to feed your angelfish food specially formulated with the correct amount of nutrients for them to grow and be strong and healthy, they can survive by eating betta food pellets or tropical fish flakes. However, for optimum vitality, it is always recommended to feed your angelfish a variety of high-protein foods and flakes to ensure a well-balanced diet.