Betta fish, often also known as Siamese fighting fish because of the male's tendency to fight, are native to Asia where they live in the shallow waters of ponds and slow-moving streams.

The Betta is a magnificent creature, with different morphological and fin variations in the pet trade - over 73 different forms have been recognised and the number is growing.

This is not always the case, however, and wild bettas are far less colourful than their vibrant captive cousins.

Apart from their colour, both wild and captive betta fish are the same, including their diet.

Betta fish are carnivorous fish and have a different diet in the wild, which is difficult to replicate in captivity.

If you own or intend to own a betta fish, you may be wondering what they eat in the wild and what they should be fed as a pet.

In this article we will answer both of these questions to help you provide the best nutrition for your pet betta fish. Let's dive in!

In the wild, bettas are carnivores, or more accurately, insectivores.

Feeding on a variety of small insects, larvae, invertebrates and even the occasional small fish, which also means they eat small crustaceans, insect larvae, insects, worms and even small fish.

In the home aquarium, betta fish can eat a wide variety of foods such as betta pellets, betta fillets, bloodworms, brine shrimps

daphnia, mud shrimp, and tubular worms. Mosquito larvae these small insects are naturally native to Asia, the birthplace of the betta fish, and are extremely high in protein, an essential nutrient for both wild and captive baitfish.

Betta males come in a wide variety of colours.

In summer you can choose one of the various colours and keep it in a bottle.

When picking a male, you can bring two bottles close together and the fighting fish inside will try to intimidate each other by choosing the male with all his fins open.

If the fins are not fully open, it is difficult to observe the development of the fins. Betta males will usually fight each other to the death and cannot be mixed.

However, they become very gentle with other fish species and can be mixed with equally gentle fish.

Betta fish can go without food for long periods of time, up to 2 weeks.

We should not allow fish to go without food for such a long period of time.

However, it is acceptable to schedule a fast day into its feeding schedule every week or two.

This helps the tank to stay clean and also helps him to stay healthy.

Overfeeding is one of the biggest threats to the health of Betta fish.

Learning to avoid this problem is one of the most important things a new betta keeper can do.

Sometimes well-meaning owners don't even realise it's happening until it's too late. Undeteriorated fish food can rot and foul the water.

And, to put it bluntly, what goes into the fish has to come out. If you overfeed, your tank will be full of fish faeces.

The water quality is compromised, potentially leading to health problems for your fish.