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With regards to feeding it is Protein that makes your fish grow and replace or repair tissue, a fishes body
weight is made up of approximately 60-70% water and 15-20% Protein.
The protein your fish eats is broken down by its digestive system into different proteins and Amino Acids
called Peptides, protein is also the source of Nitrogen, these are then utilised by the fish.
When the Amino Acids are broken down the waste product is ammonia, fish disperse the ammonia into
the water via their gills.
If there are excess proteins and amino acids, above the bettas requirements, then it is processed so
that it can be stored as fat, to be used in the future.
When there is a sudden large increase in the available food much of the excess is excreted as waste
products, these waste products foul the tank further affecting the bettas health.
Whilst processing the proteins in the food the fish use a lot of Oxygen, with the peak demand for
oxygen being about 4 hours after the fish has eaten, therefore if you keep your bettas in planted tanks
you should feed them in the morning, so the peak demand for oxygen is around noon, as once the lights
go out photosynthesis stops and the oxygen within the water will decrease.
Although bettas do have the labyrinth organ a planned care regime will promote better long term health in your betta.
I feed my adult bettas once a day, I tend to do this in the early evening, lights out is 2am in my betta room. None of them are in planted tanks although I do float a plant prior to and during spawnings but the lights stay on.
If you are conditioning them for breeding then you should feed them twice a day and try to introduce some live food /frozen / freeze dried or dried live foods, depending what is available locally.
Betta Fry (babies) feeding will be covered in the breeding section of the Bettas menu.
The foods I currently have as regular feed are King British flake,(rubbed in the fingers to a rough grit size), Tetra Betta with Shrimp & Krill, Fine Granular, Freeze dried Brine shrimp cubes, Dried Red Mosquito larvae (bloodworms), I also have some shell less Artemia eggs (brine shrimp).
Below is a photo of each of these.
 
King British Flake(rubbed) Tetra Betta with Shrimp & Krill
 
Fine Granular Brine Shrimp (freeze dried)
 
Red Mosquito Larvae, Bloodworms Shelless Artemia suspension
freeze dried)
I feed the retired breeders and bettas I have as my pets using - King British flake on week 1 and a Fine Granular on week 2, once a week I give them either some of the dried red mosquito larvae, freeze dried brine shrimp or Surimi.
Freeze Dried Brine Shrimp - the cube shown in the photo above dissolves into the tank water, as you can
see it is far too much for a single betta you can break off small parts like in the photo, you can then
place these in the tank or you can remove some tank water and dissolve the piece first then add the
solution to the tank.
Another option if you have several tanks is to dissolve a larger piece or the entire cube (depending on
the number of tanks) into water then draw this up into a syringe then dose each tank with a small
amount, when doing this you should use some water you have of the same temperature that is to be
used for a water change, do not use water from one tank that is in use as this may become a source of cross
infection, eg; if a single betta or tank has a problem that you may not have become aware of yet
you will spread this to all your tanks and fish, it is therefore important to be aware of the risk of cross
infection /cross contamination when dealing with your fish needs.
I feed the fish I am conditioning for breeding on Tetra betta with shrimp & krill one day and on the next day King British flake in the morning and dried red mosquito larvae in the evening, I do this for one week and rotate it around at random for the next week.
Following Tetras claim of being able to bring bettas successfully to breeding condition using their Tetra Betta with Shrimp and Krill for 6 days a week and black mosquito larvae 1 day a week for 2 weeks, I decided to give it a try, I was not able to find black mosquito larvae locally so I used the dried red mosquito larvae and indeed their claims were correct.
A betta raised on live food exclusively may grow into a fussy feeder and give the new owner a potential problem, should the situation occur where they are not able, at some time, to source live food locally, for whatever reason.
Feeding them a varied diet it is unlikely that all food, in all sizes, will be unavailable on exactly the same day.
For bettas used to a varied diet a good reserve food is Surimi, cut a stick into small pieces or peel off a single layer and cut a small square this will enable removal of any uneaten piece easier.You can get this at most fishmongers, frozen food stores or supermarkets. It is often called ocean sticks, the ones I am currently using contain mostly bream and shrimp.
Below are 3 photos of the various ways Surimi is offered locally. The Sticks come frozen, the Sliced and Shredded come vacuum packed from the cold shelf but not frozen, they are suitable for freezing.
 
Sliced Surimi Surimi Sticks
Shredded Surimi
Another good reserve food to make in advance, and keep stored in your home freezer, for any unforseen circumstances that may occur is made with the following ingredients, mixed together into a paste like consistancy. Pigs liver, finely minced, (or you can use beef heart ), tinned salmon, mixed finely, (or you can use prawns) any good quality fish flakes such as Aquarian or King British (or your favourite brand), you may add a few peas if you wish also, roll the mixture onto a thin sheet then partly freeze this, then remove from the freezer and slice it into small pieces suitable for feeding, then fully freeze on a flat surface.
Either of the above 2 can also be used as livefood replacement once a week for a betta being conditioned for breeding and fed flake on the other 6 days during each week.
Some Bettas fed exclusively on livefoods may eat this, but many fed long term on live foods may well ignore this mixture and remain hungry til some livefood can be found, such owners should ensure they get stock of livefoods for their betta as soon as possible before his health suffers.
When getting your betta you should ask if it was raised from stock fed predominantely live foods or if they were fed a varied diet, and if the particular fish you wish to buy has been raised on live foods predominantly or on a varied diet, if the answer to either is that it has been fed livefoods predominantely check if that same livefood is available locally to you on a regular basis, you should try several outlets just in case one should run out. You will also need to find out if they can either get you that live food fresh 7 days a week or if not then your options are -
1/ to learn firstly how to feed the livefood before you feed it to your fish, eg; GIGO (garbage in garbage out), you cannot be positive of purchased livefoods quality and when it was last fed, over time you can find a good supplier but you dont want your fishes health to suffer in the meantime. Once you know how to feed the livefood then you can just go and buy it a couple of times a week and keep it fed.
2/ before buying the fish to try culturing the livefood yourself, when you can do this consistantly then buy the fish, you should always have more than one culture going at any one time incase one fails. It sounds a bit difficult and can be hit and miss, but it will just need practice. Be aware also some live foods can stink up your home if they go wrong, microworms being a good example of this.
If you dont like either of the two options above then alternatively you can obtain stock used to a more varied diet.
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