Tank size and feeding

Question
I have two bettas, one is about 9 or 10 mm in size and the other is smaller (newer too).  Anyways I keep my two boys in a 4L Jar and a 2L cookie jar.  I feed them when ever they seem hungry (They see me and do this flary wiggle dance and go to the top....) I feed Tetra Min The Rich Mix, and a flake food from Tetra Min although I am going to add freeze dried worms.  My new roommate also has a Betta, she keeps it in a 2cup tank with no plants, and feeds it once a day.  She thinks taht my Betta have too much room and food and I think her Betta needs more room and more Food who is correct.

Answer
Dear Shannalee,

I am sorry to break this to your roommate but you are correct as far as tank sizes go. :)

Feeding is personal preference, really. Once a day is fine; bettas in the wild often go a week without food. As long as they are fed daily they will be fine.  

As for tank sizes, there is no such thing as 'too much room' for a betta. Two of my bettas, Jerry and Rio, are in 6L tanks, whereas Angello is in a 12L tank! They are happy, active and their colours are bright. If they weren't happy in a bigger tank, they wouldn't be so lively!  

A common lie told by some petstores is that 'bettas live in puddles and big tanks freak them out'. Not true. Sadly it is a lie told by pet store owners to make the tiny cups the fish live in sound more acceptable.

They can survive in puddles, because of a special organ called a Labyrinth chamber in their head - folds of muscle that allow them to breathe from the surface air in small tanks where there isn't much oxygen. But surviving isn't thriving. This organ will keep them alive but not very happily.

Bettas need and like bigger tanks. They, never in their life, leave their tanks for more than a few minutes other than sometimes to have it cleaned. Imagine being stuck in a room all your life - you'd want it to be a decent size, right?

Tell your roommate this: she has her friends, her family, parties, shopping and heaps of other things. Her fish only has her, and it's tank.

Prue