The 10 Best Fish Foods of 2024

Best Freeze-Dried

Hikari Bio-Pure Freeze Dried Spirulina Brine Shrimp

$10 at Amazon View on Bulkreefsupply.com

For a little treat, you can consider feeding your fish a freeze-dried live or frozen diet, such as Hikari Bio-Pure Spirulina Brine Shrimp. Consisting of brine shrimp and spirulina, this freeze-dried diet has extra vitamin supplementation and can be fed to all pet fish species. Keep in mind that this is not a complete diet, but should be considered a treat or supplement. For developing fish, this can be a large part of the diet, but additional, higher fat sources should be incorporated. Cubes should not be soaked prior to feeding since they will lose some of their added vitamins. As they are crushed and consumed, they will be adequately reconstituted by your fish.

_{Primary Ingredients: Brine shrimp, spirulina, vitamins | Nutrition: 48% Protein, 5.5% fat, 6% moisture | Volume: 0.42 and 1.76 ounce | Fish Type: All small fish, invertebrates}

Best Frozen

San Francisco Bay Brand Frozen Freshwater Multi-Pack

View on PETCO $11 at PetSmart

Frozen diets for fish come in small cubes or a large, flat brick that need to be kept frozen. They consist mainly of previously live feeds, mixed with pureed vegetables or seaweeds. The San Francisco Bay Brands Freshwater Multi-pack includes 24 cubes of four varieties of frozen meals. The meals include a variety of bloodworms, brine shrimp, daphnia, spirulina, mysis and more.

It is recommended to defrost a cube in a small amount of tank water just prior to adding the meal to your tank. Be sure to spread it out across the surface since you may cause quite a feeding frenzy. You can add frozen cubes directly to your tank, but keep in mind that this may cause increased competition between your fish. Frozen diets are not recommended for larger fish, such as koi, since they will have trouble swallowing the smaller pieces.

_{Primary Ingredients: Bloodworms, brine shrimp, mysis, spirulina | Nutrition: 3.7–6.9% Protein, 0.6–1.2% fat, 91–94.8% moisture, 0.2–1.5% ash | Volume: 3.5 ounces | Fish Type: All small freshwater fish}

Best for Bettas

Hikari Betta Bio-Gold

$8 at Chewy $6 at PETCO

As carnivores, betta fish require a higher protein and fat than some fishes. It is not uncommon for betta fish to take longer rest periods, since their ornate tails require them to swim using primarily their pectoral fins, rather than their tails. Most tropical diets are just fine for bettas, but if you want something more specific for your betta fish, we recommend Hikari Betta Bio-Gold. It has a good level of protein and fat for maintaining your betta. Feed your betta multiple small meals throughout the day for good digestion and absorption.

No betta will ever finish their package of food in a reasonable amount of time, so replace your betta’s food every 6 months to ensure maximum vitamin content. Also, look for the sealed plastic container of Hikari Betta Bio-Gold with the screw cap over the cardboard version, which will do better at preserving the nutritional value of the pellets compared to the moisture-permeable cardboard packaging.

_{Primary Ingredients: Fish meal, wheat flour, soybean meal | Nutrition: 38% Protein, 4% fat, 10% moisture, 12% ash | Volume: 0.7 ounces | Fish Type: Betta, tropicals, shrimp}

Best for Tropical Fish

Tetra TetraMin Tropical Granules

$5 at Amazon $4 at Chewy $8 at Walmart

Tropical fish are a very diverse mix of fish, but the best food for most tropical fish diets is TetraMin Tropical Granules—it’s what we feed to our own tropical fish. Skip the worthless flakes for a concentrated pellet with quality ingredients and reasonable nutritional profile. You can use this diet for common tropicals, including tetras, guppies, angelfish, bettas and even as a growth diet for small goldfish. For a community tank with multiple species, it is best to feed a variety of foods, with this pellet being the main staple diet.

_{Primary Ingredients: Fish meal, wheat germ meal, corn gluten | Nutrition: 46% protein, 7% fat, 8% moisture | Volume: 1.26 or 3.52 ounces | Fish Type: Mixed tropicals, growth for small fish, bettas, shrimp}

Best for Bottom Feeders

Hikari Tropical Algae Wafers

$7 at Amazon $6 at PETCO

Plecostomus fishes and other herbivorous-leaning, bottom-dwelling fishes do not require their own special diet, but algae wafers help ensure that the food gets to the part of the tank they inhabit. These disc-shaped fish pellets are designed to sink to the bottom and be crushed up by pleco jaws, but they will also do fine on any goldfish or tropical fish pellet. Larger plecostomus will benefit from having a larger pellet that can’t be stolen by smaller fishes. The higher ash content of this diet is a little concerning, but it has the best ingredients for more herbivorous fishes. This pellet comes in two sizes for various-sized fishes.

This diet is appropriate for a wide variety of fishes and shrimp if it is broken into smaller pieces. Or your plecos can just eat the other fishes’ food.

_{Primary Ingredients: Fish meal, wheat flour, wheat germ meal | Nutrition: 33% protein, 4% fat, 10% moisture, 17% ash | Volume: 1.4 ounces | Fish Type: All fish, invertebrates}

Best for Saltwater

New Life Spectrum Marine Fish

$13 at Amazon $14 at Walmart $15 at PETCO

Marine fish are a very diverse group, so there is no one food that will suit all marine fishes. For a mixed species tank, it is best to feed a staple pellet, such as the New Life Spectrum Marine, in addition to other marine diets, frozen feeds and other supplements. The New Life Marine diet has a good variety of protein sources at a maintenance level for most common marine fish species. This diet also contains multiple pre- and probiotics to promote the health of all of the inhabitants in your marine tank.

_{Primary Ingredients: Whole Antarctic krill, giant squid, whole wheat flour | Nutrition: 36% protein, 7% fat, 10% moisture, 10% ash | Volume: 5.3 ounces | Fish Type: Marine fishes, freshwater tropical fish, goldfish}

Best for Cichlids

New Life Spectrum Cichlid

$18 at Amazon $23 at PETCO

Cichlids are a wonderfully diverse group of fishes and most are not very picky about their diets. For a good cichlid food, we recommend New Life Spectrum Naturox Cichlid. It contains high quality ingredients, probiotics to improve digestion and has a reasonable level of protein and fat to promote maintaining adult body size. Not all cichlids like this diet, but if you have a variety of species, it is highly recommended to select 2–3 complete pellets and offer your fish a diverse mix. This is a more expensive diet, so if you only have the budget for one, we recommend you go with the New Life Spectrum diet. This diet is also appropriate for freshwater and marine fishes of appropriate size.

_{Primary Ingredients: Whole Antarctic krill, giant squid, whole wheat flour | Nutrition: 37% protein, 8% fat, 10% moisture, 10% ash | Volume: 300 grams | Fish Type: Most cichlids, tropicals, marine fishes, goldfish}

Best for Shrimp

Hikari Shrimp Cuisine

$7 at Amazon $12 at Walmart $8 at PETCO

Ornamental shrimp are newcomers to the aquarium hobby and will do well on most tropical fish pellets. They are primarily detritivores and will eat whatever falls to the bottom of a fish tank. If you are keeping only shrimp, it is important to feed them enough to keep them foraging, but not so much where you are contributing to poor water quality. Since the food sinks, it can be hard to see if there is enough food in the tank and overfeeding is a common issue. Hikari’s Tropical Shrimp diet is very similar to their betta diet, which can also be fed to shrimp. It is best to feed small meals throughout the day to encourage normal foraging behavior.

_{Primary Ingredients: Fish meal, krill meal, wheat flour | Nutrition: 40% protein, 6% fat, 10% moisture, 14% ash | Volume: 0.35 ounces | Fish Type: Shrimp, tropicals, bettas}

Best for Goldfish

Omega One Goldfish Pellets

$11 at Amazon $11 at Chewy $18 at Walmart

Omega One Goldfish Pellets are recommended to almost all of our clients with pet goldfish, especially if you have voracious surface eaters that suck in too much air during mealtime. Sinking pellets encourage substrate foraging, a natural goldfish behavior that will keep them occupied throughout the day. Various sizes are available from small to large, so you will find a good one for whatever size your goldfish may be. Keep in mind that some containers have a rich 42.7 percent protein while others have much more reasonable 35 percent. The higher protein is recommended for fancy goldfish and juvenile goldfish, with the 35 percent being a better maintenance diet.

_{Primary Ingredients: salmon, whole herring, wheat flour | Nutrition: 35% protein, 10% fat, 8.5% moisture, 8% ash | Volume: 8 ounces | Fish type: Goldfish, small koi}

Best for Koi

Ultra Balance Koi Maintenance Formula

View on 3dcartstores.com

In 10 years practicing koi medicine, no diet can compare with UltraBalance Koi food. Made in the United States with high quality ingredients, including pro- and prebiotics, under the supervision of an actual nutritionist, this is the best diet you could choose for your koi. No ridiculous protein or fats levels with only two levels to choose from: maintenance or growth, and two pellet sizes: medium or large. It can be hard to find, and the price may seem high, but you are getting a high-quality diet with excellent ingredients that will greatly support the health of your koi.

_{Primary Ingredients: White fish meal, wheat flour, ground wheat | Nutrition: 30% protein, 4% fat, 8.9% ash | Volume: 5 pounds | Fish Type: Koi, goldfish, high fin sharks}