# Betta eating Question



## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

I have a question my betta ate the second day I had him but today he has only eaten one pellet. He left the other one this morning and did not eat his super. Should I be concerned? He is also hanging out at the bottom of the tank  im beging worried.


----------



## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

Could you give some tank specs? Size, whether you cycled it and if so how, water parameters, temp, etc.


----------



## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

he is in a 1g tank for now. He is a realy good betta and has not flared once yet so i was planing on puting him in my 20g to see is he likes it but today hes not eating. 
ill get the reading tonight as im doing a water change


----------



## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

If its a 1 gallon, I'm guessing that its not heated. They prefer temps in the upper 70s to low 80s. Lower than that and their metabolism slows and they tend to just hang out on top of the gravel. I'd recommend getting him into a tank that's warmer and see how he does.

I wouldn't recommend putting him in your 20, its already very overstocked. But if you do, watch him carefully. Bettas normally don't do well with other long-finned fish and it may have issues with the high fin platties and sailfin mollies. They also tend to eat fry.  Mine did anyway.

BTW, if that's a common pleco, not a pelico, then its going to get waaaay too big for a 20 gallon. You should probably rehome him and get something smaller that won't outgrow a 20 or get stunted, like a rubbernose, bristlenose, pitbull, or one of the others that stays pretty small.


----------



## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

Boxermom dont wory about that i am alredy giving fry away and the pelico is probaly going in a month. im geting the water tests now and every thing should be back in an hour!


----------



## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

Temp: 74-75
amonia:0
Nitrite:.1
every thing looks fine in the tank...

He just ate a little pelit but i guess he wont eat pellits what have soaked up water.... thats what he will not eat i think.


----------



## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

Yup, its quite cool for him and that's probably why he's acting lethargic. Raise it about 5 degrees and you'll see a very different fish. The longer he's in cool water, the more lethargic he will be, as his metabolism is slowing down.


----------



## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

It is not uncommon for newly acquired bettas to not eat for a week. I wouldn't worry about him. While 75 degrees is low for a betta, its not uncommon and he is most likely getting used to his new environment. Just keep feeding him and wait 7-10 days. Be sure to remove uneaten food every day.


----------



## Christine (Nov 4, 2005)

He might not like pellets too... I have one that just refuses to eat them. Spoiled thing usually gets something freezedried on pellet night. I also had one for a while that refused pellets would eat flake (go figure!).


----------



## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

Ill try the flakes as i do have them. Im geting the frezed bloodworms tomorow


----------



## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Do not feed bloodworms as an everyday meal. Not healthy for bettas (and most other fish).


----------



## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

Why do you say that?


----------



## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Boxermom said:


> Why do you say that?


Too much of any food is bad for fish. A varied diet is best.


----------



## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

Well right now i have to try and fined something he will eat or hes going to die. I can wory about that later. 

Ill see if he eats the blood worms hopefully 

Im also buying him a 5g next weekend so maby more room will help.


----------



## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

Yes he eat!!!! Im so Happy! ok now he is eating blood worms  
I will keep offering him the flakes and pellits once a day... does that sound ok? 

Also any other foods he may eat?

I though i would show you all a picture of him:


















What do you think?


----------



## Christine (Nov 4, 2005)

He is very pretty Morgan. I'm glad you got him to eat something. Just be sure to clean out what he doesn't eat if you keep trying the other food. If you can't keep frozen foods, he might like some of the other freeze dried stuff also. I also keep freeze-dried daphnia, tubifex, mysis and earthworms on hand. The earthworms are too big for the bettas tho and have to be torn into small pieces to feed them. I think you can find freeze-dried brine shrimp at some places also.

Also, something that might be worth trying - give him the bloodworms, but also put a pellet or a flake in at the same time. I do this to my betta babies when Im trying to get them to eat things other than just live food. I think they sometimes grab it by accident at first. But they keep seeing it at food time and eventually catch on.


----------



## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

Frozen food is no problem for me i think im going to try the shrimp that frozen.

but what is freeze dried food?

Christine ill try that 2 food thing


----------



## Christine (Nov 4, 2005)

Heres a link that explains about what freeze-dried food is - Click here

Basically, its had all the water content removed.. Sorry for some reason I thought you had said you bought freeze dried bloodworms  My bad! I feed both frozen and freeze-dried foods. Some say frozen is better.. I've heard others say freeze dried is better. I really don't know which is best, so I go with variety


----------



## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

Thanks That helped me.


----------



## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Nutritionally freeze dried is better, but frozen has some upsides too.
Freeze dried foods swell once they soak up water so overeating can be a problem as well as damaging a fish's swim bladder.
Frozen foods look more real so many fish will take to them first.


----------



## Christine (Nov 4, 2005)

Thanks Simpte, because that was as clear as mud to me hehe.

Alot of times (not always) I soak my freezedried in water with vitamins before giving to them. Hopefully this helps prevent problems with the foods swelling after they eat them.


----------

