# new betta not eating anything



## Ownager2004

I got a new betta 4 days ago and he has still yet to eat anything. He has tried to eat flakes and tubifex but spits them right back out. I found a ghost shrimp eating one of my fry :evil: and decided he would make a good meal for my betta. SO i injured the shrimp and threw him in thinking it would be a good easy meal. The betta simply caught him by the front legs and thrashed the shrimp till it was dead, then ignored the dead shrimp. I haven't picked up any betta pellets which i assume is what he eat at the lfs, but i have a whole thing of goldfish flakes i was hoping i could mix into his diet. 

any suggestions? Hes doing the starvation method all by himself :?


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## svolk

I'm not sure about why your betta spits out the flakes. Maybe he doesn't like them, but maybe he will get used to them.

My betta hardly ever comes out to eat when everyone else does (he's in a community tank). Occassionally he will, but he usually sits back and watches everyone else. But he's doing fine and he's healthy. He's obviously eating at some point, he probably just picks at any scraps that fall after everyone is finished eating.


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## dumBo

im having the same problem...i fed him pellets, and flakes but he just wont eat them. i saw him one time eating a pellet and spitting it out. should i try goldfish flakes? or live food maybe? help please


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## Imbrium

It's perfectly normal for bettas to not eat the first few days after you get them. They need time to settle in. They will eventually eat. If you are really concerned, get some frozen bloodworms.


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## Niki2105

I have the same problem. My sister got a betta a week ago and as far as i can tell it has never eaten. When we first got him i put him in my comunity tank but during the night he tore pieces of my male guppies fins so he was transfered into his own bowl. I was feeding him flakes the first few days casue thats what i feed all the rest of my fish then i got to the store and bought betta pellets but he isnt eating them either. Hopefully he is eating some of the stuff on the bottom of the tank when we aint watching him casue he is really pretty and i dont want him to die.


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## aaa

Niki2105 @ Fri Apr 22 said:


> I have the same problem.  My sister got a betta a week ago and as far as i can tell it has never eaten.  When we first got him i put him in my comunity tank but during the night he tore pieces of my male guppies fins so he was transfered into his own bowl.  I was feeding him flakes the first few days casue thats what i feed all the rest of my fish then i got to the store and bought betta pellets but he isnt eating them either.  Hopefully he is eating some of the stuff on the bottom of the tank when we aint watching him casue he is really pretty and i dont want him to die.


well, you only speed up the death of the betta. you should never leave any left over food in the tank. it will for a while for betta to accept dry food. betta can go a few days without eating. anyway, if you are worry, try some live food such as brine shrimp. if this not work because it is not available to you, go to petsmart get some frozen food. 

anyway, what size bowl his has? anything under a gallon need to have water change every other day.


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## dumBo

:? i'm leaving the food at the bottom...how do i get it out? sorry im still new to this fish stuff


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## aaa

water change. pour old water out, rinse the container, dump out the dirty water, add CONDITIONED new water. make sure temp and water chemistry is almost the same as the old water.


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## dumBo

k all done..im gonna get him a bigger tank soon...maybe like a 10 gallon..he's only in a 1/2 gallon right now.


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## aaa

0.5 gallon is ok AS LONG AS you change 100% water every 2 days. if not, get bigger tank.


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## Niki2105

aaa, my bowl is 2 gallons , and i do a water change about every 3 - 4 days. All i feed him is a couple flakes a day or 1-2 pellets, so there isnt a whole lot of food on the bottom.


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## aaa

sounds good to me. the thing is keeping the water clean and you are good to go. feed them less but frequently is the key for the fish to live long(well, human is the same way).


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## Ownager2004

its been 6-7 days now and still not eating... spitting out everything ive tried or taking no notice of it 

still seems healthy though, not sure what to do


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## LunaBetta

Bettas are actually carninorous and they need pellets or live meals. Flakes are made of plant material and that's not nutrional enough for them. Give him some time he may just need to get use to "hunting" or eating pellets. My bettas wait until their pellets start floating to the bottom then "hunt" then. Every once in while they do get spit out though. One of my males does it a lot.


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## aaa

give them frozen food if you can't find any live food. plus spring is here and put a bucket out to collect mosquito larvae. it does have a risk to introduce bacteria or other disease, but i never have problem to do that. anyway, get some frozen food and your fish may eat it because it is the next best thing to the live food.


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## Imbrium

Flakes are made of both plant and animal material. Flakes can be very nutritious if you get the right kind for your fish. The best thing is to feed a variety of foods.


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## Prizm

I haven't tried this yet, but heard a turkey baster is a useful tool for sucking out the leftover food and fish waste on the bottom of the bowl without fully changing the water. This doesn't replace water changes, but it may be useful in between. About the food, my betta spit out his food too, but did eventually come around. Since it has been a few days, it might be a good idea to try putting a small mirror, or the reflective side of a CD next to the bowl or tank. See if he flares? If he does, let him think he scared his reflection away after five minutes and feed him a small amount immediately afterwards. I'm not an expert, but this seems to increase my betta's appetite. In the beginning, he was timid, but now he attacks his food and is far more active. I think he likes it  I don't leave the mirror up for more than 5 or at max 10 minutes because I don't want to stress him out. Heh, as for the fishology of it, my take on it is he gained confidence because he thinks the other fish is scared of him! The first time I introduced the mirror, I yanked it away as SOON as he flared, to help him gain confidence. :mrgreen: If you try this, let me know if it works for your fishy!


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## Ownager2004

its been 14 days give or a take a few since i got my betta. And he has still yet to eat a pellet or flake. Im feeling really bad about this and dunno what to do. So today i decided to sipon some platy fry and feed him those. I could only make myself part with 1 of em. It was awesome to watch him strike the sucker down though, lol. I was hoping getting some food into him would make him want to take pellets but knowing him it probably made him not want them even more 

I tried your flaring technique Prizm. Its actually the first time ive made him flare on purpose and it seemed to liven him up and interest him in the food more. But he still didn't eat any of it.

I dont want to keep feeding him my fry  Anyone else have any techniques on getting him to take flakes or pellets or dried tubifex.


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## (RC)

buy him some frozen bloodworms.


RC


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## ravekiss

I have that same problem. I bought a crowntail almost 2 weeks ago and he doesnt want the foods I offer to him. I offered him Betta Bio-Gold, Freeze dried bloodworms, freeze dried brine shrimp, Bettamin flakes...everything I had. He swims up to the food, looks at it and swims away. If he eats it, he spits it right back out. Last weekend I went to my lfs, got some live tubiflex worms and brine shrimp and he LOVES them. But I am worried because I dont want to continue feeding them to him. I want him to eat something that can be staple for him.


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