Betta + food

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CivicChick

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Feb 15, 2004
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I posted a few months ago because I had a male betta that was not eating. Several of you posted back that he might be depressed because he needed a bigger tank. I got him a new tank (5 gallons), and while I was setting it up, he died. But he was a picky eater when I first got him, and it took me 3 foods to find one he would accept (I had him for about 6 months).
So, I now have a new betta I just got 3 days ago. Only, he's not eating, either! I called the pet store I got him from to see what they use, and they said that they feed their bettas pellet food & flake food. I tried flakes, and he kind of ate one, spit it out, and wouldn't eat any others. I tried pellets, and he swims up to them, looks at them, and swims away. I have some blood worms that I'm going to try, but my question is this: is it bad for him to only eat blood worms?? Should I wait until he starts eating something else, and then give him blood worms just a few times a week? How long can he go without eating? I know some of the betta food I've seen says only to feed them once a week, but can that really be OK?
 
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once a week might be a stretch but I'm no expert. I've never had a betta that wouldn't eat the pellets but I have had some picky about flakes. Do you have frozen or freezedried bloodworms? It really depends on the breeder's food choice. I would assume mass breeders that supply the LFS's use cheap mass quantity foods like pellets or flakes but if the store you got yours from happens to get their bettas from a small breeder that uses live foods, this could be the problem. Try some frozen bloodworms and see what he does. Use a cup of warm water to warm the worms because some fish will not accept anything cold because it's obviously dead to them. I don't know that I would feed him solely with bloodworms but try and ween him into the foods you have. feed him bloodworms once every few days and pellets or flakes inbetween. Start stretching the inbetween time out and see if you can get him to accept something else. It could also be some type of sickness causing his loss of appetite so keep an eye on everything else. Make sure the water parameters are good, no ammonia or nitrite, low nitrates and no extreme PH or hardness. KYle
 
Sorry to hear that the other one died! I might have suggested this to you last time if I replied, but you could try this food
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=22635&category_id=1777&pcid1=2911
It is the only food my betta will eat and I tried everything, literally I bought like 4 different types of food!! Bloodworms aren't really all that great for his entire diet, not very well rounded. Bettas should be fed once a day, and it wouldn't hurt to fast him one day a week.
If you want to try and get him to eat some of the food you have, you can only offer him that specific food and nothing else for 3 or 4 days. If hes hungry enough he would eat. He might be adjusting to a new home, or just being picky, seeing if something better is coming!! If that doesn't work, you could give him a couple of bloodworms so that you know he ate something and try the next food for a few days.
Even though they sell betta flake food, it doesn't seem like they ever eat it!!
Good luck
 
only give him one or 2 blood worms, if you use those. Also if you are just trying to get him to eat something, try peas. well 1/2-1 and shell it, so it is just smooshy. Don't don any of tis regularly. my fish have gone about a week and a half without feeding, but I suppose there are a lot of variables there...like there might be other stuff in my tank that he ate, that and I don't know betta metabolism. Mine eats everything from algae tabs to any worm you can think of, all the pellets...so I don't know a ton of alternatives.

Your fish may still be acclimating too. When changes happen to mine, it takes time...like a fish buddy died and I removed some plants and it took him a while to act more normal, though he was in the same tank with all the other fish etc.

Also...you know what the pet store fed him, but that doesn't mean he took it. Have you tried tubifex worms or brine shrimp?

lisa
 
PS they also sell discs that are flakes compressed into a circle about the size of a pencil eraser. Mine loves them, one is veg, one is meat. It is also easier to remove if uneaten and may be more appealing. They are tetra, in the same style container as tetra flakes.
 
I don't think a betta could suffer from depression per se...
I once had a betta that wouldn't eat. I tried everything. I finally got him to eat by putting a freeze dried blood worm on the water & wiggling a it a little with the blunt end of a bamboo skewer. (toothpick should work too) After doing this for a few days he started to eat on his own. The best food I found was hikari. HTH.
 
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