help! My Betta fish won't eat...

[Maria L Reilly]

Hi everyone,
This is my first betta, I have him for about 4 days now, he is in a 2.5 fish bow, I'm using "Betta Safe" water conditioning and have changed his water once, I left the new water at room temperature for about 1 hour before I've changed it.( I live in New York and is summer around 80 degrees). I'm using "BETTA BITES from HBH" and following the directions for 2 X day 3-5 pelets, but so far he has no eaten one, otherwise he sems OK, but I'm very worried about him.
Can anyone sugest my next step.
Thank you

Maria Reilly

[bubbles72]

most times in pet stores fish are fed with flake food if that is the case he may just take a bit to adjust to a new food...all the bettas ive ever had hated the pellets but maybe try feeding flake food to yours

[ErinBBC]

Even though it is 80 degrees in NY, it's probably not 80 degrees in your house and his water is certainly not going to be 80 degrees. I live in GA where it is 97 degrees today and if Marley had no heater his water would be in the low 70s. Plus, at night temperatures can drop radically which could shock the fish.

They never tell you this at pet stores, they just tell you to get a bowl and treat the water BUT you need a heater and filter!!!

If your fish is too cold he will not eat because his metabolism is not functioning properly and if he does eat he may get swim bladder from not being able to digest food well. They make heaters for small bowls and you should really get one. Your betta needs temps in the 78-80 degree range 24/7 or he will be prone to diseases and stress, and may not live very long.

You also need a filter, you can buy in tank sponge or air pump powered filters for small tanks and they are very cheap, less than $10. If there is no filter dangerous levels of ammonia can build up which leads to inactivity and eventually death of the fish.

If you get the heater and filter and he still doesn't eat, it could be that he is just picky. I 'd suggest switching the brand of pellets or flakes you use (most people have had a lot of luck with Hikari Betta BioGold which is what I use). Make sure you try to feed him the flakes for several days before you switch brands - bettas can go for 3 or 4 days with no food and be okay.

[Flashygrrl]

If you invest in a good preset heater, it just means that once your tank temp drops below then the heater will kick in and do it's job and then turn back off. Some of the more expensive ones have indicator lights. It shouldn't run unless it has to and a tank thermometer will tell you if it's working correctly.

One more thing...in a 2.5 gallon tank you don't need to do any 100% water changes, more like 30% a couple times a week, but the parameters of the water should be monitored (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH). Don't use test strips as they're crap, instead use an API liquid testing kit. They cost about as much as those 6-in-1 test strips but you get a ton more use out of them and they're much more accurate. Water parameters can tell you a good deal about what's really going on with your tank and the occupant(s), even if you can't see it.

[Meatpuppet]

i am one more for recomending the heater
and you should feed your betta nothing but those pellets for 6 or 7 days. they are just picky but he will eventually get hungry enough to eat it.