betta spits out food

[via]

hey guys, i bought a black and blue plakat betta last week. when i first bought him from the pet store, he was eating all the pelets i give him. starting yesterday, he stopped eating the pelets. i just tried to feed him right now, but he just keep spitting out the food. i know he is not sick because he is always active. any ideas?

[InfiniteGlory]

Lets start this off with a little information. This will help everyone with a little background of everything.

Housing
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?

[via]

i have two 1/2 gallon tanks in a 15 gallon that is heated because i dont know how to make a divider for the fish yet. so its a tank inside another tank.

tank:1/2 gallon as of right now with indian almond leaf
temperature:80 degree
filter:no
airstone:no
tank heated:yes
mates:none
food:hikari micro wafers(slow sink) pellets
feeding:once a day
water change every other day, 50%
no water test

[via]

age: maybe 8 months or more
betta is active but have clamped fins at times
dont really know if it is sick because i dont know too much about fish diseases. the only one that i know about is ick and my betta dont have that. but his head and little bit of his stomach looks kinda big.

[Hadoken Kitty]

Make him fast for a day. He's got a full belly! Mommy keeps him SUPER well fed! ;)

[via]

no offense but im a boy. So i guess im the daddy

[Myates]

This may help give you an idea on how to make a divider for the tank.

New bettas can have bad eating habits (for lack of a better way to put it) the first few weeks after being purchased/brought home. They won't always eat regularly, or some won't eat at all for days/weeks.

Keep offering him the food, removing any uneaten after 10-15 minutes. He gets hungry enough, he will eat.

Keep an eye on him though, make sure he doesn't become clamped or lethargic - if you see him with his fins all pinched up, or isn't swimming around then you may have something to worry about. But for now, just give him time.. can change his food to New Life Spectrum or Omega One betta if he doesn't start eating in a week - see if maybe he changed his mind on whether or not he likes the food and is just being stubborn.. or you can be stubborn too and make him eat the food by offering only that. :)

[Hadoken Kitty]

Originally Posted by via

no offense but im a boy. So i guess im the daddy

Oh my gosh I'm sorry! I should be the one apologizing!!!

[via]

Hadoken kitty: its okay, lots of people get the gender confuse with my name

myates: thnx alot for the link, i always wanted to create a divider for the fish but i never knew how. two questions though, with the divider do i have to use a filter? also, with the mesh they're using, wouldnt it let the fish be able to see each other causing them to flare more often and creating more stress for them?

[Myates]

Don't need a filter when using a divider - bettas give off little ammonia compared to other fish, so the water change will depend more upon size of tank rather than the amount of bettas (generally speaking, and when there are only a couple/few bettas). But a filter is never needed - you will just need to do slightly more water changes. In the 15g it would be 1 50% per week (siphon the waste off the bottom if you don't have live plants), and 1 100% per month - if you have live plants then you will skip the 100%.

Seeing each other isn't a bad thing - they eventually calm down and get used to one another. The holes are too small for them to get to each other, so they are safe. But it shouldn't be too stressful, I've never had issues with any of mine seeing one another.. these fish are actually quite social and when left alone with no other fish to interact with they tend to become more aggressive.. or like in the case of my 3yr old male, will self harm if he doesn't see another fish for a few hours.

Flaring is healthy for them, a flaring session a day is good exercise.. if worried you can place live or fake tall plants along the divider to help break up the line of sight. Give them plenty of plants/decorations in their sections to help them feel comfortable/safe and some mental stimulation other than focusing on the neighbor.

If the mesh isn't big enough that one piece will divide properly, can use fishing line to tie pieces together.