Possibly sick?

[Kyle14]

hey, a few weeks ago my girlfriend decided to get a betta from the Petco down the road. we got it a 1g tank with a filter and everything and it is in a warm dorm room so it stays at a temp around 78-80. it was acting fine and was actually very active and very obsessed with the filter and the bubbles coming out of it. the thing that concerned us was it wasnt eating the pellets we bought it because we were were guessing since its a normal female betta the pellets were too big since she is farely small. we gave it a week though to see if it would get use to them but it never did so we ended up buying flakes. its been a few days since we got the flakes and it still looks like shes not eating anything. i ve looked at a bunch of websites and nothing i read sounds like anything she could have. any ideas?

Also, this past weekend i ended up buying a male betta myself. we have it set up right next to the female betta to where they can see each other but cant get to each other since they are in different takes. ever since we set up the new tank and added the fish in the female has been acting weird in the sense that it floats in one spot always looking into the other tank and has become a lot less active then before and acts as if was depressed or something. could the other betta be affecting the female this way or could this be linked to the statement above? any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Romad]

Hi Kyle,

For the female, try crushing up the pellets before you put them in the tank. You can also soak them in a little garlic juice (just add a little chunk of garlic to some tank water and soak the pellets in that for a little bit). Garlic is an appetite enhancer for most fish.

DON'T put the garlic in the tank tho.

Do your fish have a soft leafy plant or a cave in their tanks? They need a hiding spot to feel secure.

Also, keep in mind that in a tank that small, you'll have to change the water every other day or so. Otherwise you're going to have unsafe levels of ammonia.

Welcome to the forum. You'll find everything you need here to take great care of your fishies.

[Kyle14]

thanks Romad i ll try it out and see if it ll get her to eat. Any idea if the new male could be affecting her appetite or attitude?

[Romad]

Originally Posted by Kyle14

thanks Romad i ll try it out and see if it ll get her to eat. Any idea if the new male could be affecting her appetite or attitude?

Only one way to find out. If you can't move one of the tanks, put something in between them to see if their behavior changes. If they don't have anywhere to hide out in the tank, that will stress them out too.

Keep us posted and good luck.