Fish not eating.

[mabarcomb]

Housing
What size is your tank? 1 gal aqueon
What temperature is your tank? Room temp for FL
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? No. I live in a tropical place.
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? I have pelets and flakes.
How often do you feed your betta fish? He was eating about 2 pellets 3 to 4 times a day.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 3 times weekly
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 2 times 50% one time 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Beta water conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? NO
If so, what are the following parameters?
Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? His color and apperance is the same.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He will take in the food, but spit it out straight away. He eagerly chases the food trying to eat it over and over till it hits the bottom, but continues to spit it out.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Yester day
Have you started treating your fish? Kind of.
If so, how? 50% water change
Does your fish have any history of being ill? I did stress him out a week ago when I tried to add a filter, but he recovered nicely.
How old is your fish (approximately)? Rescued him in December from a negligent owner.

[PewPewPew]

Considering he only started this yesterday, I wouldnt be too worried. There are many things that this could be, but since things seem normal, its hard to say...

I know you live in a tropical area, and that the tank probably isnt too cold or anything, but its good to have one of those $2 or less thermometers in there to check on him. It might surprise you that the water is not room temp, because water is usually a few degrees cooler. If under 76', he may not want to eat.

Also, sometimes they just dont want to eat. I know, how is this possible!? thats all they ever do. But sometimes it happens.

I would keep trying to feed him. Remove the pellets when theyre no longer being played with or after like 5-10minutes.

They can go without eating easily for 10 days, uncomfortably for much longer. Until then, keep up with the changes and the amount of food (3-4is good, try a fasting day once a week if its 4..) (and you're doing great!) and all that.

One thing, though- and again with the thermometer, its a good idea to get one to make sure you're not putting him in too hot or cold of water, before it equalizes out to room temp. Proper acclimation is important, too. All these can stress him and make him not want noms.

Perhaps get some "micro" pellets to see if he'll eat those more. Sometimes smaller pellets are more desirable for little mouths.

Good luck to you, and btw- pics will help if you can manage.

[mabarcomb]

Thanks so much. Sorry it took so long, we have been dealing with black outs these last few weeks.

I will order a thermomotor on line today (K-Mart is all I have).
He did eat the brine shrimp I gave him yesterday. That's good to know that he might just be picky :)

Thanks again.

[CrowntailxKing]

Just an FYI, the spitting behavior is normal :) Mine do that all the time. Also, he might not be spitting *all* of it back out; it is possible he is swallowing some because 2 pellets 3-4 times a day is a lot so he could have just been full or something :)

[iheartmybettas]

I would definitely recommend cutting down to 2 pellets 2 times a day unless they are just really tiny. He might just not be hungry.

[roadrunner]

He just may be full or picky. Try to switch food. I can recommend hikari micro wafers (i feed 2 in the morning 2 in the evening, wednesday no food at all and I switch food with blood worms and daphnia once every few days for a change). Micro wafers are high in protein, all same size (smaller than betta pellets) and easier for them to digest. Plus all my boys love them! and bonus is, they don't cloud the water.

http://www.hikari.info/tropical/t_25.html

[mabarcomb]

Thanks for all the advise :)

[roadrunner]

Just wondering if your fish started to eat

[mabarcomb]

Yes he did. Looks like he took a week off... maybe to fast ;) He eats both kinds of pellets now and I treat him with a couple brine shrimp once a month.
Thanks every one for the advice. Now I know... if it happens again I have a list of things to look at before I panic. :o)