I'd like to know if anyone else has ever had a betta so determined not to eat good food that they have nearly died. But let's but this question into context.
5 months ago, I moved across the province (1200km north and east). I took Kappa Sushi with me, set up his tank in my new place and praised the forces that be that he lived through the 2 day drive and 1 day delay (3 days of living in a bag and bucket!). Kappa adjusted well to the new water up here as did all my plants and shrimp.
A few months later Kappa was fluorishing; he looked healthier than he ever had before. I checked out the LFS and saw that they carried omega one. Huzza! I'd been wanting to switch him from the cheaper flake that I'd fed him all his life to that stuff but had previously been unable to access it. So I purchased it, raced home and dropped a few pellets in for Kappa's evening feed. He was unimpressed. "Well, I'll wait him out. If this is all I offer," I thought, "he'll have to start eating it soon, or he'll starve. And betta's are too smart to be so picky that they'll willingly STARVE to death!".
Guess again. 2 weeks later and Kappa still refused to eat. Now in his defense, maybe he was eating some of then plants instead (very heavily planted, well established npt). So I though to myself again, "Stubborn little brat! Well we'll see who's more stubborn! I want you to eat this awesome, healthy, expensive food. So either eat it, or starve!" Guess what he chose?
A month went by, still I didn't cave. 2 more weeks and he got fin rot. "Lucky you! I know how to treat that! And I still refuse to give in to you!" Another week and a half, the fin rot was cured but I'd been seeing less and less of Kappa... I was starting to worry that he really WOULD starve to death. He had become very thin, very pale (although this may be coincidental... He's a marble and is undergoing a colour change again right now) and very depressed; fins clamped, ignored me (where previously he swam to greet me every morning, lunch break and when I got home from work) and hanging around at the bottom of the tank, or hiding in his castle.
And then there's today: 2.5 months from the day I swapped his food. I was really worried about Kappa. He still wouldn't eat the pellets and was starting to look really ill. So I pulled out the flakes... Dropped one in and sunk it to him with a chopstick. He inhaled it. And then another... And then I tried a pellet the same way. Nope, Nada. So I sprinkled a few flakes up top and... BOOM! Away he goes like a rocket to consume the flakes. Kappa Sushi: 1, Kwomais: 0. Looks like you win, little fishy, you win.
PS I would like to point out that the ONLY thing to change was the food; water changes and parameters, frequency and amount of food and all other variables remained constant. Only the type of food changed throughout this entire ordeal.
5 months ago, I moved across the province (1200km north and east). I took Kappa Sushi with me, set up his tank in my new place and praised the forces that be that he lived through the 2 day drive and 1 day delay (3 days of living in a bag and bucket!). Kappa adjusted well to the new water up here as did all my plants and shrimp.
A few months later Kappa was fluorishing; he looked healthier than he ever had before. I checked out the LFS and saw that they carried omega one. Huzza! I'd been wanting to switch him from the cheaper flake that I'd fed him all his life to that stuff but had previously been unable to access it. So I purchased it, raced home and dropped a few pellets in for Kappa's evening feed. He was unimpressed. "Well, I'll wait him out. If this is all I offer," I thought, "he'll have to start eating it soon, or he'll starve. And betta's are too smart to be so picky that they'll willingly STARVE to death!".
Guess again. 2 weeks later and Kappa still refused to eat. Now in his defense, maybe he was eating some of then plants instead (very heavily planted, well established npt). So I though to myself again, "Stubborn little brat! Well we'll see who's more stubborn! I want you to eat this awesome, healthy, expensive food. So either eat it, or starve!" Guess what he chose?
A month went by, still I didn't cave. 2 more weeks and he got fin rot. "Lucky you! I know how to treat that! And I still refuse to give in to you!" Another week and a half, the fin rot was cured but I'd been seeing less and less of Kappa... I was starting to worry that he really WOULD starve to death. He had become very thin, very pale (although this may be coincidental... He's a marble and is undergoing a colour change again right now) and very depressed; fins clamped, ignored me (where previously he swam to greet me every morning, lunch break and when I got home from work) and hanging around at the bottom of the tank, or hiding in his castle.
And then there's today: 2.5 months from the day I swapped his food. I was really worried about Kappa. He still wouldn't eat the pellets and was starting to look really ill. So I pulled out the flakes... Dropped one in and sunk it to him with a chopstick. He inhaled it. And then another... And then I tried a pellet the same way. Nope, Nada. So I sprinkled a few flakes up top and... BOOM! Away he goes like a rocket to consume the flakes. Kappa Sushi: 1, Kwomais: 0. Looks like you win, little fishy, you win.
PS I would like to point out that the ONLY thing to change was the food; water changes and parameters, frequency and amount of food and all other variables remained constant. Only the type of food changed throughout this entire ordeal.