I recently got a betta fish from Walmart, about 2.5 weeks ago, named Lt. Shin. I put him in a one gallon bowl and change the water about 1-2 every week. I had fish flakes but switched over to Hikari Betta Bio-gold pellets to see if he'd eat.
He hasnt eaten since the day I've gotten him. At first he swam around a lot but now he usually hangs out at the bottom, and I'm worried he is going to die of starvation soon. Whenever he is swimming around, and I come by, he freaks out and hides at the bottom. He seems not interested in eating at all.
My friend had a betta and the same thing happened to her and it died.
is there anything I can do about this? I dont think I can switch foods, I'm tight on money. Should I be prepared to buy a new fish?
Do you have a heater in the tank? Do you know what the temperature of the water is? When I got my betta, I didn't use a heater and my betta just chilled at the bottom and was not worried in eating. Sometimes bettas are VERY picky...and you just have to keep trying different brands. You might want to try Top Fin or Wardley's brand pellets.
I dont have a heater (my dad thinks it will start a fire in the house xD), and I'm not sure what the water temp is, at a decent temperature I would think.
I would maybe try different brands, but the only type of pellets my local petstore has is Hikari and I'm kind of stuck with it.
Hikari pellets inflate when they are in the water for a while, would Betta's still eat them then? My betta freaks whenever I go buy it so the pellets always inflate and stuff cause he never goes up for a while.
Water temperature for bettas is supposed to be 76 to 82 degrees F. You might want to try putting a lamp over the water for a while during the day to heat the water up. Most pet stores carry numerous brands of food...what pet store is it? Maybe try ordering off the internet...
I never knew the inflated lol. I use Hikari Bio gold, but my betta doesn't give them a chance to be in the water for very long. If he is just sitting at the bottom and acting lethargic, I'd say it probably does have to do with your water temperature.
the water temp is about there, I just caught him swimming around, he does when I'm not in there so I'm not sure if its the water temp, he's more frightened.
He looks okay, he still has his color (red, with purple at the beginning of his fins) His face is kind of whitish though.
I guess I didnt really look, although a few weeks ago by his mouth it was, it might have spread a bit actually, now that I look at it.
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