Finally figured out the mystery of the non-eating betta fish...I couldn't figure it out...he'd go to the bathroom, and he wasn't getting any thinner...but no food seemed to be consumed! It was making me nuts...afraid he'd starve himself to death. :( I'd put in the food, he'd be interested, come to the surface, blow some bubbles, but wouldn't eat any of the food. ARGGH!
He came home from Petco with really serious ammonia burns (to the point his poor scales were sloughing off, and he'd eaten his tail...poor little boy), so I thought he was just getting acclimated...at first. Then I started to get really worried.
So, the other day I'm cleaning his bowl, and I realize...there's not as much food on the bottom as there should be...then I put him into his water-change cup and sprinkled in some food...again, no eating...but after it had sunk and gotten soft, *then* he'd put his little head down to the bottom of the cup and "vacumn" up the food. ;) Little man just likes to get it soggy before he eats. ;) (rather what I do with cereal come to think of it... ;)
Now that he's moved from his quarantine tank into his divided 10 gallon (5 gallons each) I've had to leave a bare spot in one corner so that he can find the food easily. ;) Plus, it makes it so much easier for me to clean it during water changes...I may have to adopt this method with the other boys as well. :)
So glad he's eating...even if it is a little unorthodox... ;)
Just got a new betta a few days ago that does the same thing. It is kinda frustrating because gravel will get dirty quickly. So my solution was to soak the pellets first then give them to him and it has worked really well. :)
My little girl, Sally, wouldn't eat from the bottom at first, but then when she tasted some brine shrimp, she doesn't mind. She still tries to snag it on the way down, though. One of my boys, Donald, prefers to eat on the bottom, but if I feed him pellets he'll still eat from the top. If there are sunken flakes and floating flakes, he always eats the sunken ones.
my betta only eats food from the top and never touches food from the bottom,thats why i only use flakes
I don't know for sure, but I think that the pellets have a lot more nutrients than the flakes. Some of them are more bouyant than others, have you tried any different types? I've found that the New Life Spectrum sink too fast, and my guys miss them. But, if you can find some HBH betta bites, they are pretty bouyant and will float for about twice as long as the NLSpectrum, and makes it easier for them to eat. :) I hope that helps! :)
(And I could be wrong about the pellets vs flakes, so you might try asking someone with more experience to be sure. :)
I have both flakes and pellets, my pellets float, the flakes sink pretty fast. Also, the flakes have 10% more protien
If the protein source of the flakes is not whole fish meal of a specific type (e.g. salmon, herring, brine shrimp), the 10%+ of protein is irrelevant. It's important to take into account the type of protein as well as the percentage. I've seen some brands of flakes that have great ingredients, but I've never fed any staple food other than pellets to my bettas.
Bluefish, really pleased to hear that your boy is eating Mine won't touch anything that has sunk past the halfway mark of his tank.
Blue, Dumbledore doesn't eat anything off the surface...He hides in his plant and dive bombs it once it's sunk about halfway XD. Glad to hear your boy is eating!! :)
It is funny how different fishy's react to different foods, and feeding preferences, mine - both of them, love the pellets, and love to eat them while jumping up to get them, either from my finger or just jumping, and if I drop em in the water, they gobble em up soo fast there is no time for them to get soggy..lol..:)
I have to go with lelei on this one, my fish gobble up their food pretty much as fast as I drop it in. 3 of them bounce up and down really fast against the side of the glass like kids jumping on furniture when my fingers go into feeding position.
However if the filter snags a pellet, or they miss it on the way down and it sinks, all of them will go into hunting mode and find the sunken food. My betta who didn't eat for about a month when I first got him is now one of the bouncers lol.
Glad you figured out how your betta likes his food though, I know it can be scary when they don't eat. :)
(I like cereal crunchy btw, I pour little amounts into the bowl until I use up the milk so it doesn't sog out on me. My bettas tend to crunch on their pellets too, if it's quiet you can hear them chewing/crunching when you feed them. Maybe it's a reflection of what the owner likes!!! LOL!!! It makes me wonder anyway!)
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Betta eating mystery finally solved! :)
Mine won't touch anything that has sunk past the halfway mark of his tank.
