Brand new Finicky eater?

[Frodo Bagfins]

Hi My new Betta that I got on Monday will only eat freeze dried worms and not pellets. I have been giving him two halves of a worm per day and then trying the pellets multiple times but he just spits the pellets out. I know he is kind of hungry but I can't just give him worms only because I have heard that is not healthy. I put the pellet in powdered garlic juice as some suggest, and he spit it out also. The pellet brand I'm using is Hikari Gold. Do you think I should try flakes? I don't know what they gave him at Petco. I don't like flakes as much as pellets but I guess I could try it on him.

Housing
What size is your tank? 10 gallons
What temperature is your tank? 78-80 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? Yes Tetra Whisper EX 20
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Hikari Pellets, and freeze dried Blood worms
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2-3 times a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 1 x per month
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 25%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Already have added the 2 teaspoons of AQ salt which doesn't filter out.

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
No However I did a cycle when I first set up the tank 2 months ago so it should be good.
Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? N/A
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Only eats worms not pellets
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Monday through today
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? No
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)Small looking from pet store

[teeneythebetta]

Try soaking the pellets in garlic juice. The smell and flavor will entice him to eat. Have you asked the pet store what they feed their bettas?
If he still will not eat pellets, dont give him the blood worms. They can go weeks without eating, and if you dont give them to him and only give him the option of pellets, hes more likely to eat the pellets. If he continues to eat only bloodworms, he will become malnourished. blood worms are treats and should not be given more than twice a week.

You need to do more water changes as well. How long did it take you to "cycle" your tank? Considering you dont know your water parameters, I am guessing that you didnt truly go through the nitrogen cycle.
Do you have a test kit to measure ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? If you do/ if you get one, you can cycle your tank easily. I reccomend the API liquid master test kit, because the test strips are inaccurate. go here for more info: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=107771

A cycled/ cycling tank will need a once weekly water change of 25-50%.
If you dont truly cycle the tank or if you dont get a test kit, you need to do once a week water changes- one week do a 50% change, the next week do a 100% change. and alternate between 50 and 100 % changes.

Every fish tank needs at least a once weekly water change, even ones that are hundreds or thousands of gallons to maintain good water quality.

[twolovers101]

I have a really picky eater on my hands too, turned up his nose at everything I gave him except the freeze dried blood worms... I finally found some good SMALL flakes that he likes, I'm going to try introducing quality pellets to him again soon tho

[RedRaz]

I have those same pellets and my picky betta won't touch them. Try another type of pellet perhaps. I hear Life Spectrum pellets are good.

[Frodo Bagfins]

Well I cycled the tank for two whole weeks using fish food. I did have one test kit-an Ammonia test kit-and it read zero after two weeks.
I just tested it again tonight and it says zero again.

I already tried garlic juice on a pellet and he didn't like it--spit it out. I put some garlic juice on a worm and he spit it out and then it sank so who knows if he would have eaten it lol

Is this "better" pellet brand available through Petco? That's the only pet store where I live.

Thanks for the responses :) --Frodo Bagfins

[RedRaz]

Originally Posted by Frodo Bagfins

Well I cycled the tank for two whole weeks using fish food. I did have one test kit-an Ammonia test kit-and it read zero after two weeks.
I just tested it again tonight and it says zero again.

I already tried garlic juice on a pellet and he didn't like it--spit it out. I put some garlic juice on a worm and he spit it out and then it sank so who knows if he would have eaten it lol

Is this "better" pellet brand available through Petco? That's the only pet store where I live.

Thanks for the responses :) --Frodo Bagfins

I see it available on the Petco website so I would guess it is. If not you could always order it directly from their website.

[teeneythebetta]

Originally Posted by Frodo Bagfins

Well I cycled the tank for two whole weeks using fish food. I did have one test kit-an Ammonia test kit-and it read zero after two weeks.
I just tested it again tonight and it says zero again.

I already tried garlic juice on a pellet and he didn't like it--spit it out. I put some garlic juice on a worm and he spit it out and then it sank so who knows if he would have eaten it lol

Is this "better" pellet brand available through Petco? That's the only pet store where I live.

Thanks for the responses :) --Frodo Bagfins

I would get a nitrite and nitrate test too, because cycling takes at least 4 weeks, sometimes as much as 8 weeks- 6 being average. There's no way to tell if it's cycled just from the ammonia.

Yes omega one an new life spectrum are both available at petco.

[Frodo Bagfins]

Thanks. I think he would like the Spectrum Formula the best. I read on a review that one lady's betta spit out the Betta Buffet. So I want to try the Spectrum.

Thanks for the advice on the cycled tank Teenie the betta. I have had my former fish in the tank for two months since the two weeks of cycling. I didn't know the tank needed to be changed so often even with a filter. I mostly just added water when the tank level started to get low. I've heard it's good to keep one old filter cartridge behind the new filter cartridge because the filter has most of the good bacteria. Yes a kit would be good just to check levels. They did not have one at Walmart when I went there awhile back--just the strips for ammonia. I can't get to Petco as easily in person, so I might just probably get it via internet. It annoys me that Walmart didn't have like just one test kit that had all three in it. Petco will have it I'm sure.

[Frodo Bagfins]

Unbelievable! My mom was at Petco today with me and asked the fish lady what they feed the Bettas there. She said they feed them only dried blood worms. No wonder my fish won't eat pellets! Sigh. Don't they know that this isn't healthy for the poor things living in these little cups? And that now their owners will have to wean them off of the worms and on to more healthy food, which is stressful for the fish. Petco I am a little disappointed in you. My former fish from Walmart used to eat pellets whole-heartedly.

I didn't feed him any worms for a couple days and his tail started to shred--probably from him biting it. On those days he refused to eat any pellets.

Now I bought the Omega Betta Buffet Pellets. So maybe that will catch his fancy once he realizes that he can't eat worms all the time that is!