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new betta not eating

2K views 28 replies 16 participants last post by  ANHEL123 
#1 ·
hi

i have my betta nearly 3 days now from petco., ive tried feeding him yesterday and today and hes not interested,i tried the tropical fish flakes first and he doesnt bother trying to go near them at all,.

i also got beta pellets and he doesnt pay attention to them much when they are at the top , 3 or 4 times he has shown a little interest and followed them down when they were sinking but only 1 of them times he actually sucked 1 into his mouth to eat it but he spit it out 3 seconds later, now i just have about 10 pellets from the 2 days sittin at the bottom of my tank and some flakes too :(

most of the time he doesnt really seem to see the pellets dropping as hes in a corner lookin around or hes just on the opposite side of the tank when they drop..

i think ill try get some frozen bloodworm in a day or 2 when this hurricane dies down,would this be the next vest food to try him on or is there a better one? is it coz hes new in my tank or coz its not a cycled tank or coz he just does not like dry foods?

heres a pic of the food i tried
 

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#2 ·
Try and clean the food at the bottom, they can rot and cause problems later. Sometimes it takes a while for a new betta to get used to eating. Luckily, they can go a while without food, though they probably won't like it. Keep trying with those pellets, and he might get it eventually at least until you get some bloodworms.
 
#3 ·
I use Omega One Betta Buffet pellets, never had a problem with no one eating them. Since he spit it back out, are the pellets large? You might have to crush them up.

If he still hasn't eaten in a few days, try soaking the pellets in garlic juice. They looove garlic. That way he can smell it better and it'll taste better to them.
 
#4 ·
It can take a long time for a new betta to start eating....I think it's not unusual for them to go a week without eating. I feed all my bettas "hikari betta bio gold" and they all seem to like it really well. I also feed "new life spectrum" sometimes to mix it up and I think they like that too. I don't feed frozen bloodworms but I've always heard that they're good for treats but not as a staple food...
 
#5 ·
ill keep trying the pellets,they are small enough,judging by the size of his mouth i think they are not too big for him,i will crush some up next time,i think the main problem is he doesnt see them dropping some of the times so he doesnt know they are there

i dont have a gravel cleaner at the moment,is there any other way to clean the substrate with any items i may have in my kitchen/house? could be up to 3 weeks before i can get gravel vacum cleaner from petco
 
#8 ·
ill keep trying the pellets,they are small enough,judging by the size of his mouth i think they are not too big for him,i will crush some up next time,i think the main problem is he doesnt see them dropping some of the times so he doesnt know they are there

i dont have a gravel cleaner at the moment,is there any other way to clean the substrate with any items i may have in my kitchen/house? could be up to 3 weeks before i can get gravel vacum cleaner from petco
Do you get his attention on you before you drop the pellets? Mine all know that if the hand is over the tank then food is about to drop & they pretty much follow where my hand goes. I would not feed for a couple of days & then try as others have suggested, crush the pellet but don't drop it until you have his attention. With my new Bettas it takes a few days for them to associate me with food but once they do they will come to the side of tank I am on & give me pitiful looks thinking I will feed them. I feed the Top Fin Betta Bits Pellets & the only time they're not eaten is if someone is sick.
 
#10 ·
You've not had him very long so be patient & spend as much time as you can in front of his tank or looking in from the top. My newest females took 3-4 days to get used to me. They're being QT'd in the kitchen so now every time I walk in they swarm that side of the tank, "walking" all over each other, it's pretty funny. I feed floating pellets so you may want to switch to something like that. Don't make blood worms his stapel diet.
 
#12 ·
just got back from pet store with some blood worms,i put them in and they started sinking,he chased after them slowly and sucked 1 in and swallowed it,he did not try to eat any of the others and they are now lying on the bottom of the tank..

i guess ill stop feeding him for a couple days then try again
 
#17 ·
little update..

hes been eating bloodworms the past 2 days. twice a day,im givin him 2 or 3 little worms each time.. ive tried the pellets before putttin the worms in but hes not interested,he will follow the pellet and then just watch it sink or he will suck it in then spit it right back out..


ill try one of the more expensive brand pellets when i have some more cash and report back
 
#22 ·
just got back from the fish store an hour or so ago, bought some omega one betta buffet pellets.. i dropped one into the tank,he sucked it in and then spat it back out,i dropped another 2 and he just watched them sinking, 10 mins later i put a couple bloodworms in and he swam so fast after them and sucked them right down his belly..

ive read in other posts about soaking pellets in garlic juice, i have in my fridge a jar of minced garlic,its garlic minced really small pieces and its floating in garlicy juice.

the ingredients on the jar say garlic , water and phosphoric acid.. can i use the juice from this jar to soak a couple of pellets and try? if this stuff is o good then what type of garlic can i use?
 
#23 ·
forgot to mention i called petco where i got the fish and the guy says they feed their bettas with bettamin betta pellets..

should i now go buy these pellets and try these?im kind of gettin sick of buying jars of pellets and them sittin around goin to waste :(
 
#24 ·
If he gets hungry enough he'll start eating them. You can't keep feeding him bloodoworms (are they frozen or freezedried? Freezedried are not good for them at all). Also, it's common for them to spit out their food and then gobble it back up again.

Be sure that you are removing all that food that he's not eating, or he will get sick eventually.
 
#25 ·
the bloodworms are frozen,i have been doing a gravel cleaning the last 2 times i changed water,i just cleaned gravel this evening and it was spotless,i got all the old food out so im on top of that,ill stop feeding him alltogether for 2 days and try some pellets mayb he will eat them if hes starving,
 
#26 ·
Yeah, it won't hurt him to miss a few days of food. The frozen blood worms are much better than the freeze dried, but they are still too rich to be his staple diet. Hopefully he'll break down and start eating the pellets soon. They can be very stubborn about it.
 
#27 ·
I am having the same problem now he will not eat, i have had him since nov 1st of this year, and i no thats not a long time but the first day i had him he ate now he will not, i will be picking up some new pelltes for him tomorrow since i did notice that his food is now 3 months old, could this be a reason for him not to eat, mine is also very scared when i come around but he was building bubble nest when i first got him do that mean he is happy?
 
#28 ·
mine was very afraid of me but hes not that much scared now,he still moves away from me at times when i go close to the glass but hes gettin more comfortable.he has never built a bubble nest,i just put in some real floating plants yesterday so imhoping maybe ill get some nests soon but from reading around the forum a bubble nest does not mean the fish is happy,even stressed out fish will make them
 
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