New Betta Not Eating

[Bar3hooves]

Five days ago I took the plunge and bought a male betta; however, he has yet to eat anything! I am getting really stressed out because I've researched like a mad woman, trying to figure out how to create a healthy environment for him.

The bowl is 2 1/2 gallons with a small heater. The tank is now at 74 degrees Fahrenheit. Initially the water temp was 70, so I've been slowly increasing the temperature. We have a well, so do not need to dechlorinate the water. I've tested it with strips and ph and ammonia are perfect. His food is New Life SPECTRUM Betta Formula with freeze dried blood worms as a treat. He has a leaf to lay on, but mostly rests on the bottom. The weird thing is that he is still so active even though he's burning calories, and not replacing them.

I am open to any ideas or advice! Please and Thank You! I can include pics if it would help you guys look for disease, etc.

P.S. His name is Captain America, because of his royal blue and red coloring.

[LeoTheLakerBetta]

Well, first off, you are doing a good job so far. However, bettas are more comfortable and more active, and more hungry (lol) at a higher temp. Minimum is around 78 or so. If you are sure that your water has no chlorines I guess it is okay to continue not using a dechlorinator.. Apart from the temp, this is normal behavior in my experience. My new bettas have always taken their ime warming up to food. They would chew and spit out pellets the first few days and eventually get the hang of the whole "eating" idea lol. Make sure you do the appropiate # of water changes which can be found in this very informartive sticky! http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=115758

Good luck and I hope everything turns out okay!

[Bar3hooves]

Thank you! I am going to do a full change tonight, but after that, I will continue increasing the temp as I have been. Hopefully you're right and he just isn't warm enough yet :)

[Sena Hansler]

I have rehomed some bettas to people with well water, and the one woman had her bettas die. I still recommend some type of conditioner considering it also neutralizes metals. I've used well water before too, and it was pretty bad well water

New bettas do not always eat. Some of mine eat within minutes, others within weeks. If he is active, he should be just fine. I do agree with raising the temperature to 78 degrees... He will have more intense colors, hold his fins better, and become a lot more active!

[Bar3hooves]

That's really interesting about the metals, because we do have very hard water. In the past we've had a betta and he did wonderfully without the conditioner, so i figured this guy would be fine too. But, I'll go buy some and see if adding it makes a difference. Thank you :)

[Sena Hansler]

Never know - its just good to have on hand ;p if anything, you could always order some IALs (indian almond lave) which not only lowers the PH naturally, but acts as a conditioner. As long as you do not mind tinted water that is

[Tikibirds]

Bettas can go for weeks without eatting. The guy in my avatar went about 4 weeks before he ate anything. I wouldn't worry too much about him not eatting just yet.

I second the conditioner as well. When I first got a betta, I knew nothing and petco told me all i needed to do was run the filter for 24 hours. I didnt have conditioner and the first 5 fish all died in less then 24 hours from what I am guessing was heavy metal poisioning or some kind of poisioning. I added conditioner and the 6th one didn't die on me. It dosen't really matter what brand you get - but some do a little more then others. Prime and Amquel plus also remove ammonia, nitrate and nitrites from the water. Stress coat has aloe to help with fin regrowth. Personally I like stress coat but I also like to keep a bottle of one of the more concentrated conditioners on hand (just in case I run out of stress coat and dont have money to get another bottle. Some only require like 1 ML for a 20 gallon tank so they last a long time - especially if you only have 1 or 2 small tanks. I have 7)

[LuckyBlue]

One betta I brought home one time didn't eat one bit for over a week... I was so freaked.... but once he started he's never stopped! Don't worry too much.

[callistra]

I'd pick up some Prime or Novaqua Plus.

If your water is too hard it could be too hard on him. Any idea what the ph is? Bettas will adjust to move ph, but there are places that have such high kh/ph that they can't adjust. IAL will help with this.

I agree he may just be cold.

[Bar3hooves]

Sadly he didn't make it. Captain america passed away while I was at school today.

Things that have changed since I posted this:
The water temp is 76 (2 degrees higher than two days ago). And I changed the water 2 days ago. I really don't understand why the little guy passed away. His color or fins haven't changed since I brought him home.

Do you have ideas what might have caused this? Should I try again with another fish? I really want to, but the idea of killing another one terrifies me! :(

The lady at petco told me I could bleach items and then use a dechlorinator to make them safe, is this true? Since I dont know what caused him to die, I want to make sure to clean everything well before I get another one.