Medicine for what? Today I started with the pellets, tried soaking them first, no dice, tried floating them, nothing. Tried soaking the freeze dried brine shrimp, again nothing. Flakes, nope. They take it and spit it out. If anything they just tasted it. I will stick to not giving them the bloodworms for awhile and hope they get a taste for something else soon.
While having some medications on hand just in case isn't the worst idea, so long as your boys are currently healthy and happy thats not something you have to necessarily rush out and get and worry about. Thats a little more like something you can collect gradually over time to keep on your shelf for a 'just in case' moment. Like some Freshwater Aquarium Salt in case of fin rot, unscented Epsom salt in case of boating/constipation.
But so long as you keep up with your water changes and are able to get your boys on a good diet, you shouldn't have too many/any issues. ;)
What pellets are you using now? Did you pick up some NLS?
Don't bother soaking any foods...its a myth that this makes them easier to eat, assists digestion and prevents bloating. A bettas digestive system doesn't work like that, and they do actually 'chew' and crush up their food....so its not like the swallow pellets or freeze-dried foods whole and it sits in their stomach and expands. Also, as soon as the food hits the water it starts to leech out and loose its nutritional value....so once its soaked, theres really not mush left in there to be beneficial.
Ditch the flakes and freeze-dried, at least for now. You really want them to get used to the pellets, so thats all you need to be offering them for the moment. Flakes can be rather messy, difficult to dole out proper amounts(which is important with fish like bettas who tend to be prone to bloating/constipation/swimbladder issues, which is cause mainly by over-feeding), and they take on water a lot quicker and therefore loose their nutritional value unless their snapped up instantly. Freeze-dried is really a little more like candy to bettas....find wen fed carefully in moderation(about once a week I'd say), but they're notorious for causing bloating problems and there is a lot of controversy over whether they even provide any/much nutrition or do.
Since your boys are all spoiled on bloodworms now, it is going to take some time to get them used to a good pellet. Much longer then a day. ;) Probably for several days they'll ignore them all together, but just be persistent! Offer 2-4(depending on the brand)pellets twice per day, remove anything uneaten after a few minutes, and just be patient. Once they get hungry enough, they WILL eat their pellets....and once they are used to pellets(after a week or two)you can go ahead and introduce other foods as treats for a little variety replacing a meal 1-3 times per week. ;)
Oh! Also, something I forgot to mention before....I would also suggest going ahead and removing the filters in both tanks. With a betta since they prefer stiller water and get most of their oxygen from the surface(and therefore don't need extra water movement to oxygenate their environment like most other fish), a filter is only necessary when cycling a tank....which is extremely difficult in such a small tank and something a beginner should not attempt IMO/E. Its best just to remove the filters and preform 2-3 weekly water changes(aobut 1-2 50%s and 100% per week.....personally I'd go with 2 50%s as I've always found my bettas much more active and colorful and happy in the slightly cleaner water) to keep things nice and clean.
Don't forget to use a good conditioner like Prime though with any fresh water you add to your tank!
Once again, thank you for all the good information. Regarding the filters, just as an fyi, I was concerned at first that a filter is not the thing to use but after setting these tanks up there is virtually no water movement. Even with such little movement that is cut down by the plant in front of the water coming out. I really appreciate your expertise!
Anyway though, I'd still suggest removing the filters anyway even if the water movement is slow if only because they're completely unnecessary and really don't offer anything when you're not cycling, take up space(though that may not be a huge issue in the Minibow as I know those filters are small), and you don't want to risk your tank possibly starting a cycle between water changes, resulting in the possible spike of harmful/deadly ammonia.
Hey your boys are so beautiful and thank you for rescuing them.
I agree on every advice that DragonFish gave you, especially about filters, just want to add something else:)
When you do 100% water changes you need to acclimate them to the new water temperature so you don't shock them with drastic temp difference.
The way i do it i have betta in his changing cup with 1/4 of the water and add small amount of the new pre mix de chlorinated water . Do it for about 5-6 times every 4-5 minutes. This way he will get used to the new water.
About blood worms i had a few bettas like that. It common especially with new bettas, as soon as you give them blood worms they refusing pellets. All you need to do just keep trying. But always remove the food,because if it sink to the bottom of the tank it will contaminate the water . It was easy for me because i had them at my work so i tried to offer food many times a day. And even that one of the betta took me about a month. I even fast him for about 4 days. You can try to trick them too. What i did i crashed the pellets also . Good luck.
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Just so everyone knows I now have heaters in both tanks and the guys are doing very well. Still no luck on the pellets even when I tried crushing them. Will continue to try. They are eating the flakes and 3 kinds of freeze dried food pretty good. Been doing a 50% water change making sure the temp in the new water is fine for them. Thanks for all the info from everyone.
Awesome! Great to hear you've got the heaters and things are going well. :)
I didn't really go over the thread before typing this up, so I apologize in advance if I repeat a few things.....
What pellets are you using now? Did you manage to pick up the NLS?
In order to switch them over to pellets, you're not going to have much success unless you feed them NOTHING else....no frozen, no freeze-dried, no flakes....just offering pellets. Like I mentioned previously it can take anywhere from a few days to a couple weeks or even a little longer, but they will eventually eat the pellets and they will not starve. They will just eventually get hungry enough and eat them.
If crushing didn't work, you can try soaking the pellets in some garlic juice to make them a little more enticing....I believe there is even a fish-specific product made(Seachem Garlic Guard), through just using a regular clove of garlic will work just as well.
What kinds of flakes are you feeding? Also, don't feed the freeze-dried too often and be careful when feeding....freeze-dried has a higher risk of causing bloating issues. I wouldn't suggest offering it more then twice weekly.
Have you only been doing 50% water changes? Did you read up on cycling and decide to try it? Have you been testing your levels?
I still wouldn't suggest cycling and would advise just doing the 100% as well, but if you're really set on trying to cycle or something.....so long as you've done your research, well, they're your tanks.
Also, +1 about the acclimating after a 100% change....thats something you always want to do when you remove your fish from the tank and add him back in for any reason really. However, the temperature if your new water shouldn't be drastically different then the temp of the old water with any water change.....ideally, and so long as you have a good conditioner like Prime to use this shouldn't be a problem, you want your new water to be within a couple degrees of your old water. If you pre-mix your water, that means a heater in your container is probably a good idea....though really in most places water straight from the tap(with a good conditioner)is just fine....just use a mix of hot and cold and be sure to test with a glass thermometer.
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