Betta Spitting Up Food Occasionally?

[bettastark]

I've been here before because my betta had fin rot, but his fins are growing now, and he is more lively.

But for the past few days, he's been eating more slowly and spitting up food. I'll give him an Omega One Betta Pellet and he'll eat it, chew it for a while. Then I pop another one in, and he'll eat that one, chew, and then spit both out. He immediately then goes for them both, and takes a long time to eat it, then will eat one or two more.

Is this normal behavior? I was feeding him all bloodworms before, so is it possible that now that his diet has stabilized he simply doesn't feel the urge to eat as quickly as before?

Housing
What size is your tank? Two and a half gallons.
What temperature is your tank? 81
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? I think the filter uses an air pump.
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? Omega One Betta Pellets.
How often do you feed your betta fish? About 3-4 pellets twice a day.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Every 3-4 days.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Nutrafin Cycle (Biological Aquarium Supplement) and Nutrafin Aqua Plus (Tap water conditioner) OR Stress Coat+ Conditioner
Also, I add some aquarium salt (the right dose as stated on the box. He responded positively to that).

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Fins are growing!
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Spits out food, but has been more lively then when he had the fin rot (although he's probably still be recovering from it).
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Three days
Have you started treating your fish? No
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Yes
How old is your fish (approximately)? Got him eight months ago at PetSmart.

[InfiniteGlory]

Mine does the same with his pellets. I have found two ways he likes them.

1. I take a small bowl and place a few tablespoons of tank water and float a few pellets. This allows them to soften so they are easier to chew. Mine will spit them out after chewing them and then go eat it again. each time the pellet gets smaller.

2. I crush the pellets in a small bowl and then rub my fingers together under water in his floating log so they fall on the bottom of the log. he likes to scavenge on the bottom of the tank so I do it in his log so it's easier to find.

[callistra]

You're over feeding.. 6-8 pellets of this size is too much. I'd cut back to 4-5 daily and that will still be on the high end.

A tank of this size needs two weekly water changes - 50% and 100%. Some bettas are very sensitive to ammonia and will have a hard time holding down food with it in their tank. Some naturally chew it, spit it back up and chew some more, especially with larger pellets like this. Internal infections can also cause this.

If you don't want to do these large water changes you need to get a drops kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and check levels daily for a week while you do twice weekly 50% wc with gravel siphon/turkey baster/stir dip method and if you ever see any ammonia show up you know you're not doing enough.

What color is his poop?

[bettastark]

All right, I'll cut down on the food and see if I can get an ammonia kit. I might just do a 100% change today.

I don't know... I don't really know what I'm looking for.

[InfiniteGlory]

His poop should be about the color of his pellets and the same size. if it is white or stringy looking then he my have a parasite or internal infection.

[bettastark]

Okay. They're none of that.


... My roommates' baby platys' poop looks like that. Does the same rule apply?

[callistra]

You mean white and stringy?.. parasite or bacterial. They don't live in the same tank do they? no sharing of equipment in any way?

[bettastark]

No no. They don't. Except the turkey baster.

And they're just stringy and long and really light brown.

[callistra]

Light brown like the color of the pellets he eats? Can you take a photo?