Picky Eater? Food suggestions

[Vizja13]

So I picked up a new red copper CT female the other day at petco (I went in for a plant...sigh.) Which, yeah, cool. BUT. She won't eat. I've tried the Omega pellets I feed my other four (including another CT female), as well as the crappy topfin betta pellets I got when I got my first betta. I only used them because they're smaller so shush. I hate feeding them.

Both of these she mouthed, then spit back out. I've only had her three days, should I relax and give her a bit longer to settle in?

I should note, she is in my 29 gal that I've been working a setup for, which is a community tank. At the moment, it's her, three cobra endlers (Which ignore the girl, and vice versa), 7-8 ghost shrimp, and a pond snail. Would it be best to, for the moment, put her in a breeder net? She isn't appearing stressed, she acts perfectly fine except for, well...not eating.

[Sena Hansler]

so shush

You really don't need to automatically get defensive. Anyone who judges here ist worth listening to.

Anyways, she just needs to get used to it. Being in a cup to a community tank is a huuuuge change for her. She swims around fine? Doesn't sit at the bottom all the time? Not clamped up?

I will say though, I really would have recommended to quarantine. If she had a disease it could wipe out your tank - and we don't want that! Only ones I rarely quarantine are the ones I get directly from a breeder's hands, physically, who I can trust. :)

As for her problem... I have had bettas refuse to eat for weeks on end. I always offer them food, and in your community what she won't eat someone else will find later (or right away!). Even try to introduce frozen, live, or anything soaked in garlic juice to entice her to eat. It could also be because the food she is used to (cruddy flakes in the store) is a lot softer than what you feed so she'll have to adjust.

[Vizja13]

The tank she's in is, ironically, all quarantined fish. All of the fish are eventually going into other tanks.

She's swimming fine, exploring the rocks, all levels of the tank. No clamping whatsoever.

Garlic juice? That's new, might try that. I do have some frozen bloodworms in the freezer so I could try those.

I DID spot her munching on what looked like a sunken pellet earlier, I think you may be on to something with the flake idea. I actually nabbed her the first day she was there though, they were still unloading their fish. Then again...who knows what she was fed prior.

[callistra]

I wouldn't try flakes, personally.

Sometimes bettas aren't interested in food for a while, but because she wants to eat but appears not to be able to is a concern. I would have QTed too.. just in case she might have an internal infection which can cause this issue...

I would look for New Life Spectrum Betta, and you can even try crushing up the omega one pellets to see if size is a problem, though I doubt it as those are really small last I viewed them.

If taste is a problem you can also get some garlic guard or fresh organic garlic and crush some up and soak the pellets in the garlic juices for 10minutes and then feed. Fish go crazy for garlic so if it's just a picky eater problem that should fix it, plus it's a great thing for their immune system.

[Vizja13]

I would say 1-3mm long, not really round (omega)...as for flakes, I am not planning on feeding them, I've never been a fan.

I HAVE seen her eating stuff that had soaked and sunk to the bottom. Perhaps it is the size or texture...will try the garlic if she won't eat tomorrow morning.

I have a 1 gal QT tank...my reservation is in the fact that it's unheated. Would you suggest pulling her into that?

[JessYe]

I have a similar problem. I have a crowntail, but I've had him for 3 months now, but about a month ago he stopped eating. I don't know what's wrong... I just moved him to a larger tank yesterday so it'll probably be a while for him to adjust to the new tank before he eats much anyways, but I'm worried since he didn't eat much before I moved him too... He stopped eating after I'd been gone for 2 weeks over the winter. I had my friend take care of him while I was gone... Could that have made a difference?

[callistra]

I wouldn't move her at this point. I mean whatever she may or may not have the other fish are exposed to and the lack of heat won't help her.

JessYe suggest making your own thread in the disease forum and filling this out: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=492

[JessYe]

Originally Posted by callistra

JessYe suggest making your own thread in the disease forum and filling this out: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=492

I can't access the link...

[Vizja13]

Alright. She ate two of the three pellets last night (a shrimp stole the other) after staring at them for awhile...so we will see how the next few days go before I change something on her again.