Betta won't eat!

[Pellaz]

I've had my betta for a little over a week now and he will NOT eat. Anything.

He inhabits a 10 gallon fully planted (and thriving) aquarium with 1 baby snail, and seems to be very happy and active. I've tried betta pellets, betta flakes and frozen brine shrimp and he will just not eat any of it. The pellets he eats but then spits out immediately. The flakes and brine shrimp he just ignores.

PH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 10
Temp - 80 degree F
Aquaclear filter

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

-Pellaz

[MollyJean]

The pellets might be too big. They make baby pellets, you might want to go find some of those.. or try breaking one in half, if you've got the nails for it.

[Pellaz]

Thank you! I didn't think of that. I'll try crushing some up a bit for next feeding.

-Pellaz

[MollyJean]

Crushing isn't going to work, they won't eat powder, and those things just fall apart if you don't get them just right. And it'll dirty up your tank really bad. I've gotten really good at breaking them in half with my thumb nail (clean it out really good before you try) and he'll eat those fine. If you can't do that, they make mini pellets!

Other then that, just keep trying, and stick to one kind of food. He might be waiting for something better to come along, you have to make him understand that's all he's getting.

[Pellaz]

I was imagining crumbles more then powder. But I'll just stick to you're splitting method if you say that's what works! I'll definitely just stick to pellets. He WILL eat them.

[MollyJean]

Do whatever works for you. I have to split peas a lot and have gotten very good at popping them with my thumb nail instead of a spoon, so splitting betta pellets isn't that hard for me, and he eats them just fine like that.

Oh, and you said he won't eat the shrimp? It's frozen, right? I'm giving Lunch bloodworms about once a week. I'll pinch it with a pare of computer tweezers (they're REALLY thin) and move it around the surface of the water.. when he starts getting interested, I move it away from him; Just like a cat with a laser pointer. He loves chasing it, almost as much fun as eating it.

And I found a trick to get my boy moving around a lot more. He's a lazy butt. He likes sleeping on top of one plant all day unless someone is there to keep him company. Take the eraser end of a pencil and put it up to the side of the tank and move it around. It's better if it's one of those green erasers. He doesn't flare, but he really likes following it around.

[dr2b]

Micropellets are great. I use them with my Marina since the normal pellets are too big for her. But it may be that your new guy is still adapting to his surroundings and new home too. I am leaning more towards the adapting since he isn't even eating the brineshrimp.

[dramaqueen]

I use micropellets, too. Reina is very small and she can only eat the smallest Bio gold pellets.

[veganchick]

He might also just be a picky betta, some of mine require speficific brands of pellets to get them to eat....

[HopeInHeart]

Hard pellets should be rehydrated before feeding to your fish. After they are nice and soft, they are easy to break apart and feed smaller pieces.