Betta Unable to eat as much as he used to

[The Bear]

Hey guys... my betta fish, Al, is having trouble eating.

I posted in a thread a while back where he had something on his eye, kinda like a grey patch or something. We tried treating it, but it never went away. Never showed any signs of anything though since until recently...

Anyways, as of the last week and a half he can't really eat his food. He tries real hard over the course of feeding time. But he sort of... over shoots his food. He is misjudging where it is and missing it most of the time. It's making me real sad. He used to be such a pig.

My question is... do you think it's possible he is losing his vision and he's just having trouble finding the food? Cause he's just judging it horribly. What do I do to help him eat more? Should I feed him a pellet instead of flakes so he can go after a bigger target?

Also, my tank is fine. Filtered. Heated. The whole 9 yards. Have not had a single problem over the last 4 months since we moved him into a heated and filtered environment.

[Adastra]

It's possible he injured his eye due to some kind of trauma--a scrape, perhaps, and is losing his vision. Something people do with animals like fish who lose their vision is to designate a feeding surface in the tank, something that the fish can recognize and return to every time it smells food. A dish or a small plate on the bottom works well, but if your fish still has some vision, you could use a feeding ring at the surface of the water.

Pellets will definitely be helpful, they're higher quality and easier for your fish to digest. They also don't make as much of a mess in your tank. Good brands to watch for are Omega One Betta Buffet Pellets, Atison's Betta Pellets, and New Life Spectrum.

[The Bear]

Thank you for the response.

I will try feeding him pellets tomorrow and see if he'll be able to track 'em down. If not, I will look into the feeding ring!

[The Bear]

Feeding him the pellets was successful. Bigger targets and they hung below the water, so he was easily able to locate them.

[Adastra]

Good to hear he's doing better!