Food sinks before betta sees it... Solutions?

[FishyWishy]

Hi all,

After reading recommendations from all of you, we are switching our betta's diet to a combination of high quality pellets and frozen foods. As suggested, we started soaking the pellets before feeding in a tiny bowl of tank water. We also thaw out a teeny chip of a frozen food cube in a tiny bowl of tank water before feeding. However, in both cases, now that the foods are hydrated (as opposed to dry pellets and freeze dried blood worms) and we dump them in along w/ the tiny bowl of tank water, they no longer float! Even though our betta knows it's feeding time and is right there prowling at the surface, most of the time the hydrated food we dump in with the bowl water sinks so fast it zips right by him and he doesn't even see it before it's gone and sinks to the bottom. This probably happens 75% of the time. So he's not getting the food he's supposed to be getting and we're concerned the uneaten food somewhere on the bottom is creating waste in his tank.

Does anyone else have this problem? If so, how did you solve it?


Thanks!

FishyWishy

[Rain Drop]

You can try not soaking the pellets as long as you are. Cut that time into half or a third. Get his attention before you feed him so that he's right at your finger. Also, since the pellet/worms will be wet you can stick it on the tip of your finger and then place your finger just above the surface. Hopefully he'll jump up a bit for it and he's snatch it! It's actually kinda neat when they do that c:

[FishyWishy]

You can feed them from your finger?! Wow! We'll have to try that!