Another plea for help?

[theKingHenry]

This sucks. So, everything is going good with my new Betta, Henry. Good tank, decor, filter, errything (besides the possibility my heater might not be working. But my tank still stays at 76-80).

Sooo, I got pellet food my Henry. It's the TetraBetta Floating Mini Pellets. I feed two once a a day at 4 pm. Lately, he's either been letting them float for a long time then finally going to eat them. But when he goes to his food, he'll eat it, then spit it, then eat the smaller parts, then spit it again and he never actually EATS it.

And now, I don't think he's eating them at all. He just lets them float. And it angers me because he looks and acts 100% healthy but doesn't seem to eat correctly? Any advice, like he might not like his food or something? Sorry!

[CyerRyn]

are you using a water conditioner?

[Kytkattin]

He might just not like it. Are you financially able to buy a different food? I would strongly recommend New Life Spectrum Small Fish Formula. It sounds like the pellets not only taste bad, but might be a little too big, which the Small Fish Formula is perfect for! NLS is also one of the best foods on the market. Really great ingredients.

If you can't afford new pellets, try soaking his in garlic. They improve flavor, but won't help if they are too big.

[theKingHenry]

Yes, I use the water conditioner.

And thank you! This helped a lot. I'm going to go to the store tomorrow and get that as an "emergency pet supply purchase." Haha.

[Myates]

Another tip for when he does eat.. 2 mini pellets a day is a very very low amount of food.. when you get the NLS small pellets, you should try to be doing 2 feedings, of 4-5 pellets a time (it will say mini/micro or in NLS case small). If you get ones larger then the small/mini then 4-6 a day spread between 2+ meals is ideal.
Sometimes if the pellet is too large or hard, they will spit it out then back in, then back out, etc until they eat it- it's their way of chewing and breaking down the pieces.
2+ feedings a day is more idea as with one feeding you risk the chance of under feeding, or over feeding and causing bloat. They do better with multiple, smaller meals per day.

Just throwing that out because I don't want him to get malnourished and have health problems related to lack of nutrition.

[theKingHenry]

Oh, thank you Myates, that was very helpful(:

[Pitluvs]

I went through 4 diff types of pellets until I found one everyone liked and was healthier. Not all pellets are made the same, or of the same quality. Tetra foods tend to be on the lower end for nutrition. If you can get the NLS food, you're all set. I have yet to hear a fish that doesnt like ornate I feed Aqueon, which isn't the best but its small pellets and everyone will eat them. Good luck!

[Myates]

I believe mine is Aqueon as well. I had to put them in a zip lock baggie because it was easier to find the little half ones in there for one of mine who seems to have trouble with the full sized ones, so can't be exact on brand, other then I know it's not Tetra. So far haven't had issues with any of mine not liking them. I'm going to try a different brand here shortly, hoping there isn't an issue with the change.

[ksage505]

Just so you know, New Life Spectrum has a food specifically for bettas as well as the small fish formula. I recently switched from the tetra pellets to the NLS betta food and so far so good.

[dramaqueen]

Gettas can be very picky eaters and may prefer one pellet over another.