[LittleLyon]

My betta, Alphonso, has refused to eat for three days. I see no sign of illness and I am starting to worry about him. He is usually just a pig when it comes to his food. Any thoughts/help?

Housing
What size is your tank? - 2.5 gal
What temperature is your tank? - 78 degrees F
Does your tank have a filter? - Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? - Yes
Is your tank heated? - Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? - None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? - New Life Spectrum All Purpose Formula
How often do you feed your betta fish? - 1x/day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? - Weekly
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? - 50 - 70%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? - Dechlorinater

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: .2
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 8.0
Hardness: 1000
Alkalinity: 120

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? - Hasn't
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? - Won't eat, hides in plants, won't make bubble nest
When did you start noticing the symptoms? - 3 days ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? - Added pH down
Does your fish have any history of being ill? - No
How old is your fish (approximately)? Had since November 2011

 

[Myates]

Did you start the pH down after or prior to him not eating? pH down can actually harm the bettas.. they do much better adjusting to the natural pH you have, rather then mess around with it. It can cause them to go into shock..

Do you use a vacuum to clean the gravel on a regular basis? In a 2.5, filtered, it is ideal to do a 50% water only, and a 50% with siphoning of the gravel to keep the tank clean. Doing large changes once a week can cause the system to fluctuate up and down in chemistry..

Go ahead and do a 25% water change daily-every other day for the next few days to try to get the pH down out of there.. it's a small tank, and the pH will fluctuate back and forth with the chemical in it.

Lets see how he does once it is out of the tank, as there isn't anything in the way you are caring for him for him to become ill, and if he has no physical signs then there isn't much you can do until something else happens.. don't want to toss in medications or salts until we know what it is we are treating, otherwise he can become worse... does he attempt to eat at all?

 

[LittleLyon]

I added the ph down after he became ill. I always siphon the gravel when I clean the tank out.

Yesterday he chomped one pellet and then immediately spit it out. Sometimes he comes to the surface to see what I'm doing and sometimes not, but other than that he just ignored the food. I wish I knew how to help him!

 

[Aus]

Will he eat live food?

 

[XxBettaLoverxX]

My female betta is doing the same thing. It started about two days ago. I'm afraid she's going to starve to death

 

[Lillybulb]

My female betta did that for 2 weeks. Finally she finally ate some cooked pea I offered her (my betta seriously love these). Turned out she didn't like the current the filter was making and also she is really tiny for a betta and needed super tiny bits of food. And relax, I've heard of bettas going up to a month without food and being just fine.