I'm not sure how other people on the forum feel about it, since most seem to prefer Omega One or NLS brands from what I've read -- but have you tried Tetra's BettaMin Tropical Medley? It has both flakes and freeze-dried shrimp for bettas and he might find it a lot easier to ingest (since you mentioned he is okay with flakes), and should give him a balanced diet in addition to the frozen bloodworms you give him already.

In addition, I have a bottom-feeding betta. I don't know why he prefers to feed from the bottom, but it's certainly possible for a betta to feed from a dish, from my experience. I think it mostly depends on the individual betta, though, since my other betta prefers food that is on the water surface.

 

I actually do have a container of those, they were the first thing he was willing to eat after I got him. I'm not a fan of flakes because they get sucked up into the filter and clog it pretty quickly, and after I read that they can cause digestive problems for bettas I stopped feeding him those completely. I also worry about there not being enough protein in them.

But if he won't eat from a bowl I'll probably have to switch back to those because I can't stand watching him struggle with the pellets.

 

Hmmm, I understand why you stopped them. Perhaps if you have to switch back to them, you can just feed him tiiiiny amounts twice a day? I understand you've been feeding him more trying to get him to eat, I also always end up overfeeding when I'm trying to get a new fish to eat -- which does cloud up the water much faster. Maybe the smaller portions will help the water problem?

Other than thinking of maybe offering him live food, like ghost shrimp, or something smaller, I am not sure of what other options are available to you.

 

Tetra brand of food is really not good at all for him. They are full of fillers. You also should never feed flakes as they lead to constipation and bloating.

Have you tried Omega One Marine Micro Pellets? They are super super super super tiny. I mean extremely tiny. I feed them to my tiny female because she gets bloated very easily. Maybe try those. The size of the pellets are basically the size of a crumb.

 

Yup, that's why I stopped feeding him flakes and the Tetra brand pellets I had even though I still have the container of for them. Sometimes I pick out one of the little brine shrimp bits out from the flakes for a treat though.

Thank you!

I'll look for those pellets next time to go to Petco, I haven't noticed them there before, but it says they have it online. They're half the size of what I've been feeding him, so hopefully he'll have an easy time with them.

Jeeze, with all the good pellets that're gonna go to waste, and those pretty kings my Petco has, now I'm thinking that I should get another betta. :lol:

 

Thanks for the info! I'll have to look for those micro-pellets, myself, since I think those might help my other betta from being a bottom feeder (he doesn't like to crunch the current pellets, so he waits until they sink and are soft to start eating them, while my older betta crunches on them furiously without issue).

Edit: I couldn't find them at Petco when I went just now, so maybe they were sold out.

 

It WOULD be a shame to let all that food go to waste... :lol:

 

It seems my new guy also has a super-tiny mouth. I'll have to pick up some different food for him. Oh well...

Any idea what causes this? Breeding outcome? Fish still young? My guy is a big guy, just with a very small mouth.

 

It's probably a genetic defect from the breeder. Some bettas have more trouble eating pellets than others. There isn't much you can except find the smallest pellets you can.

 

(For reference, here is a picture of my guy's tiny, tiny mouth. He's having trouble with Omega One cut in half, so if anyone has any idea what *causes* this it would be appreciated...)

 

He kinda likes it I guess?

I don't know if I like this food for him though because it sinks pretty quickly and gets everywhere, it's a pain trying to suck it all out after a feeding. So, this morning, I ended up putting it in a bowl and soaking it until all the pieces sunk and then putting the bowl in for a while. He ate enough that I felt comfortable taking it out and when he was done, but he left a good amount of it behind, so I think he just doesn't like most of it.

Anyway, since I know he'll eat out of a bowl now, I'm gonna try soaking the pellets he was eating before in the bowl and see if he has an easier time.

 

I know we don't usually recommend flakes here, but I ended up getting Omega One Buffet Flakes for my guy.

I make a feeding ring out of airline tubing (took a short piece of airline tubing, cut one end at an angle and stuffed it into the other end - it floats at the top of the tank ) and that prevents the filter from spreading the flakes everywhere. I then take 1-2 flakes and crumble them up into little-bitty-bits into the ring. Stays on the top of the water so I can see what he has or hasn't eaten, stays in place with the ring. Biggest thing is to be very aware of the portion you're feeding so as to not overfeed.

 

That's a good idea with the ring, I don't plan on feeding him flakes, but I'm gonna keep that ring trick in mind. It could come in handy in the future.

He's actually doing really well just eating his regular pellets out of the bowl. When they soften up he rips them into little pieces and eats those, but it all stays in the bowl so he can just take his time and not worry about losing any bits. He tends to eat a few and then rest for a bit and then eat a few more. After a couple hours it's usually all gone and I take the bowl back out.

It's a glass bowl so it takes him a few minutes to figure out how to get in there to eat, but he always figures it out eventually. :lol:

 

I guess it's a genetic defect, too. Mine have problems eating the pellets, too, though they will attack a defrosted blood worm and eat it just fine.