[TheDevonFox]

SO, as many of you may know, I've only had my Loki for two days now, and as of today, have finally settled him into the tank he will be living in from now on! And even though I've tried at least three times throughout the day to feed him, I haven't seen him eat at all! And now that I'm exhausted and need to go to bed, he won't come out of his sweet new favorite hiding spot for me to even TRY to feed him!

Is this something that he will grow out of, or should I be concerned? I don't want to starve him just because I haven't set up an eating time with him and I just can't catch him when he's willing to eat!

 

[Myates]

It can take some bettas weeks before they start to eat healthy and normally.. I wouldn't worry about it too much at this point, as you just got him into his new home. He won't starve himself to death as long as he is pretty much healthy over all.

What are you trying to feed him? I have found that when it comes to very picky or odd eaters (I have my share of them), they tend to love and will jump for Omega One Betta Buffet pellets (live foods as well, but sometimes that isn't an option for an every-meal sort of thing). I don't think I have yet to hear of anyone who's picky eaters didn't like Omega One. New Life Spectrum is also a big hit with them.. Some pellets just don't taste good, and they may not be used to what you are trying to offer.

Continue to work on getting him to eat pellets, offer a couple times a day and make sure to remove any uneaten shortly after feeding- it will start to foul up the water, once their processed foods hit water they immediately start to break down it's nutrition, so when food is left in the water too long, it really is not offering them anything but empty calories. Plus, he won't go and snack on it later, making him more hungry when it's time to eat.

 

[TheDevonFox]

I've got him some flakes, which he had been spitting out, so I went back to Petco and bought the pellets that they had been feeding him before I got him. And how do I go about cleaning up the uneaten food? Most of it sinks to the bottom of the tank, and somewhat into the gravel.

 

[MysticMuffin]

If the food is still floating at the top, just scoop it out. Just keep an eye on him while you're feeding him and if he doesn't seem interested just take it out. My little CT took about 2ish weeks before he started eating. In comparison to my VT who started eating as soon as I got him. If the food goes to the bottom, whenever you do your 50% water change, just stir up the gravel and catch whatever you see with a cup or net =]

 

[Bombalurina]

Make sure to remove that uneaten food within 24 hours to prevent it fouling the water. Gravel siphons are great.

 

[Hallyx]

Turkey baster.

 

[Sheldon31]

I use a turkey baster to clean the food out of mine. My snail eats a lot of it before I get chance to usually but whatever he doesn't eat within 10 minutes I either stir up the gravel and scoop it out with a fine net or get the baster out. Also handy for getting poop out of the tanks too. My mother in laws betta didn't eat for a few days while Kyon chomps anything and everything and did from day 2. I didn't feed on day 1 because I was fasting my tetras on that day and the pet store had already fed him. Give him some time and soon he'll be munching.

 

[TheDevonFox]

He's not only started eating, but, he's begun to get excited about it! Though, I'm worried he may be a little slow... Whenever he tried to suck in a pallet, sometimes he doesn't actually get it, but he still acts as though he had and makes the swallowing motions and everything. It's adorable, and pretty funny yo see.

Also, the turkey baster idea is brilliant! I'll head to the store today and pick one up, so that I'm not using our kitchen's one XD

Now, I'm interested in the idea of having a snail. What kind of snail would I want to get for Loki's tank?

 

[Sheldon31]

My snail was a stowaway in the plants I bought. He's a pond snail who've I've quite taken to. Apple snails are cute but they grow huge so would probably need a fairly large tank too. I love the assasin snails, not sure how big they grow but they look gorgeous. Glad that Loki has started eating Kyon gets very excited during feeding time to the point he flares at his food. I definitely reccomend frozen Daphnia or bloodworm as a weekly treat. My tetras go crazy for it! My lfs has just started selling live food so gonna try that soon.

 

[Micho]

Well, how big is your tank? I wouldn't recommend a snail with your Betta in any tank that's under 5g.

If you do get a snail, I recommend a Nerite snail, these buggers can't reproduce unless they're in brackish water, which is great. Don't want snails taking over your tank.

 

[TheDevonFox]

I've got him in a 5 gallon tank! And snails just sound interesting, and would be a great help, since I'll be gone for several weeks at a time at different points throughout the summer.

And he really likes his food thus far. It was the pellets most recommend by this sweet girl at the Petco, who said she had betta herself, but I look forward to getting his treats once he's gotten a bit more used to being here. Maybe another week or so

 

[kfryman]

I have the same exact problem, though Kei has been with me for 4 months. I feed New Life Spectrum too.

 

[Sheldon31]

I feed Kyon pellets and the tetras flakes as a staple diet, frozen once a week and I fast them every Friday. Is Loki your avatar pic? He's pretty gorgeous!

 

[TheDevonFox]

Yup, that's him! I got some better pictures of him today, now that he's cool with actually swimming around instead of hiding! He's my little frost giant! (At the moment, he's entertaining himself by swimming under the tiny waterfall that the filter causes and it's one of the cutest things I've ever seen! XD)

 

[Micho]

I've got him in a 5 gallon tank! And snails just sound interesting, and would be a great help, since I'll be gone for several weeks at a time at different points throughout the summer.

And he really likes his food thus far. It was the pellets most recommend by this sweet girl at the Petco, who said she had betta herself, but I look forward to getting his treats once he's gotten a bit more used to being here. Maybe another week or so

Snails aren't a cleanup crew, shrimps are though.

Snails only eat certain types of algae, and if you run out of algae naturally you have to drop in food for it, whether that be algae wafers or vegetables like cucumber, etc.

So, I wouldn't recommend a snail if you're going to be gone. Snails eat a lot.

 

[Sheldon31]

Cute! He's an amazing pattern!

Is there anyone who can take care of him while you're away? I wouldn't reccomend relying on a clean-up crew for maintaining a tank while away, especially for long spells. I'm getting Cories for my clean up crew, the snail does a job but hes only the size of my little finger so not enough really. He only eats spare flakes too, not pellets. I think it's because flakes have more vegetables in them while the pellets I get are a lot more meat based.

 

[TheDevonFox]

Oh, I'll of course have someone to take care of him while I'm gone! But maybe not as well and with as much concern and care as I have for him, so I just want to have a little extra security in knowing that he'll be alright while I'm gone.

 

[Hallyx]

Sheldon,

How do you feed frozen Daphnia to adult Betta? My Daphnia, as soon as it hits the water, turns into a cloud and dissipates.