My betta fish does not eat at all..

Hello

Please help... This is the first time I ever had a betta fish... He is in a bowl which holds almost a gallon of water.. And I have treated the water with aquasafe to remove chlorine and a drop of methylene blue and ick preventing solution to the water.. I had added all these in the water and I let the water settle down for 24 hrs before I let the fish in the bowl.

He is very active and is swimming perfectly fine.. But my only problem with him is he does not eat at all... I am worried.. It is almost a week since I got him and he hasnt eaten anything.. I am not sure what I am supposed to do.. I feed him wardley betta food which are in the form of pellets.. I am not sure if I should change the food or what is wrong that he is not eating at all..

I am worried as he is not eating at all....Please advice asap..

Wardley? Immediately get some real food...try frozen bloodworms or at least Tetramin or Hakiri

I have a betta that will ONLY eat little chunks of frozen brine shrimp that I have to feed to him by hand ... holding it under the surface of the water with my fingers. He will not touch any other kind of food, it must be fresh-frozen, and even that he will only eat if I feed it to him personally. He thinks he's the Prince of the Universe.

Please, also, consider moving your betta out of the bowl and into a 'real' tank of some kind. Even a little two gallon tabletop aquarium is better than a little bowl.

bettas also like dried blood worms, but frozen is also good

In such a small aquarium, it's very easy to over feed and thus foul the water. Make sure you feed only as much as the betta will eat in a couple of minutes.

Actually, it has been my experience that a betta can eat quite a lot in a couple minutes if you let it. They require very little food. I only feed mine 2-3 pellets once/ day. It is very easy to over feed them. They have tiny little stomaches and smaller meals are better for them.

your betta might not like the food. my little betta is so picky, he will only eat bloodworms, brine shrimp, and ants. (he really likes those, the little black ones) we kinda have an ant problem in our house....

Usually a fish is more willing to accept food in the morning after they've gone several hours without eating.

Oh thanx for the 'little black ants' advice
my betta was fasting , seems he really hates flakes, and i feel victorious coz these ants are really corruptors now its the justice of mother nature for them to be a meal for this little fairy hehe

Don't forget to try the frozen brine shrimp. They're easier to catch than wild ants, and you know they haven't ingested any poisons.

My betta was not eating for some time to. He is still back and forth but I feed him 3 betta bits a day. He loves them but he wont try anything frozen or flakes. Sometimes there picky. Try not to over feed because the excess falls to the bottom wich dirties the tank. I hope he starts eating again. You have come to the right place for advice because theses people are AMAZING!!!

I have owned my beta since June of 2008. During that time he has had two "spells" of not eating. The first time was very brief (only a couple of weeks) and in that situation we gave him beta meds and he got better. Then this last time (from late December until early May) he stopped eating, became lethargic, and at one point he was so still we thought he was dead and my husband almost emptied the tank and flushed him. He seemed very "depressed" and disinterested in living. Anyway, out of the blue, he started getting better. Just this past week he "woke up." He is playful again, eating again, and just happy about being a fish. We changed nothing this entire time...not the temp, not the water, not the size of the bowl, NOTHING. He just perked up on his own. I can't explain it. Can you? Did anyone else see this miraculous change in their beta? I mean, 4.5 months of not eating! It's insane!

Water parameters have quite a bit to do with fish behavior. For example, if the aquarium has even a trace of ammonia or nitrite, the fish are not going to feel very well. Like us when we're sick, they will lose both energy and appetite. Most Bettas are housed in very small aquariums, so ammonia spikes occur with even a small amount of over feeding.

i have a betta fish to, 2 to be exact 1 male and 1 female, at first i experienced the same problem. Try feeding them somtin different. try freezed dried shimp, or if u r not already using pellets try those. hope that helps,


kerron (barptproductions)

i have a betta. he's small. he doesnt eat and it falls to the bottom. i have the pellets and am afraid to switch his food to ants or shrimp or something. he is pretty bored a lot. is there something that would make his tank funner for him like a plant..but one that wont grow algea? REPLY!! thanks.

i sure i can help you but i need more info on him. how often do you feed him? what size bowl/tank? how often do you change the water? the one food i have found that no betta can resist is the frozen dried blood worms.

You should get a bigger tank for your betta as small bowls are very unstable. My suggestion would be at least 2.5 gallons. Although 2.5 gallons is also pretty unstable..... Also for the food problem, their is a variety of foods on the market. These include frozen, freeze dried, flakes, and pellets. You can catch live foods but their is a chance the betta might contract a disease. That is what happened to my fish. Go for frozen foods. Many fish love them, especially brine shrimp as John said.