Beta Questions...

[Citicricket]

I have a 45 [acronym:290fdd656f="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:290fdd656f] freshwater with community fish, I keep the temp about 80 degrees and I wonder if a beta would do ok in the tank or if it would be too hot for him. Also, I have kept a beta for years in a 1 [acronym:290fdd656f="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:290fdd656f] container, he just died at age 3 and his replacement does not like the "Bio Feed" that I bought fresh for him, he isn't excited about "Beta Bites" (he will take either kind in his mouth but ejects them immediately) either but just LOVES the dried bloodworms I gave to the last fish as a treat. So....can the new guy live on blood worms or do I need to keep trying to find a new food and what would you recommend. THANKS

[Fishboy-from-NY]

I suggest to soak what ever your are feeding him with Garlic. I use something called Garlic extreme that gets any fish to accept any form of food.

[Allivymar]

Yeah you'll need to offer a little more then bloodworms; not enough of all the nutrients in bloodworms that a betta needs.

I'd fast him for a couple of days. Don't feed him the bloodworms at all for a couple of weeks; save em for treats. Soon enough he will become hungry enough to eat the stuff you've already bought and will quickly come to like them; then you can introduce the bloodworms on an occasional basis.

If for some reason after a week he continues to refuse the food you bought, you can try the garlic route. Its cheaper to buy garlic gel pills then the Garlic Extreme; poke a hole in the pill, squeeze out the garlic oil and soak some food in it. Garlic is usually used for fish that won't eat at all - your guy obviously is just fussy *grin* but garlic is good for fish, and is a natural antiparasitical. Its a strong appetite
stimulant for fish.

My only concern using it is he will continue to refuse the food unless it has garlic on it [acronym:f5b732c3a8="Laughing out loud"]LOL[/acronym:f5b732c3a8]

As for the temp, my guy is in a tank where I keep the temp 79f-80f. He's fine with it. Don't forget, bettas originally come from some pretty hot parts of the world. Just make sure that the temp isn't that different from where he will be coming from. You may want to acclimate him to the 80f temp if he's used to colder temps.

[Megalofyia]

Neither of my betas seem to be all that happy with the prospects of eating flake food. They seem to be happy eating "water fleas", blood worms, and brine shrimp though. I hope that this is a good variety.. I've had the fish for a while and they look and act healthy so I'm guessing it's working.

[An t-iasg]

Hi...sorry to hear that your betta died But that's great that he was 3 years old! All the above advice is excellent! I just wanted to say how long ago did you get the new betta? My betta didn't eat any food, other than brine shrimp, which is what he was fed at the pet shop, for almost a week. He would spit everything else out. As your betta gets accustomed to his new tank and feels more at home, he'll start eating other foods. What is Bio-Feed? You bought it fresh, so it's live food? My betta eats Bio-Blend Betta from Marineland. The pieces are rather big, and they sink quickly. I break them in half for my betta, and he likes it.