Betta won't eat

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FishieKeeper429

FishieKeeper429

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jun 25, 2013
Messages
523
Location
Virginia
I got a double tailed halfmoon betta from the fish store a week ago. I initially fed it what I feed all my other fish, Omega One Freshwater Flakes, but when I put them in his tank, he didn't even look at them. I decided to wait a few days before doing anything because maybe he was stressed from the move, but after 2 days, I got worried and on the 3rd day, I went back to the store and asked for the food that they fed the Bettas with. I bought a bottle of it and put two pellets in his tank. This time, he nudged it with his mouth, but didn't bite. I've checked all of the tank ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate stats and they are all healthy for a betta. He also has plenty of plants to hid in. But now he lies on the gravel and breathes seldom and I'm worried. Could he still be stressed or what? I have him in a divided 20 gallon long tank do could it be that 10 gallons is too much for the little guy? Help!


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Sometimes it can take them a while to adjust from being in a cup sadly. It's definitely unhealthy and bad for them. I feed my bettas NLS Betta pellets and they love them.


Caleb

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FishieKeeper429 said:
I got a double tailed halfmoon betta from the fish store a week ago. I initially fed it what I feed all my other fish, Omega One Freshwater Flakes, but when I put them in his tank, he didn't even look at them. I decided to wait a few days before doing anything because maybe he was stressed from the move, but after 2 days, I got worried and on the 3rd day, I went back to the store and asked for the food that they fed the Bettas with. I bought a bottle of it and put two pellets in his tank. This time, he nudged it with his mouth, but didn't bite. I've checked all of the tank ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate stats and they are all healthy for a betta. He also has plenty of plants to hid in. But now he lies on the gravel and breathes seldom and I'm worried. Could he still be stressed or what? I have him in a divided 20 gallon long tank do could it be that 10 gallons is too much for the little guy? Help!


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I too only got my betta recently, but Obsidian seems to be a tough little guy. He was a little shy on the first day, the second day he was jumping for pellets and playing in my air pump bubble stream. How did you acclimate him though? You didn't just dump him in right? I also read that some betta's will refuse to eat flakes, preferring sinking pellets. Try soaking the pellets so they sink instead of floating at the top. I feed my betta fish betta crumbs, pellets, and Hikari bloodworms. The crumbs are his staple diet, the pellets and bloodworms a treat. Try getting him some bloodworms too, they are like the ice cream of the aquatic world.

If your betta is lying on the gravel and not breathing that often, he could be tired, because he's not used to having to swim so far to get to the surface. You could try getting a betta hammock, or getting a tall plant that can support your betta's weight. That way he can lounge at the water surface and get to air easily.

10 gallons is perfectly fine for a betta, in fact I've heard many people say that 10 gallons is the best. I live in a very small apt so the best I can do is 5 gallons. Your betta fish is very lucky. If he still shows no signs of improvement however, check for signs of illness or parasites. I'm no expert on betta's, but I do read a lot about them.


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GoldeenTrix9898 said:
I too only got my betta recently, but Obsidian seems to be a tough little guy. He was a little shy on the first day, the second day he was jumping for pellets and playing in my air pump bubble stream. How did you acclimate him though? You didn't just dump him in right? I also read that some betta's will refuse to eat flakes, preferring sinking pellets. Try soaking the pellets so they sink instead of floating at the top. I feed my betta fish betta crumbs, pellets, and Hikari bloodworms. The crumbs are his staple diet, the pellets and bloodworms a treat. Try getting him some bloodworms too, they are like the ice cream of the aquatic world.

If your betta is lying on the gravel and not breathing that often, he could be tired, because he's not used to having to swim so far to get to the surface. You could try getting a betta hammock, or getting a tall plant that can support your betta's weight. That way he can lounge at the water surface and get to air easily.

10 gallons is perfectly fine for a betta, in fact I've heard many people say that 10 gallons is the best. I live in a very small apt so the best I can do is 5 gallons. Your betta fish is very lucky. If he still shows no signs of improvement however, check for signs of illness or parasites. I'm no expert on betta's, but I do read a lot about them.


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Ok, thank you! And I acclimated him with much difficulty because he was in a plastic dish when I bought him (can we just animal abuse), so what I wound up doing was slowly adding water from the tank into his dish over 30 minutes (it had barely any water) and once his dish was filled with the majority of the aquarium water, I slowly put the bowl into the tank and he swam out. I don't know if that was the way I should've acclimated him but I didn't have him in an oxygenated bag (which I prefer because it's not as unpleasant for the fish) so my normal way of acclimation wouldn't work with a plastic bowl. Is there another way you can acclimate?


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FishieKeeper429 said:
Ok, thank you! And I acclimated him with much difficulty because he was in a plastic dish when I bought him (can we just animal abuse), so what I wound up doing was slowly adding water from the tank into his dish over 30 minutes (it had barely any water) and once his dish was filled with the majority of the aquarium water, I slowly put the bowl into the tank and he swam out. I don't know if that was the way I should've acclimated him but I didn't have him in an oxygenated bag (which I prefer because it's not as unpleasant for the fish) so my normal way of acclimation wouldn't work with a plastic bowl. Is there another way you can acclimate?


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I rescued Obsidian from a gross little plastic cup too. That's pretty much how you acclimate them, but I do it slightly differently. I have rasboras and shrimp in my tank too, and I used this method for them all. I added water slowly from my tank into his bowl. About 1cm of water every 15 minutes. When the water filled up, I used a turkey baster and sucked up half the water and dumped it. I repeated these steps until I had dumped out about three times the amount of water his little cup can hold. I do this to minimize the amount of pet shop water that gets into my tank. You never know what kind of Hibee jibees that disgusting water contains. Obsidian lived in water that was GREEN. Anyway, this process takes me at least 3 hrs. It could be that you used the correct method but did it too quickly. Some fish are just weaker than others and it could have shocked him too much.

Again, I am not a expert, I am currently dealing with Obsidian's fin nipping habit. Another thing, how did you bring him home? I brought Obsidian home with his cup wrapped in a towel and in a black cloth bag. Darkness calms them down and reduces stress. The towel minimized sloshing. You can try turning off or dimming the lights, or getting dried Indian almond leaves. The leaves release tannins that calm fish and help prevent diseases.


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I was looking into the almond leaves so I'll definitely get one. Sadly, I forgot my black plush bag that I always use when bringing fish home so he was out in the open. I have the lights on the tank at the lowest level (barely visible).


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FishieKeeper429 said:
I was looking into the almond leaves so I'll definitely get one. Sadly, I forgot my black plush bag that I always use when bringing fish home so he was out in the open. I have the lights on the tank at the lowest level (barely visible).


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I want almond leaves too,but I'm hesitant because of my snails and shrimp. I'm not sure how they will cope with a ph drop.


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Yeah, I also need more vegetation in my tank. I'm just not going to yet cause it's expensive. Maybe when I get paid I'll buy a pack from the classifieds.


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FishieKeeper429 said:
Yeah, I also need more vegetation in my tank. I'm just not going to yet cause it's expensive. Maybe when I get paid I'll buy a pack from the classifieds.


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You could get anacharis or hornwort. One little sprig can quickly grow to a huge amount and form a nice little bunch floating near the water surface that your betta can sleep on. My betta loves his hornwort hammock.


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I love Bettas...and they are, USUALLY, pretty sturdy......as long as the water is dechlorinated and a moderate temp, they thrive. I actually put my first one in my 125 G tank with 4 females and he thrived. Actually, the girls dominated him....too funny. I name all my Bettas MAX-for you young folks out there we used to have BetaMaxes before VHS,,,i know, you don't even know what VHS is ,do you?? anyway...sadly, you might have a Betta that has really been thru the mill and he might not survive....if so, go find another one from a GOOD pet store and give him a good home...you'll never regret it! Cheers.
 
SpaceFish42 said:
I have read that shrimp LOVE Indian almond leaves.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I actually just read up on shrimps and blackwater tanks. I just ordered 50 Ketapang leaves and they should arrive in a few days. I'm hoping that they'll make my fish and shrimp and snails happier. And it should also serve as a prevention method for fin rot, cause Obsidian seems to be having a fin nipping problem. I have a pH of 7.8 so one leaf in my 5 gallon shouldn't lower it that much. I don't want my snails to suffer.


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If bloodworms are the ice cream of the fish world, then my fish are spoiled, the fish in the 45 eat them every day.
 
Lung Fish said:
If bloodworms are the ice cream of the fish world, then my fish are spoiled, the fish in the 45 eat them every day.
Click to expand...


They have a high protein content, so too much might cause constipation. I feed mine very sparingly.


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Oh, I don't know if you still need this info, but here's an example of anacharis growing like a......well....a weed. This piece used to be about 2 inches long. It's been two weeks, look at how friggen tall it is now.

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