Betta not eating


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I have a moss ball, but otherwise nothing. Don't bettas need protein since they're carnivores?
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They do but they can also survive on strictly roots off a semI submerged plant I’ve seen them go on 3+ years with no pre packaged food
 

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"he barely ate when I first got him and he has not eaten anything for maybe 8-9 days now"

This is not good. he should have some type of appetite.

what is a 'gross tank?' did you clean up the uneaten food?

And why is filter clogged?

Have you tested the water?
 
Gross as in the flakes he didn't eat sank to the bottom and into the gravel. I now have some filamentous stuff growing on things in the tank (barely visible), and I'm guessing have clogged the filter since almost all the water flows over the filter and out the other side. I have new filters coming, so that will help.

That was also my reason for buying pellets that float so if he doesn't eat them after a couple minutes, I can fish them out.

I don't have a water testing kit.
 

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What type ? Picture ?

I can further help identify & can help with explanation of cleaning the filter once I see it in depth
 
What type ? Picture ?
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MiniBow_filter._V396802011_.jpgAqueon minibow filter cartridge
 
So take the little foam rectangular piece out and get a container about 2-3x the size and just rinse it out with dechlorinated water until it goes from presumably brown to the color in the picture
 
So take the little foam rectangular piece out and get a container about 2-3x the size and just rinse it out with dechlorinated water until it goes from presumably brown to the color in the picture
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It's actually still white, but water isn't flowing through it
 
Try taking it out and send a pic of what you see after

A vid would help more but it might not let you because of upload size
 

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One of our bettas was also this way when we first got him. I didn’t know anything about the nitrogen cycle since we just bought the fish as a prize for our son, and pet store said bettas can live without a filter. When we got home, he won’t eat for almost a week! After researching and ending up in this forum, I bought API test kits and the whole gamut for keeping fish and was able to do a fish-in cycle. The betta is eating well now that he is in a cycled tank with no ammonia and nitrites. It’s still a picky eater though. Won’t touch bloodworms or flakes and would only eat HikarI betta pellets and dried brine shrimp.
 
One of our bettas was also this way when we first got him. I didn’t know anything about the nitrogen cycle since we just bought the fish as a prize for our son, and pet store said bettas can live without a filter. When we got home, he won’t eat for almost a week! After researching and ending up in this forum, I bought API test kits and the whole gamut for keeping fish and was able to do a fish-in cycle. The betta is eating well now that he is in a cycled tank with no ammonia and nitrites. It’s still a picky eater though. Won’t touch bloodworms or flakes and would only eat HikarI betta pellets and dried brine shrimp.
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He eats some dried but won’t eat live black worms or frozen bloodworms,brine,mysis etc? That’s weird never seen such a picky eater
 
He eats some dried but won’t eat live black worms or frozen bloodworms,brine,mysis etc? That’s weird never seen such a picky eater
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Yup, he would eat it, munch on it, then spit it out. When I try to give another piece, he would swim away. But when it’s his brand of pellets, no issues.

OP, try buying the API test kits too and see what your readings are for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. My hunch is your tank isn’t cycled and it has ammonia due to the food that your fish didn’t eat.
 
Yup, he would eat it, munch on it, then spit it out. When I try to give another piece, he would swim away. But when it’s his brand of pellets, no issues.

OP, try buying the API test kits too and see what your readings are for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. My hunch is your tank isn’t cycled and it has ammonia due to the food that your fish didn’t eat.
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The original post said tank has been up for 3 weeks before he stopped eating for 8-9 days so I think it would have cycled after 1 month+
 
The original post said tank has been up for 3 weeks before he stopped eating for 8-9 days so I think it would have cycled after 1 month+
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Oh.. I understood it that 8-9 days out of the 3 weeks she had the betta, it won’t eat. I’m also not an expert, but without a water test kit, how would you be able tell if the tank is cycled already?
 
hello, a pit of back ground I got my betta 4 days ago, he is in a one gallon cube, no heater, no filter, minimum of 50% water changes daily, water should be fine but I have no kit yet to check.
He has tried eating pellets with very very little interest but did try one to immediately spit it out and has since ignored all pellets. He seems very interested in the freeze dried blood worms and will continuously go for them but has only eaten maybe one little piece in the 2 days i've been offering them, he will grab the pieces then spit them out a lot before seemly giving up. I'm going to try frozen next but am unsure as to what to buy that would be sufficient for him if he decides he will only eat that one thing. pet smart has blood worms in varying sizes, brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, spirulina brine shrimp, red mosquito larvae (bloodworms?), and the super carnivore (Mysis Shrimp, Brine Shrimp and Bloodworms ).
which would be the best to get? any other feeding tips would be much appreciated

Edit: I have a 5 gallon with a filter and heater on its way already, his current set up is temporary
 
First things first you need to look into getting a bigger tank for him. 1 gallon is way too small- the absolutely bare minimum is 2.5 but honestly a 5 is significantly better. You also should have a filter and a heater. They're tropical fish that need a stable temperature of 75-80f and you shouldn't attempt to do a filterless tank unless you know what you're doing.

Freeze dried food has very little nutritional value in it and will often cause bloating unless soaked before being given.

He may not be eating due to stress after being so recently moved. Another reason could be that the pellets are too hard- try soaking them in tank water until they expand a bit. If he continues to refuse food I would suggest either trying to frozen foods or looking into Garlic Guard by SeaChem. It's a flavour enhancer as well as helps boost the immune system. You just soak the food in it before hand.
 
Personally, I think an issue could be with adapting to a new environment. Once he gets hungry enough he will eat pellets, at least in my experience. If he’s from a great pet store he may be used to live black worms, but I wouldn’t worry till a week has gone by and he either isn’t interest in food, or won’t eat what you give him. But I’d suggest live black worms/bloodworms
 
HI there. If you got him at a chain pet store, they usually feed only blood worms (which I personally do not think is good enough alone). I worked at a chain pet store and that is all we fed the bettas, unfortunately. In my opinion, you should try to upgrade the tank. At least 2.5 gallons, IMO. Also a heater is absolutely necessary with a betta, a filter would be nice. If no filter, try to up keep water changes 2x a week. A filter would be good because it'll also hold the beneficial bacteria. Maybe buy some blood worms to encourage him to eat. Freeze dried daphnia is also a good choice. Petco or Petsmart can test your water for free if you have one near you. Soaking pellets or flakes first, then feeding, could be another good option.
 
First things first you need to look into getting a bigger tank for him. 1 gallon is way too small- the absolutely bare minimum is 2.5 but honestly a 5 is significantly better. You also should have a filter and a heater. They're tropical fish that need a stable temperature of 75-80f and you shouldn't attempt to do a filterless tank unless you know what you're doing.

Freeze dried food has very little nutritional value in it and will often cause bloating unless soaked before being given.

He may not be eating due to stress after being so recently moved. Another reason could be that the pellets are too hard- try soaking them in tank water until they expand a bit. If he continues to refuse food I would suggest either trying to frozen foods or looking into Garlic Guard by SeaChem. It's a flavour enhancer as well as helps boost the immune system. You just soak the food in it before hand.
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oops I forgot to add I had to order a a tank, filter, and heater for him. All of which will be here in a couple of days, his current set up is very much temporary. The store here only had pellets and I got the freeze dried from a friend who's betta wouldn't eat them. Even after they are in his tank for a bit he won't touch them, he has zero interest in pellets and ive tried 2 brands.

I was trying to ask what kind of frozen food? I've listed the ones I can get a friend to get for me while they are in the city in my first post.
 

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hello, a pit of back ground I got my betta 4 days ago, he is in a one gallon cube, no heater, no filter, minimum of 50% water changes daily, water should be fine but I have no kit yet to check.
He has tried eating pellets with very very little interest but did try one to immediately spit it out and has since ignored all pellets. He seems very interested in the freeze dried blood worms and will continuously go for them but has only eaten maybe one little piece in the 2 days i've been offering them, he will grab the pieces then spit them out a lot before seemly giving up. I'm going to try frozen next but am unsure as to what to buy that would be sufficient for him if he decides he will only eat that one thing. pet smart has blood worms in varying sizes, brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, spirulina brine shrimp, red mosquito larvae (bloodworms?), and the super carnivore (Mysis Shrimp, Brine Shrimp and Bloodworms ).
which would be the best to get? any other feeding tips would be much appreciated

Edit: I have a 5 gallon with a filter and heater on its way already, his current set up is temporary
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I like that your doing the right thing for your betta. 5 gallons with a filter and heater is awesome. Try the small frozen Brine Shrimp from omega one. Also try the omega one flakes.
 
Yeah, I know.. You have heard this complaint about the thousandth time. I tried everything, betta pellets, betta flakes, regular flakes, freeze-dried blood worms. He still will not eat. The same fish used to eat all this stuff before. I thought it was flukes, so I treated the 20 gallons. Then I thought it was the fish not standing to have tank mates as he would lay for days in the same place like he was in a coma, so I moved him to the 5 gallons after observing him for a few days in a fishbowl. He is more active in the 5 gallons but he acts as if he doesn't recognize food and spits it out when he does eat. He doesn't feed from my hand anymore but prefers to "hunt" looking around and gobbling up random stuff. Some times he acts crazy, banging into stuff or spazzing out. No, I do not think he is stressed as he has had plenty of rest and even made a buble nest. I think this has to do with eating, probably since he has not eaten in a week it tingles his mouth when food enters? I swear this betta fish has tired me. He is being quite difficult, and it makes the other fish look quite normal. I have no idea what is wrong with him, and I can't predict him. Sometimes he is depressed or angry, sometimes he comes out to explore or play. I think this fish has cyclothymic disorder. I don't think I will be doing betta fish anymore. He doesn't get along with any other fish and I feel like I am trying to please a very difficult and stubborn child. Currently, he is circling around the same area where I dropped all sorts of food "hunting" and ignoring it, and the cycle repeats.
 
Can you provide parameters, temp and water change schedule details?

Is he back in the 20 or still in the 5.

Aside from genetics, fish stress is largely environmental, and all our doing or not doing.

I don't think I will be doing betta fish anymore.
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Yup.
 
Have you checked the water quality. In my experience my betta stops eating properly if any of the water parameters are wrong. I had a similar situation a few days ago. I had a camallanus worms problem in another tank after adding plants, as I put plants from the same batch in with my betta I treated his tank too. Within days he was swimming around as usual and has recovered his appetite. I'm not saying this is the case in your tank but it might be. Have you added anything new to the tank recently? Any plants or new fish? If so then some sort of imported parasite may be the cause.
 
He has been doing better and today he ate a betta pellet.

No new plants or new fish added. He was the newest one added back in December.

He has been moved to the 5 gallons by himself (if you exclude the Amano shrimp in there). The water parameters there were always negligible even when I was raising the fry. That tank has cycled back in September. The water parameters there are 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites, 0 Nitrates, pH ~7. Temp 75-78 F. I run a Marineland 100 B (good for up to 20 gallons).

The water parameters in the 20 gallons are 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites, 10 or 20 ppm Nitrates, pH ~ 8, Temp 80 F. The 20 gallons is due for a water change, I only left the Nitrates to go up to 40 ppm once in its "history". When I do water changes, I remove over 60% of the water every 7 - 10 days. I run a Marineland 350 B (good for up to 70 gallons) and I used to also run a Marineland 100 B as well, but I removed it.

The issue with this fish is that I purposely bought the most depressed looking betta in the store to give him a new home. I noticed that fish was sitting on the same shelf for almost two months. So one day after work I passed by and decided to scoop him up. I had him in a bowl for three days and put seachem paraguard as he had a little fit rot. He seemed to recover and I added him in the 20 gallons. He started eating two days later and became very active. I fed him blood worms and pellets.. But I also fed the other fish their flakes. This guy would eat his food and eat the flakes of the other fish as well, to the point where he would clean up the tank faster than the Cories. Obviously, he became bloated and he stopped to gradually eat his own food and lived exclusively on the flakes I was feeding the other fish. This is the point where he started becoming aggressive with the Black Ruby Barbs and started spending increasing amounts of time hidden. One Barb would nip him as he came out to disrupt their play time. This is when I first considered moving him, but I noticed the fish stopped nipping after I intervened a few times (I know people say it is impossible to discipline fish, but I think some breeds are more intelligent than others and understand when they are doing something that displeases their owner). Thing resumed to normal, except for flashing and flaring at the Barbs but he would still come out only to feed on flakes until he stopped and went into a "coma" like state where he lay in the same spot for days. Over a week passed with me trying to figure out what is wrong with him until I moved him. Which is why I became concerned since I was pretty sure he did not eat for over a week.

So I think this was a combination of issues.. Tankmates, food quality, possible flukes, depression prone betta?
 
We've all done it, we feel sorry for a fish that seems not to be doing well at the store and try to save them. Unfortunately sometimes they are genetically weak and no matter what we do we can't change that. They often seem to recover but they are more prone to stress or illness and sooner or later their problems resurface.
Im not saying don't rescue these fish but don't get too upset if they don't do well. Some of my favorite fish were runts and have gone on to do well but some just never had a chance and only made it for a few months.
 
Update: Fish is doing well. He is very active, playful, and has a large appetite. I suspect it had to do with not liking his tankmates in the 20 gallons. Even though I was very worried when he stopped eating, I am glad because he lost all that bloating and "belly" from devouring all the flakes. He only eats betta pellets, and I am trying to get him to eat bloodworms again. I would add some shrimp from my freezer, but since I have an Amano in there.. It probably wouldn't be such a good idea to introduce him to shrimp meat.
 
Just recently got a betta fish and he hasn’t really ate anything at all. I have tried feeding him twice a day but the food just sinks and he doesn’t want any of it. Should I try switching over to worms or something like that? I had him in a split tank with 4 tetras on the other side and in the middle of the night the tetras got over to his side and he ate all of their fins. I’m not sure if that has an impact on him
 

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Bettas commonly won't eat for the first few days do to stress. They can go a week and sometimes more without food. You just need to give him some time. Fin Biting on either side, however, is an issue.
 
Do you soak his pellets before you feed them to him? Also make sure you're not leaving the sunken pellets in the tank. What size is the tank? Did you cycle it? What are your water perimeters? I noticed you don't know about the nitrogen cycle, so I'm guessing you didn't cycle your tank. You should also definitely do your research about the nitrogen cycle.
 
Do you soak his pellets before you feed them to him? Also make sure you're not leaving the sunken pellets in the tank. What size is the tank? Did you cycle it? What are your water perimeters? I noticed you don't know about the nitrogen cycle, so I'm guessing you didn't cycle your tank. You should also definitely do your research about the nitrogen cycle.
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No I don’t soak them and the tank is 3 gallons and I haven’t cycled it but I have used the droplets for the water
 
Shyfly do you have a heater in the tank? a couple months ago i did not have a heater and he would not eat until i got a heater.
 
What do you mean by 'the droplets'? It may not be dangerous now but in a few weeks an uncycled tank can become deadly. I do highly recommend you read up on the nitrogen cycle and perform a fish-in cycle. 3 Gallons is also probably too small for a Betta, let alone 4 Tetras. Especially if it isn't cycled. I don't mean to come out as rude, I'm just trying to help. Good luck.
 
What do you mean by 'the droplets'? It may not be dangerous now but in a few weeks an uncycled tank can become deadly. I do highly recommend you read up on the nitrogen cycle and perform a fish-in cycle. 3 Gallons is also probably too small for a Betta, let alone 4 Tetras. Especially if it isn't cycled. I don't mean to come out as rude, I'm just trying to help. Good luck.
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They remove chlorine and chloramine and detoxifies ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I’ll do some reading on that and make sure to practice it

Shyfly do you have a heater in the tank? a couple months ago i did not have a heater and he would not eat until i got a heater.
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I don’t have a heater but I keep the temperature at around 76
 
I honestly recommend getting you TSS+ it has bacteria that will help get your tank cycled quicker
 
They remove chlorine and chloramine and detoxifies ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I’ll do some reading on that and make sure to practice it
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Oh, you mean water conditioner (or dechlorinator). If it says it detoxifies chemicals, then I assume you are using Seachem Prime. I recommend you get a 10 gallon or larger (if you prefer) and do a fish-in cycle in that. As then you won't have to cycle both tanks and move them. You could also get a larger tank and do a regular cycle. Then move the fish. And do regular PWCs on the 3 gal. I recommend doing the regular cycle. Good luck!
 

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Those "droplets" are water conditioner . What brand are they from? I also agree with Fisheye. It would help a lot if you filled out the template.
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Prime is the brand

Oh, you mean water conditioner (or dechlorinator). If it says it detoxifies chemicals, then I assume you are using Seachem Prime. I recommend you get a 10 gallon or larger (if you prefer) and do a fish-in cycle in that. As then you won't have to cycle both tanks and move them. You could also get a larger tank and do a regular cycle. Then move the fish. And do regular PWCs on the 3 gal. I recommend doing the regular cycle. Good luck!
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Okay thank you!
 
Okay thank you!
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You're welcome! All your fish and you will be happier and life will be easier with a cycled larger tank. I hope you can get it quickly in all this madness and wish you all the luck!

I forgot to mention welcome to FishLore!
 
Could you take a moment to fill this out. I suspect there's more going on.

Fish Emergency Template | Freshwater Fish Disease 376562
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Water volume: 3 gallons
Tank has been running for 7 days
It has a filter
No heater
Water is 76 degrees
Just a betta fish

i have only changed the water once
I change 2/3rds of the water
i use the prime conditioner
i Dont vacuum the tank

You're welcome! All your fish and you will be happier and life will be easier with a cycled larger tank. I hope you can get it quickly in all this madness and wish you all the luck!

I forgot to mention welcome to FishLore!
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Thanks!
 
Thanks for taking the time to fill out the template.

1. Your tank is not cycled. Your fish will suffer and not survive in an uncycled tank. Please take the time to read about how to establish the nitrogen cycle in your tank. You will have to do a fish-in cycle. As questions if anything is unclear. It's not hard but necessary.

2. The API Master test kit is most recommended. All fish keepers must have a test kit.

3. Prime is an excellent choice.

4. Adding bottled bacteria may be beneficial in your case.

5. The tools you use for water changes must be dedicated for aquarium use only-not previously used for anything else.

6. If your tank is a kit, could you tell us what kind. Interested in the filter primarily.
 
2.5 gallons
it has a filter
And a heater
85 degrees
A betta fish and a Moss ball

I have not changed the water since i put Dolla in his tank yesterday
50%
Tetra aquasafe for bettas
I vacuum the water and substrate


I do not have a water test kit


once a day
3 granules a day
tetra bettamin 3 in 1
freeze dried

i let the tank sit for 3 days before transferring him
 
2.5 gallons
it has a filter
And a heater
85 degrees
A betta fish and a Moss ball

I have not changed the water since i put Dolla in his tank yesterday
50%
Tetra aquasafe for bettas
I vacuum the water and substrate


I do not have a water test kit


once a day
3 granules a day
tetra bettamin 3 in 1
freeze dried
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If you have a problem with your betta I suggest making a new thread, unless you have the same problem. Also it's helpful if you include the questions you are answering and answer all the questions even if it may not apply to you.
 
Thanks for taking the time to fill out the template.

1. Your tank is not cycled. Your fish will suffer and not survive in an uncycled tank. Please take the time to read about how to establish the nitrogen cycle in your tank. You will have to do a fish-in cycle. As questions if anything is unclear. It's not hard but necessary.

2. The API Master test kit is most recommended. All fish keepers must have a test kit.

3. Prime is an excellent choice.

4. Adding bottled bacteria may be beneficial in your case.

5. The tools you use for water changes must be dedicated for aquarium use only-not previously used for anything else.

6. If your tank is a kit, could you tell us what kind. Interested in the filter primarily.
Click to expand...

Its the topfin split tank
 

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