New Beta Fish...seems healthy and active but eating troubles

So I have a Beta fish in a 10 gallon filtered tank. He seems healthy. I (try to) feed him Aqueon Betta Pellets. These pellets either (A) stay at the top of the tank and float for about a minute....and then (B) sink to the bottom and hit the gravel. My fish will ONLY eat these pellets when they are on the move from the surface water to the gravel. This means the fish has like a 10 second window to eat it, and most of the time, he isn't looking the right direction so doesn't see the pellet falling. This is obviously creating a huge waste of pellets. He probably gets one out of six pellets I put in, even if I put in like 2 at a time. It's a ton of luck for him to be in the right part of the tank and facing the right direction to see it floating downward...when he sees that he darts after it and eats it. So yeah...he won't eat the food if it's floating, and he won't eat it once it hits the bottom...even if it JUST hit the bottom a second ago..once it rests on the gravel..he's wants no part of it! Because of this, he's not eating much, and I'm getting a ton of wasted pellets. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated. Is this normal? What gives?

 

You're overfeeding. Feed no more than 1-3 pellets twice a day, 3 being the maximum. When did you get him? If you just got him he might still be adjusting to the new home. Is your tank cycled? What are the water parameters?

 

Welcome to the forum
I don't think you are overfeeding, you are just trying to make sure he eats. thefishlit, 1-3 is arguably too little. It depends on the size of the pellets and size of the fish, I feed mine 3-4 pellets a day, sometimes more.
Have you tried getting his attention before dropping them in? Does he recognize you as a food source? Have you consider putting him in a smaller container(the cup he came in) until he starts eating from the top?

 

Welcome to the forum
I don't think you are overfeeding, you are just trying to make sure he eats. @, 1-3 is arguably too little. It depends on the size of the pellets and size of the fish, I feed mine 3-4 pellets a day, sometimes more.
Have you tried getting his attention before dropping them in? Does he recognize you as a food source? Have you consider putting him in a smaller container(the cup he came in) until he starts eating from the top?

Putting him in a small container until he starts eating? How do you suppose that will work?!

 

Putting him in a small container until he starts eating? How do you suppose that will work?!

I would assume they meant floating them in a small cup in the tank for feedings so they have a smaller area to eat from. And letting the betta swim out of the cup after they eat.

 

That's what I meant, float him in his cup when you feed him so that he has an easier time seeing the food.

 

I don't think that's how eating works, or how fish eat. Putting him in a floating cup will only stress him more and while he's stressed, he won't eat. We don't know for how long OP has had this fish. If he just got him a day or two he still might be stressed from moving or the water parameters might be incorrect which will result in loss of appetite. There's absolutely no need to force feed him. Once he becomes hungry he will 'smell' food when it enters the surface and will come and eat. But also, he will not heat if you overfeed. My suggestion would be leave him without food for 24-48 hours and then feed him one pellet at a time until he eats it so you can figure out how much you need to feed him.

 

The OP said that he misses the food, if I was suggesting force feeding him I would have told the OP to stick it in his mouth(which I would NEVER do). I am not suggesting to force feed him, and I don't know why you are suggesting that I am. I am only suggesting that the OP make it easier for him to see the food.
Bettas will eat as much as they can, they don't know they are "full". They will keep eating if they are being "overfed"(the OP is not). They do not know when to stop.
I can see how it could be stressful on the fish, but having him in the cup for not even 5 minutes won't hurt him. It's a matter of getting him to eat so he doesn't starve to death.
I would never tell someone to force feed their fish, and if he was straight up refusing food I would have suggested the same as you, to fast him for a few days. But since the OP stated that he is missing it, I was merely suggesting to make it easier for him to see it. Aquaphobia, what do you think?

 

If the cup is still in the tank I don't think that would be too stressful. I think this might be a good idea as the fish is not used to swimming so far up to eat. If anything it would waste less food and keep the tank cleaner.

I feed Python 4-5 pellets a day(2 in the morning and 2-3 at night) and she fasts on Saturday and Sunday. IME a schedule like this works well.

 

The OP said that he misses the food, if I was suggesting force feeding him I would have told the OP to stick it in his mouth(which I would NEVER do). I am not suggesting to force feed him, and I don't know why you are suggesting that I am. I am only suggesting that the OP make it easier for him to see the food.
Bettas will eat as much as they can, they don't know they are "full". They will keep eating if they are being "overfed"(the OP is not). They do not know when to stop.
I can see how it could be stressful on the fish, but having him in the cup for not even 5 minutes won't hurt him. It's a matter of getting him to eat so he doesn't starve to death.
I would never tell someone to force feed their fish, and if he was straight up refusing food I would have suggested the same as you, to fast him for a few days. But since the OP stated that he is missing it, I was merely suggesting to make it easier for him to see it. @Aquaphobia, what do you think?

What you're suggesting doesn't make sense to me. Bettas DO NOT starve themselves to death, unless they're sick. That just wouldn't make sense. A creature's somewhat primary instinct is eating and mating. How would they survive in the wild if they starved themselves? Again, if OP just got the fish he might be stressed and that's why he's ignoring or missing the food, since he's getting used to such a large tank. There can be different reasons for no eating or missing the food, so OP should answer the previous questions I made to come in conclusion.
Even if you put him in a cup and he somewhat eats the food, how do you think this is going to go? Will you put him twice a day in a cup to feed him? Once every 3 days? It might work for now but will not work in the long run.

As for the amount of food, I can't tell you correctly since I have not used those pellets. I fed mine 1-2 pellets with the size of 2mm twice a day. Different bettas have different appetites. If OP could measure the size that would help us.

Trust me, I kept a SINGLE male betta (my first fish) in a 20 gallon tank. He too had problems not eating and missing food. I had to remove food from the bottom twice a day. The first day I even put him in a container to make him 'see' the food better, but he didn't eat. Eventually, he will get used to finding the food in the tank and when it's time for food (trust me, they're intelligent) once they start to get hungry.

 

What you're suggesting doesn't make sense to me. Bettas DO NOT starve themselves to death, unless they're sick. That just wouldn't make sense. How would they survive in the wild if they starved themselves?...
Even if you put him in a cup and he somewhat eats the food, how do you think this is going to go? Will you put him twice a day in a cup to feed him? Once every 3 days? It might work for now but will not work in the long run.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this, but I have kept my fair share of bettas. Trust me, I know what I'm doing
It's not a matter of him being sick, he doesn't see the food. The OP clearly stated that down here.

most of the time, he isn't looking the right direction so doesn't see the pellet falling... It's a ton of luck for him to be in the right part of the tank and facing the right direction to see it floating downward

Betta splendens are not naturally found in the wild, they are a man made species.
Honestly, I have put bettas in cups to get them to eat and then released them back into their tank. This fish had dragon scaling over his eyes, making him blind. I figured that if it helped mine it would help OP's fish. And I was suggesting to keep him in the cup until he learned to either eat from the top of the water, or until he gets better at "smelling" the food, not permanently.
I'm going to stop arguing with you about this.
OP, I strongly advise you to try my ideas at least once. It will not hurt him like thefishlit says it will. Another idea is to soak his food in garlic juice, it's very tempting to them. Have you tried any frozen or live foods? How long have you had him?

 

Mine had no interest in food right away. I fed a pellet at a time and removed the uneaten after an hour. Eventually mine came around and will happily attempt to devour whatever you put in the tank

 

I had this same problem of my Betta missing the pellets which eventually drop to gravel. Thus I put in a corydoras fish who is a bottom eater, then 3 white cloud fish which eats food at the top/mid section. And put in Otos to clean all the algae. A Cory fish will eat the excess food, and they get along well. Fees more floating pellets and any wasted pellets will be eaten by the house keeping fish. Problem solved.

 

I had this same problem of my Betta missing the pellets which eventually drop to gravel. Thus I put in a corydoras fish who is a bottom eater, then 3 white cloud fish which eats food at the top/mid section. And put in Otos to clean all the algae. A Cory fish will eat the excess food, and they get along well. Fees more floating pellets and any wasted pellets will be eaten by the house keeping fish. Problem solved.

Ottos and white clouds are not temp compatible with bettas, and cories should be more than just a clean up crew(and bettas should be kept alone in tanks less than a 20 long). I don't recommend getting more fish to solve a problem. It will just make a bigger one in the long run.

 

This thread is messy lol. OP, I would try making sure you get his attention first, and if that doesn't work, you could try the cup idea. It'll be okay if he misses a few days of food, but more than 7 and you should worry. If he's new, he may just he adjusting, so it would be good to let him be and figure stuff out before trying the cup thing. He also may be adjusting to a new food. I know my first betta refused to eat pellets after I gave him bloodworms for a few days. He got just pellets for the next 7 days and on day 7 realized that he has to eat them.

You seem to be doing well, I'd advise just getting him used to you as the Food Bringer

 

Wow, lots of info here. Thanks for the responses. I've had him in his tank for about 2 weeks now. He is alone in there right now. Just a few live plants. The strangest thing to me is like he'll go after the pellet, but as soon as it hits the bottom, even if he is like a cm away..he just stares at it like "nope" haha. And he never ever notices food at the top...although it doesn't stay at the top long. In fact, he rarely hangs out at the top honestly. He's pretty active though, I think.

 

You could try a different pellet or maybe flakes to see if he'll eat them. Omega one is the best for those

 

They sell feeding rings (I would think you could rig something though) which might keep the food in place long enough to let him smell the food on top and learn to eat that way as he should eat from the surface. My pellets never sink so maybe try different pellets. Also try some frozen brine shrimp as these will not sink super quick.

https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1Hh1x...-Floating-b-font-Everywhere-font-b-Fish-b.jpg

I have floating plants so the pellets may stay at the top for this reason.

 

I would try making sure you get his attention first...
You seem to be doing well, I'd advise just getting him used to you as the Food Bringer

^
This. If your betta comes to check you out, or check out some sort of movement when you come to the tank, try feeding him then. I feed mine one pellet at a time because my betta has bad aI'm too. If he doesn't see it on the top, I stick my fingertip in the water near it and wiggle my finger around until he comes to check it out. I try to make the pellet move so he goes for the movement. They do fall sometimes, and once they hit the gravel, they fall between the rocks where he can't reach the tiny piece of food.

Btw, it might be a good thing that your betta has sense enough not to vacuum the aquarium floor. Mine sometimes tries to eat the plants, the rocks, his own poo...He's not too bright, poor thing.

 

I actually get the tip of my finger wet, dip it in the pellet jar so they stick to the tip of my finger, and then hold it slightly above the water. They attack my finger for food, I can't even open the tank to fix the divider without Popcorn jumping at me!