Betta Overeating . . . I Think

[jdubs]

Hi!

My Betta seems constipated and his abdomen is looking larger than normal. I know the usual protocol for this can be a 2-3 day fast and/or peas, but the issue is he is in a tank with 6 ember tetras and 4 dwarf rasboras. Should I isolate him during feeding time? I usually give him 2-3 Betta Bites a day, but he totally goes after the flake food too. To isolate him I thought I would get one of those little containers you hook to side of tank and just corral him in there during feeding.

He is about a year old, gets along great with tank mates.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated!!!

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

It won't do any harm to starve the whole tank for a few days and it sounds to me like you need to maybe change up your feeding plan. Bettas are very greedy and if he's going to eat the other fish food, then maybe you should stop adding the betta bites? Flake will do him just fine. Or maybe feed less of both the flake and the bites? You'll have to have a play around with what works but bettas are very easy to overfeed and in extreme cases can lead to death.

It's something that I have battled with as well, so I understand your pain! I guess it's just a complication of bettas in community tanks! I don't recommend isolating him though as it would just stress him out.