Betta Will Only Eat Moving Food...

[limbrooke83]

Hi everyone! I'm new to these forums, but completely in love with my first betta fish, Samson. Samson is a crown tail betta, and is very active in his 5 gallon Eclipse Hex tank. In fact, he rarely stays still for more than a few seconds unless asleep! Samson is also very sociable and likes to follow me as I move around to different sides of the tank. He is the only fish in the tank and has a large (fake) stump to hide in and lots of silk plants as well. The water temperature is currently hanging out at about 78 degrees with a "Theo" tank heater set to 79.

When we first got Samson about a week and a half ago, we put him in an unheated 1 gallon tank. The water temperature was around 72, but he wasn't very active and refused to eat anything - flake or pellet. I did some research and bought a small heater and got the water up to a reliable 79-80 degrees, and he began swimming around more almost immediately. Several days later, he still refused to eat.

I finally realized he looked constipated based on some pics I'd seen online, so I fed him the inside of a cooked pea. He LOVED it, and seemed to really enjoy attacking the pieces as they fell. If a piece hit the bottom before he got it, however, he immediately lost interest in it. That was two days ago.

Meanwhile I had decided to order him a bigger tank (the Eclipse 5 Hex). It arrived yesterday, and as I said, he's been swimming almost nonstop since it came. The problem is, he still won't eat anything that's not already falling in his tank. This morning, after lots of work, I got him to nibble on a few fish flakes that I tapped to get them to fall. However, he missed more than he got as he simply didn't see them fall or didn't get to them before they hit the gravel. When he did bite on falling flakes, he did the betta thing of spitting them back out. He would then re-bite them. Twice I think he may have actually eaten the flake - the other times he just kept spitting them back out until they hit the gravel and he lost interest. I've tried this with pre-soaked pellets, also, but he doesn't seem interested in them even when they're falling.

My question is this: Is there a way to get Samson to eat the flakes from the top of the water, rather than having to try again and again to get them to fall (hoping all the while he'll actually notice when a flake is falling)? With the pellets, I even tried sticking them on the end of a toothpick and moving it around. This holds his interest for a few seconds, but he never tries to eat it. It's a rather long (and wasteful) process when it comes to forcing flake after flake to fall hoping he'll eat one or two of them, and leaves a lot of excess flakes to try to clean out of his tank. I'm not sure if anyone here sells live food (I'm planning a trip to the only "real" pet store in town this afternoon - a small family-owned business with a large variety of pets) but since Samson has gone for flakes once or twice (while falling) I'm hoping he'll eventually eat them as his staple food. Any ideas on how to get him to do so without needing them to fall would be greatly appreciated!

I also have one more question: Regarding Samson's tank, I bought it because I'd heard that many betta owners love the Eclipse 5 gallon for their fish. I'm a little concerned about the current, however. I know Samson is still very new to this tank and the current, and I think he may actually like the current since he seems to go to the point of strongest current quite frequently and try to swim up it, then let it push him back after awhile. Other times he hangs out away from the current and does fun-looking betta twirls and circles. I have seen him successfully swim against the current when he wants to, so I'm not sure if he's treating it as a toy or if he would be better off without it. There is no current adjustment on this tank, though as I mentioned we do have quite a few silk plants in it, as well as his stump that he can hide in. Have you heard any complaints about the current in this tank bothering bettas, or is it just good exercise and a fun toy for them to play in? I did have to unplug the filter's motor this morning while feeding Samson, since the current carried the food all over the place (I was hoping the fact that the flakes were moving on the surface would interest Samson, but no such luck).

Thanks in advance for any advice you guys can give me. I really love watching Samson swim around - I think I may just be a betta-addict for life, lol! Thanks again!

-Brooke

 

[Jonty]

Try buying Betta pellets like Hikari Betta Bio-gold, which are what most poeple on here use. They'll sink and give the betta the right nutrients. Alternatively you could try putting the food next to the filter outlet so it moves? Just a thought.

BTW, did you fishless cycle your tank? If not, you'll have to Fish in cycle your tank.

 

[kelly528]

First, try pellets instead of flakes. They are generally more palatable from a fish's point of view, usually a whole lot more nutritious and, although strangely on this forum people seem to think the reverse, it is felt by many that they swell less in the fish's gut than pellets.

Secondly, you're his parent not his friend!!! A betta can easily go a week without feeding and he won't starve himself. Its not abnormal for bettas to turn their noses up at pellets, but by patiently doing as you are (offering him some pellets each day and cleaning out the uneaten food) and not giving in and feeding him love/frozen/freezedried before he's accepting pellets you can overpower him lol. I think my guy took about a week before he was eating them somewhat consistently.

Lastly if the betta is still young he may have difficulty fitting pellets in his mouth and chewing them. If you are concerned about this, go with a smaller pellet like Atisons Betta Pro (awesome pellet) or Hikari Micro Wafers. Or crush up a normal sized pellet.

Lastly, here is a list of good quality pellets that I like to feed in order of preference / quality:

-Atisons Betta Pro
-Hikari Micro Wafers
-HBH Betta Bites (cheap but the ingredients are all there!)


Hikari Betta Bio Gold... all I can say is use at your own discretion. They used to be some of the best betta pellets on the market but unfortunately due to a recent formula change they consist predominantly wheat rather than fish meal. They also added MSG to the ingredients, a move which many people are extremely against. If you are lucky enough to pick up an older pack it may still have fish meal as the first ingredient, but may be set to expire soon.

 

[Floyds mum]

persevere he will eat pellets if he gets hungry enough

 

[BethK]

Does the water surface have movement to it? I find that bettas like surface movement, gives them a challenge when trying to eat food.

Persevere, he will eventually eat when he gets hungry

 

[silverrabbit]

Bettas love to sulk when they are first brought home. One of my guys didn't eat for about 5/6 days and he was fine, so don't worry too much

I use Atison's Betta Pro pellets (ebay) and all the boys love them.

If he's used to live foods then a dry food is very different and so he might spit out the dry food the first few times you try, but eventually he'll get the hang of what's for dinner

Well done on getting him a new bigger, heated and filtered tank! With regards to the current, can you turn the outlet of the filter to face a wall of the tank?

Keep testing your water, as if the tank isn't cycled ammonia and nitrite will build up until your filter is able to break them down into safer nitrate. A liquid test kit is best and will last you ages, so worth the money

 

[limbrooke83]

Thanks, everyone, for the info! I went to every store in town that carries pet supplies, and none of them have any of the above mentioned brands. What we've been feeding are the Aqua Culture Betta pellets (from Walmart, which is apparently what their fish are fed before being bought, so that's probably what Samson is used to if he ate at all while there). We've also tried the Tetra BettaMin flakes. One of the pet stores had Omega One pellets, but I'm not sure if they're good quality or not. The same store carries both frozen blood worms and freeze-dried blood worms, as well as eggs to raise your own brine shrimp (though I'm not sure we have the correct breeder tank to do so). In the end we decided to stick with the pellets we have for now, and if he starts eating them we may switch him to a better brand we can buy online. Once he's eating pellets, we'll probably get some frozen blood worms for him to use as an occasional treat as well.

One question that would (probably) put my mind at ease: Has anyone ever known a betta fish to starve itself to death when otherwise healthy and being presented the opportunity to eat pellets twice a day? I know Samson had that pea a couple of days ago and at least one flake this morning, so I'm assuming he'll be fine even if he doesn't eat again for a week, lol. Still, it never hurts to make sure!

Oh, and to answer some of the questions above - yes, we did try feeding him with the filter still running, and there is definitely movement on the surface of the water. When that didn't work, I tried unplugging the filter for a bit in order to get some food to drop down where he could see it. I'll try leaving the filter on during feeding from now on and let him decide if/when he wants to go get the food.

Also, I didn't "fishless" cycle the tank, but I have been keeping an eye on the various levels and doing water changes as necessary. So far the levels have stayed pretty low. Thanks for the link - the step by step instructions there are great!

Also, so far as I know there's no way to turn the filter's output to face the wall of the tank, but I'll check it out to see. So far, Samson seems like one happy betta in his new tank, so I'll just enjoy watching him swim and wait for him to decide he's hungry, lol! Thanks!

-Brooke

P.S. @Floyds mum - is that a greyhound in your avatar? We have a retired racer, so your pic caught my eye.

 

[Tolak]

Omega One is one of the best foods available, and my go to flake food when conditioning fish. Bring the temperature up to 82F, this is the minimum I keep splendens at. Increased temperature will increase metabolism, and appetite. A healthy adult fish can easily go for two weeks without eating, I've had them go double that length of time.

 

[limbrooke83]

Omega One is one of the best foods available, and my go to flake food when conditioning fish. Bring the temperature up to 82F, this is the minimum I keep splendens at. Increased temperature will increase metabolism, and appetite. A healthy adult fish can easily go for two weeks without eating, I've had them go double that length of time.

Really? Wow, good to know. I'll go back to the pet store and get some of the Omega One pellets, then. I raised the temperature in his tank, too. Thanks for the tip!

 

[limbrooke83]

Update: Thanks to all of you who recommended persevering with the pellets. As luck would have it, last night we had a breakthrough. I was removing a pellet from Samson's tank that he (once again) had refused to eat, when the now thoroughly soaked pellet suddenly disintegrated into a million pieces. Samson went into a sort of feeding frenzy and had a blast chasing down all the pieces that were now slowly sinking in his tank. He ate most of them, although he did spit a few of the bigger pieces out again. I didn't know pellets would disintegrate to that degree - kind of like the pea Samson liked so much. I tried again with a second pellet, and sure enough I got the same reaction.

This morning we did a repeat performance with 2 pellets - soak for 10 minutes in aquarium water, squish the pellet between my fingers (making sure my hands are clean!), then dip the finger with the smushed pellet into the tank and watch the particles fly. Samson even ate a large piece (probably 1/4 to half of a whole pellet) in one bite this morning. Needless to say, I'm thrilled to see him eating!

I think I'll head back to the pet store and get the Omega One pellets today now that I know he'll eat them. Thanks again for all the advice! This forum is great!

-Brooke

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Glad he is eating; sometimes they just need a little persuasion. Mine was semi-fussy with pellets to begin with as he'd spit them out and re-eat them. Now he'd have them all in his mouth the minute they eat the water if he could.

 

[BethK]

You will find bettas have stand out personalities IMO. If I was to label it, I would say pre-madonnas

 

[silverrabbit]

Glad he's eating now

 

[loraxchick]

it is always a good idea to soak dried foods before feeding-pellets or freezedried. can lead to a lot of betta problems if you dont. thats why i feed flake as staple for bettas-limits some serious things that can happen (also limits over feeding-they have tiny tummies and we tend to feed too many pellets at once).
glad hes hungry and eating.
cheers