My betta won’t eat anything, Please help!

[drpenquin]

hello, I’m a beginner betta fishkeeper. The betta I have has been with me for almost 7 months but the problem just started recently. My betta suddenly stopped eating his pellets (at best he would only eat one) which led me to think that he grew tired of it so I tried getting other food such as freeze dried blood worms and baby brine shrimp but he wouldn’t eat any of the two as well. I’m getting worried since he’d only eat his pellets but he doesn’t eat more than one pellet a day and there also goes a day where he doesn’t want to eat at all.

 

[outofwater]

Has there been any recent changes to the tank? Any new plant, decoration or anything else that wasn't there before?

How long has he been eating only one pellet?

Can you post a picture of the fish, and one of the entire tank?

 

[Colin_T]

What does his poop look like?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the tank water?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?

What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

What is the water temperature?

 

[drpenquin]

Has there been any recent changes to the tank? Any new plant, decoration or anything else that wasn't there before?

How long has he been eating only one pellet?

Can you post a picture of the fish, and one of the entire tank?

No not at all. Actually his tank is almost completely empty (currently only has a hide, filter, and a heater)since I switched to a new tank and his old stuff got thrown away accidentally. Since I don’t have work to financially support myself, it’s taking time for me to get him actual stuff again. He’s been eating only one pellet for almost 2 weeks now. I don’t have a picture of my fish currently and I am also out, sorry. I do have something to share — something that made him drastically change was that he jumped out of his tank while I was gone and it took me awhile to pick him up and put him back to his tank. After that, he seemed to change. His fins also seemed ripped which scared me to death. Right now he is currently in a tank with Indian Almond leaves because I heard it helps them heal up but theres no change to him except that his fins are back to normal. Another thing as well, he seemed to stop flaring? I always tried to show his reflection so that he could flare up and stretch since he might be bored but he wouldn’t flare at all.

 

[drpenquin]

What does his poop look like?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the tank water?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?

What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

What is the water temperature?

Sometimes it’s like the normal ball looking poop but there are also times where it’s kind of long.
I still don’t have a test kit for the tank, sorry it’s kind of expensive.
I do water changes every week, 60-70% percent of the water is removed and changed.
I don’t currently have gravel in the tank but I do take out his poop, the extra pellets he didnt eat and other dirt in the tank.
I use a sponge filter in my tank.
I usually clean the filter every 2 weeks, or when I see it especially dirty. I use aquarium water to clean it as well.
I set the heater to make the water at 76

 

[drpenquin]

Sometimes it’s like the normal ball looking poop but there are also times where it’s kind of long.
I still don’t have a test kit for the tank, sorry it’s kind of expensive.
I do water changes every week, 60-70% percent of the water is removed and changed.
I don’t currently have gravel in the tank but I do take out his poop, the extra pellets he didnt eat and other dirt in the tank.
I use a sponge filter in my tank.
I usually clean the filter every 2 weeks, or when I see it especially dirty. I use aquarium water to clean it as well.
I set the heater to make the water at 76

degrees farenheit. (sorry I accidentally pressed reply before I could fully answer your question)

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

How long ago did he jump out of the tank, and when did you move him to the new, empty tank?

 

[drpenquin]

How long ago did he jump out of the tank, and when did you move him to the new, empty tank?

It took me about 10 minutes to come back and put him back in the tank. I moved him in his empty tank almost 3 weeks ago.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

It took me about 10 minutes to come back and put him back in the tank. I moved him in his empty tank almost 3 weeks ago.

So around the same time he stopped eating?
It's stressful for any fish to be living in essentially an empty tank. You can get some cheap aquarium plants on ebay or from other hobbyists if you join fishkeeping FB groups in your area, and can get cheap substrate/decor too. Seeing their own reflection in the bottom of the tank isn't great for fish, especially territorial ones like bettas, and only needs a thin layer of sand/gravel.

I'm suggesting that's the only problem, but it is a problem.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Sounds like the fish is stressed out...badly and possibly fatally unless something is done to make him feel safer and more secure

He has escaped, been found, plopped into a totally naked aquarium without any substrate or things to hide behind or to get away from the light above his head

Talk about completely insecure little fish going out of its mind...it is no wonder he is tearing up his finnage and not eating....poor thing is in solitary confinement without a stick of furniture to play with

 

[outofwater]

Seems like you've got a tough fish there, it's been thru quite a bit.

You mentioned that the tank is bare, you changed it and his stuff went out. Did you keep the filter or is that new too? Even if you kept the old filter the fact that all other surfaces are new might have reduced the beneficial bacteria enough to make the whole thing more stressful to your fish. If you have a nearby store maybe you could take a water sample there for testing at least to know where things are now and discard that variable.

 

[Colin_T]

The fish might have injured itself when it landed on the ground. Now it is trying to recover and is feeling unwell. It might never recover completely if it did some internal damage.

I would monitor the fish and keep doing big regular water changes.

Try him on different foods, even if you go outside and find aphids on a rose bush or catch small flies or mosquitoes, or mozzie larvae. Just make sure they are free of chemicals. See if he eats those items.

If you can afford some frozen food from a pet shop, or even some live brineshrimp, it might help bring his appetite back. If not, you can try offering him bits of raw or cooked prawn or fish. You can buy small packets of prawn/ shrimp from fishing stores in the bait freezer, or from supermarkets. You only need a couple and keep them in the freezer.

Take one prawn out and defrost it. Remove the head, shell and gut (thin black tube in body) and throw these bits away. Use a pair of scissors to cut the remaining prawn into little pieces and offer 1 or 2 bits at a time. Let him eat as much as he likes then stop feeding and remove uneaten food so it doesn't cause water quality issues.

Offer dry food and frozen or live food several times each each day and just see if he eats more.

 

[drpenquin]

So around the same time he stopped eating?
It's stressful for any fish to be living in essentially an empty tank. You can get some cheap aquarium plants on ebay or from other hobbyists if you join fishkeeping FB groups in your area, and can get cheap substrate/decor too. Seeing their own reflection in the bottom of the tank isn't great for fish, especially territorial ones like bettas, and only needs a thin layer of sand/gravel.

I'm suggesting that's the only problem, but it is a problem.

Got it! Thanks for the info, I really learned alot and will study more so that my fish would be okay.

 

[drpenquin]

Seems like you've got a tough fish there, it's been thru quite a bit.

You mentioned that the tank is bare, you changed it and his stuff went out. Did you keep the filter or is that new too? Even if you kept the old filter the fact that all other surfaces are new might have reduced the beneficial bacteria enough to make the whole thing more stressful to your fish. If you have a nearby store maybe you could take a water sample there for testing at least to know where things are now and discard that variable.

Thank you for the info!

 

[drpenquin]

The fish might have injured itself when it landed on the ground. Now it is trying to recover and is feeling unwell. It might never recover completely if it did some internal damage.

I would monitor the fish and keep doing big regular water changes.

Try him on different foods, even if you go outside and find aphids on a rose bush or catch small flies or mosquitoes, or mozzie larvae. Just make sure they are free of chemicals. See if he eats those items.

If you can afford some frozen food from a pet shop, or even some live brineshrimp, it might help bring his appetite back. If not, you can try offering him bits of raw or cooked prawn or fish. You can buy small packets of prawn/ shrimp from fishing stores in the bait freezer, or from supermarkets. You only need a couple and keep them in the freezer.

Take one prawn out and defrost it. Remove the head, shell and gut (thin black tube in body) and throw these bits away. Use a pair of scissors to cut the remaining prawn into little pieces and offer 1 or 2 bits at a time. Let him eat as much as he likes then stop feeding and remove uneaten food so it doesn't cause water quality issues.

Offer dry food and frozen or live food several times each each day and just see if he eats more.

Thank you so much! I learned a lot from you, I’ll try to improve as well.