Monday, May 24, 2010

Betta Fish Wont Eat?

I just brought a beautiful red crowntail betta from petco. Its been about 5 days now and he still refuses to eat. The water is perfect 79 degres water conditions are perfect hes in a 5 gal tank by himself. I tried feeding him betta bites but everytime i would go to feed him he would see my hand n swim to the bottom. so i picked up some brine shrimp n he still wont eat...I dont know what to do hes not eating at all
Answers:
He's still getting used to the new environment, give him time
Do you have the light on all the time? if so, that's a no no
Leave it on for 10-12 hours during the day and turn it off for 12-14 hours at night, that also make the transition easier for your betta
Also get him a live plant, he likes to hide in there and rest on them
Hope that helps
Good luck

EB
P.S.:
Great choice on the tank size ;-)
did u get him betta food???
he may not be hungry. give him another day or 2 to get used to his surroundings. they don't eat much anyway, so he may be eating the food when you walk away
Mine does the same thing I and I have had him for like 4 months now. He is probably just not eating when your there or is waiting for some to settle to the bottom. He might also be sick, and there is not a lot you can do about that. Just wait it out and keep feeding him like normal.
I hade a betta that did'nt eat betta food, but it seemed that he loved tropical fish flakes.
There's a bunch of things that could be the reason why it's not eating.
Try giving him a different type of beta (or just fish) food.
I had a few beta's that were particularly picky with what they would eat.
Just a suggestion.
don't worry. Out of all the fishes I've kept, I find out that bettas take the longest time to get adjusted to a new home. It's having a hard time because it used to live in little cup. Now it's just overwhelmed and happy it's home is bigger and cleaner. You have to try giving it different food. I just got mine and it hasn't eaten for two days. I'm just going to give it time.
try giving the fish a varied diet and some live food see if that helps.
That's really good that you're taking excellent care of your betta. That could be a result of stress, is the tank in a well-lit, shake-free location? Is his belly swollen? That would mean he's been overfed.
Has he eaten at all since you brought him home. If he hasn't that may mean he was already sick when you bought him. If that's the case, you should be able to (sigh) return him. That's not that great... but a sick betta may or may not get better.
You might be able to fish out an answer in this excellent article and free course: http://www.fish-care.net/bettafishcare.s...
Good luck! Let us know what happens!