A couple of weeks ago i got my first betta. His name is Szechuan and he was so tiny when i got him. He’s definitely grown a bit but he never eats. I’ve tried multiple types of food including the kind he was being fed at the pet store before we got him, dried blood worms, pellets and dried shrimp. I try feeding him every night and in the 2 weeks I’ve had him I’ve only ever seen him stomach 2 pellets. He either isn’t interested in the food, spits it right back out, or can’t fit it in his mouth. I have a heater in his tank, and got the smallest filter I can find but when I put it in he’s so small he gets tossed around the tank 😭😭 I want him to have a clean tank but I feel like the filter stresses him out and may be affecting his eating. But having dirty water can affect his eating too!! I don’t know what to do please help I love him so much and just want him to be happy. Would love any recommendations in terms of food, process of feeding, filters, tank essentials, particularly for a baby/small betta. Thank you!!!!
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Posted by Zealousideal_Cap9104
5 Comments
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Are you crushing up the pellets and flakes? They might be too big for a baby. Brine shrimp is good for the babies. Frozen is the easiest. Live is ideal but…probably a hassle.
Some people buy a cheap suction cup soap holder for under the filter, where the water flows into the tank, so it’s a way less strong current
Have you tried a sponge filter? I use 2 small ones in my 10 gallon betta tank and an air pump I can raise or lower the flow. It works out perfect for mine and the sponge filters are quite affordable.
Someone else had the same issue a few days ago here. We were able to figure out they merely had a picky betta. I hope yours is the same so if you could try these:
1. San Francisco Bay Frozen Brine Shrimp – can be bought at PetCo or PetSmart. Take a small piece, in a separate cup thaw it with his tank water. After it’s melted, feed the brine shrimp to your betta. You can use a needleless syringe or a turkey baster or a pipette. Make sure to scoop up or siphon any leftovers. They also have frozen bloodworms as treats to fatten up betta (but dont feeed this often)
2. Try soaking the pellets he has right now. A few mins until it’s mushy then feed. If he eats it, then maybe he likes soft foods.
3. Try flakes over pellets.fluval bug bites flakes is great. The first ingredient is bugs lol
4. Try the smaller pellets like Hikari gold + soak like step 2 if still not eating.
I would recommend to never remove the filter. Just soften the flow as maybe the food gets tossed around that your betta gets exhausted. Of also get those floating feed holder where it creates a designated protective hole for your betta’s food so it doesn’t get taken by the filter flow.
The filter is very important for the stability of the tank, not just cleanliness. Best of luck!
Dried foods are hard for them to chew, especially with small mouths. Dried foods often need to be pre-soaked. A lot of pellet foods are junk and still also big for tiny mouths. Maybe try frozen baby brine shrimp or frozen mysis shrimp. Frozen shrimp is much better than pellet, flake and dried foods.