Hi, folks. A week ago, we got a betta that was sitting in an S-shape at the bottom of his little cup. We decided we'd see what we could do for him. The store owner said he'd been giving them pellets and dried bloodworms daily, so I figured the fish might have constipation (if not SBD) from eating dried food only.

The little guy is by himself in a 2.5 gal MIniBow tank with a Whisper filter and a 25w heater that keeps the temp at 78 to 79 F. We did a complete water change midweek to get rid of uneaten food. No detectible ammonia, no nitrites, no nitrates. There's some anacharis floating in the tank. The pH here stays at 7.8 to 8.0.

The first night here he ate a frozen brine shrimp and a Hikari pellet. The next morning he ate a frozen bloodworm. That night he had several small bits of an English pea.

We fasted him the next day. He now is swimming more freely up and down in the little tank, and is hanging out in the top quarter of the tank the way bettas often do.

But now all he will eat is a couple of tiny bits of English peas, and he accepts those once a day. We've offered the brine shrimp and worms and pellets, but he wants none of that.

This has gone on for several days. And now his color looks more drab than it did when he came home with us.

What do we do now? Am I right to be worried?

Advice will be appreciated!

Caroline in San Jose

Betta's are extremely picky eaters. He may not be wanting to eat much becuse he is stressed out. Changing all of his water could have done it.

The trick to betta's is try everything. I know that some of the food is very expensive, but try everything. Eventually there has to be something he is going to like and eat.

Just be patient with him. HIs colour getting drab is not a good sign, but aside from force feeding him (which wouldn't go over too well in my eyes) he will have to eat on his own. If he wants to eat the peas, then let him. As long as he is getting something in his tummy. I wish you guys luck and don't give up. Experiment! Try lots of different foods and see which he likes!

Thanks, Florissa.

He's really frisky this morning, and his color is back.

He even chases brine shrimp and bloodworms today, but doesn't eat them. He still accepts nothing but peas.

I will do as you say about patiently offering different things. (We just got out of this stage with a 5yo human. Compared to her, the betta can't be any more of a challenge.)

Besides the frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp we already tried, what might be good to buy? Maybe live brine shrimp?

I don't care about the expense. Somebody here will enjoy anything the betta doesn't care for.

Thanks again,
Caroline in San Jose

Today we got frozen daphnia and frozen mosquito larvae. He likes them both!

It's funny how each betta can be so different! I have a feisty betta in a 5gal. tank.He shares the tank with some Ramshorn Snails & isn't too keen on that. Yesterday I threw in a piece of blanched zucchinnii for the snails. That betta went crazy!!!!!He tore into that veggie like it was steak! He ate so much of it in fact,that I've never seen a betta belly so big! He has eaten a pea once or twice after keeping him from food,but this was crazy! Today his belly is back to normal--thank god...He must have resented the snail food,and thought..."I'll show them"! Just shows you to keep trying...You never know what he'll get a likin' for!

No one food should be good for anyone, as variation is key, especially a carniverous animal such as a betta.

Try tempting his taste buds by live food (Flightless fruitflies are sold in vials at stores such as petsmart, and can be cultured into an endless supply of food with a simple concoction consisting of baby cereal, yeast, instant mashed potatoes flakes, cornmeal, and orange juice.) or frozen foods, such as blood worms, daphnias, etc.

Completely emptying a tank, too small to keep a steady cycle as is, was a bad idea, as whatever nitryfing bacteria in there, was interrupted. The cycle had to have a major set back.

I would test his water, as this sounds to me like a water issue. Please tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and PH. If the tank IS indeed cycled, and the only way to know for certain is by testing the water, there should be NO traceable ammount of ammonia, or nitrite, as both is toxic to fishes in even small amounts. This could be very stressful on a fish, and could be the reason for his poor eating habits, and sparodic behavior and lost of coloration.

(Also, if you ever decide to pick up another betta... try testing the deathcup's water for ammonia. It might surprise you. Most are WAY off the scale.... There should be NONE detected in order for it to be safe for fish, but in petstores, the ammonia is usually a deathly 10+ ppm.)


In conclusion, I believe this to be a water issue. (Only way to find out is through testing the water.)

To remedy this, I would either:

1. Remove the filter, and do 100% water changes with conditioned water at least 1x a week.

2. Upgrade his tank to at least a 5Gallon to safely keep a cycle that will be able to support enough nitryfing bacteria to convert the toxics to nitrate. (Which is then removed through weekly water maintanence.)

Bethany, I do agree about the variety. Besides being nutritionally sound advice (ie, to vary foods), it can save their lives in an emergency when a pet will accept a variety of food. After an earthquake or hurricane, it can take literally weeks to get particular foods, so there need to be readily available items your pets will eat.

Devs, I will see if he likes zucchini. In a carnivore, that has to have pretty much the same effect as peas, I would guess.

Caroline in San Jose