Hi, first of all. I've been gone for a while so I'll just recap what's going on with my bettas.

I have two male crowntail betta fish. One is a royal blue, the other an iridescent pink-ish white with red fins and tail.

The royal blue, Snape, I've had for about a month and a half. I got him first and haven't had any problems with him except for the fact that under my care he's become quite chubby (don't worry I'm starting a diet/food cut back for him.)

My pink-ish white one, Ariana (yeah, it's a girls name,) is a bit of a different story. When I first bought him he was incredibly sickly, in fact when I first bought him it was only to try and give him a proper home for him to die in. I really thought he wouldn't last more than a few days. He could barely even swim... well apparently I'm doing something right because his condition has improved to the point where he's a happy and active betta that makes massive bubble nests for me.

The problem is Ariana doesn't eat his food. I mean he does eat. Maybe a pellet or two out of the the six I give him daily. He'll eat any and all of the bloodworms I give him however. At first I thought it was just that he didn't like the food (HBH Betta Bites) but I recently switched him onto TetraBetta floating mini pellets (the one with a dispenser that measures out the amount of food to give them,) and this habit hasn't improved.

I know I should take out the remaining pellets but usually I can't stick around during feeding time and wait for him to eat what he wants, nor can I ever predict how much I should be giving him. The pellets usually sink within 10 minutes or so and the majority get stuck in little crevasses on his home/hide-away stone henge toy. They're tricky to spot and even tricker to get out since often my Vac doesn't have enough suction to pull them out.

I'm noticing that the bits of food seem to develop a mold like fuzz around them and I'm worried that they're damaging the quality of his water.

So, why isn't he eating his proper betta food and yet guzzles down bloodworms whenever he gets them?
How should I be feeding him?
And is there a type of food or water treatment thing that will stop the mold from forming?

I really appreciate your help.

my bettas are really picky too! You should remove the food after otherwise ammonia and nitrite will skyrocket

Hi Kilope! Shamu is right; decaying food will definitely alter your water params. But also, you are feeding too many pellets. Do they get fed both pellets AND bloodworms each day? That would be way too much. I feed mine 3 pellets each, once a day, five days a week. Peas one day a week, and then frozen food (brine shrimp or bloodworms) once a week. The frozen foods get thawed and hand-fed...in little tiny bites. That means four tiny worms or four shrimp. I have read that their stomach is only as big as their eye. Not sure the truth to that, but you do want to feed them sparingly. Overeating causes sick fish as well as poor water quality. JMO

Do you do weekly water changes? What size tanks are they in?

my betta that will eat pellets gets one pellet and a few tiny flakes twice a day, just flakes for the others

Are you feeding him bloodworms AND pellets? And how large his he, juvenile or full grown (most pet store betta are full grown, though I've seen some get a few groups of juvies by accident)?

Also are you soaking the pellets in water before feeding them? Some betta seem to have trouble eating the small hard pellets (not to mention other problems with expanding in the stomach, etc.)

4 to 6 pellets a day with no other food is plenty for a full grown betta. However, bloodworms (preferably the frozen sort) are actually generally better for him, and he probably eats them more readily because they are the sort of thing he'd be eating naturally. It would be perfectly safe to take him down to a couple of pellets a day for one meal, and bloodworms for the other. ^_^

Hey guys, just thought I'd answer a few of your questions.

I'm currently feeding my fish TetraBetta Floating mini pellets, I feed them the portion size the box designates and I feed them one or two blood worms about 4 times a week. On those days I usually feed them the pellets right before I go to school and give them the worms when I get back. I thought that was okay since the pellet box says to feed them a serving twice a day. I know they don't need much food and can even go several days without food, but I feel a bit sad whenever they go without food.

They're both fully grown. And I don't pre-soak the pellets. Could that really be the problem?

What other types of food can I give my picky eater? I know you can do peas (or A pea) once a week or something. And I know brine shrimp can be a treat (but because I also own Sea-Monkeys I'm not sure I should do that.) Is there a specific brand or something that you guys have noticed your bettas particularly enjoy?

Would flakes be better perhaps?

I do a 75-80% water change for both about weekly or every other week. Although I take out any food on the bottom of Ariana's tank every three days. That may be waiting a bit too long, but it's a big hassle to get it out everyday since the food is often stuck in small cracks.

Snape is in a 3 gallon Eclipse tank, and Ariana is in a 2 gallon simple plastic PetCo bought container. Although Snape's tank has a filter, I don't have it on since the current it creates seems to make him unhappy. Or I thought it did because he wasn't making a bubble nest, but now that I have it off, he's still not making bubble nests. Perhaps he just doesn't like making them?

Oh, by the way. Another quick question: In Snape's tank I have this sculpture thing that came with the tank (I bought it at the thrift store), well I was reluctant to use it but it was rather pretty, so I washed it in hot water. It's been in the tank since then and I started noticing a small brown spot on it a few weeks back. I thought nothing of it, but recently that spot has grown and exponentially so. I know sometimes algae can be brown, is that what that is?

I really wouldn't think it's rust or something since the sculpture isn't metal (to my knowledge, if it is, they were very sneaky about it) and I mean, why would someone make an aquarium sculpture out of metal?

Should I be concerned?

Thanks so much for your help once again.

Okay lets see, answers in order :-)

First of all, most fish food containers seem to have very strange ideas of how much you should be feeding a fish, and in my experience they're mostly overkill. I'd step up the amount of bloodworms your feeding and cut back alot on the pellets, and that should pretty well do the trick. He can thrive pretty well on mostly bloodworms. Betta are carnivores, so peas are okay sometimes but don't offer them a lot of the nutrients they need. I know a number of people who feed tiny bits of beef heart once a week or so, but thats a bit above and beyond whats necessary. Mine really love their bloodworms, and I've actually never had a betta who wouldn't take them right from my fingers. You can get frozen ones with some nutrients added at most chain pet stores that carry fish.

I'd really suggest soaking the pellets in water for a minute or so before dropping them in. Pellets expand in water, and so if the fish eats them without soaking they expand in his tummy. You can just fill a little cup with water from the tank, drop the pellets in that, then upend the whole thing into the tank. I don't recommend flakes, for the most part because I've never found a good 'betta' flake and because they're a little harder for betta's to eat.

And now I'm writing a novel, sorry about this heh.

Without filtration a 2 gallon tank should be changed every week. Two weeks is way to long. Its possible that Ariana (who is in the 2 gallon) is eating less because she's not in the best shape with her water, do you test it for ammonia?

I'd turn Snape's filtration back on. Betta however really hate strong currents, you can use some mesh fabric (like the kind used in fish nets) strapped cross the filter output with a rubber band to cut back the flow if your filter isn't adjustable. The filter will cut down on a lot of the time you have to spend on water changes. If you have the money, I'd think about getting a small filter for Ariana's tank as well.

Its probably algae on the sculpture, and easy way to tell would be to rinse it off the net time you change the water. In the future, hot water doesn't actually sterilize things, you will need to use boiling water (with doesn't kill EVERYTHING, but is usually enough). If you're really feeling worried, you could take it out and boil it during you're next water change, then let it dry off completely before putting it back in.

If you want to encourage bubble nests, maybe add some silk aquarium plants that reach the top of the water, mine seemed to like to have something to anchor the nest in place.

Hope that helps :-)