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Why is my betta not a good eater? (possumpat.io)

submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/aquariums

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This is the 3rd betta I've had and he's just not food motivated like every other betta I've seen. We've tried pellets, flakes, and assorted freeze dried shit and he'll still mostly ignore it until it sinks to the bottom, and then maybe he'll nibble it. Bruh you are not a catfish or pleco, wtf. He's a "samurai" plakat male, while before I had the bog standard veiltails. Is this why he's weird? It doesn't seem likely tho?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

Bettas have Personality, and Personality means preferences. There may be an underlying medical issue that's making him refuse food, but if he seems healthy otherwise, he's probably just waiting for you to bring him something he wants to eat. 😅 I had one who refused to eat betta pellets.... unless I ground them into smaller pieces with a mortar and pestle. Then (and only then) were they considered acceptable food--if I just dropped a couple of full-sized pellets into his tank, he would look at me, then turn around and swim back into his guppy grass. "Garcon? NO. These are unacceptable, and I will not be returning to your establishment until you do better."

That being said, he really liked New Life Spectrum betta pellets (as long as they were small enough). If you have a specialty fish store nearby, you may be able to find live or frozen bloodworms, blackworms, or mysis shrimp that he'd probably really like.