Is there something wrong with my betta?

[Shedeivl]

it seems my betta only eat food that floats on the water

is there something wrong with my betta?

you see I have soaked the food which on many of the threads this was one of the things said to do and then they sink to the bottom so then I stop soaking then and they floated he did not eat the ones that sunk but will only eat the ones that float

i got some brine shrimp to give him something different and cause it dose not float he wont eat it

the tropical fish flakes float he eats them if the start to sink event if he makes them sink he wont go near them anymore

this is a problem for 3 reason 1 it's hard to make the food float some food just sink 2 it's hard to know how much he has eaten 3 it's hard to make sure i get all the food out that is not eaten

Please Help

[BettaLu&Meg]

Well bettas are picky eaters and they will give you a hard time with new foods. But this doesn't mean to give up on giving them variety. Giving the same food over and over will eventually complicate there health, with swim bladder disorders and constipations. Bettas if given the same food and they deny, will usually deny for a couple of days and by the 5 day will take it. So don't worry about fasting your betta for a couple of days. They can go for up to a month without eating. so even if the little guys gives you that "i'm hungry look" Don't give in! remmeber pellets and flakes should be there set diet.

[bettalvr]

Luis, do you agree that when introducing a different food that we should offer that same food for several days rather than offering multiple different foods during that time?

[BettaLu&Meg]

Yes i do. giving them sort of no choice but to eat whats given, i learned from breeding is that they will at first give you a hard time but will eventually eat the new food, Now if you had them, lets say on flakes first(what i went thru with some) i switch them to the pellets and for a couple of days they didn't eat all of it but eventually came to. Then already knowing they like the flakes i would For the first feeding give them the new food, Then the flakes for the second feeding. Making them used to the pellets as there set food, Hey i believe whether there bettas or humans, if we don't eat for a little while, eventually we will eat whats given to us no matter what. agree?

[BettaLu&Meg]

So yeah i believe so, then when they are used to it i mix and match the pellets with the flakes at times.

[Shedeivl]

so it's got to b curel to be kind so what your say if the food always sinks he will soon relise that if he wants to eat he has to case the food to the bottem as i'm not going to put any more in till his next feeding

i hope i got it right

[bettalvr]

Make sure you get the uneaten food out of the tank. If you just leave it you are harboring a great place for bacterial/fungal growth. Keep offering the food 2 times a day, just don't forget to clean up after him (what he doesn't eat).

[BettaLu&Meg]

seeing it like that is wrong and hard on yourself. Don't think of it like that, think of it as if they were in the wild, they don't have a steady source of food like ours do, so when something new comes along they have no choice but to eat what they get, Our bettas are spoiled little things we love, and are used to getting what they want. so yeas IT FEELS CRUEL!! but its not being cruel, Your improving there health and they will thank you when you put a year or more in there life for feeding them the right way

[Oscar Betta]

first of all a good food that floats is some flakes. they are not the best betta food, but he will like them. And they are pickie sometimes, and he may not even see the food coming down. Bettas usually though like the food to come to them, but they can get it.

[Fivestar68]

Great info all! I must be one of the luckiest Betta owners around because I have had no probs with types of foods I feed my Bettas. They eat everything I throw at them. Brine shrimp, bloodworms, pellets, flake food. Hell before long I'll be serving them up Steak&Lobster...lol