Marine Betta Not Eating

[dustinwerk19]

first time on Reef2Reef

okay, I bought a decent sized Marine Betta
(4 1/2 inches) at my local fish store for $110 about a week ago. Not sure of the gender, but I refer to all animals as “he”. So my marine betta he has been all over the tank, not bothered by my other four fish (green bird wrasse,
harlequin basslet, 2 maroon clownfish) And honestly, he comes out during the day and doesn’t seem to be bothered by the light. I have a 150 gallon tank with plenty of rock, more than enough hiding for him.

So here’s my question, why isn’t he eating? I have been feeding him frozen shrimp, prawn, today I tried freeze dried krill pellets. I’d love to drop a couple live shrimp in there but marine bettas being the slow fish they are he would never get one before my wrasse or bass. I tried feeding him manually with these I guess you could say tongs and he wouldn’t bother with it, he wouldn’t swim away or get scared he’d just sit there in place.

What can I do? Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[lion king]

These fish can be difficult to feed at 1st and may need something live to get a feeding response. You can try live brine shrimp, black worms, or my recommended live ghost shrimp. Some can be rather shy to feed and may need encourage by spot feeding. They do seem to come around over time but some have failure initially if not prompted by live foods.

The other reason for not eating is internal parasites which would require treatment, most recommended would be general cure. Try live foods 1st, if he doesn't bite, then this would be your next step. Please try all the live foods I suggested. Make sure the ghost shrimp are not too large, that fish is all fin.

 

[dustinwerk19]

that’s the problem though, if I try to put live in the tank he will never get it before my Wrasse or Bass do. They’re a slow fish. I could probably try to put more shrimp or whatever than I should in the tank so hopefully some make it down before my wrasse or bass find them but that’s all I can think of. He spent time in quarantine at my LFS by the way. Marine Bettas are one of the most disease immune fish out there, but that doesn’t mean your wrong. I’ll look into it.

 

[lion king]

that’s the problem though, if I try to put live in the tank he will never get it before my Wrasse or Bass do. They’re a slow fish. I could probably try to put more shrimp or whatever than I should in the tank so hopefully some make it down before my wrasse or bass find them but that’s all I can think of. He spent time in quarantine at my LFS by the way. Marine Bettas are one of the most disease immune fish out there, but that doesn’t mean your wrong. I’ll look into it.

Internal parasites has to do with consuming the parasites, in happens very often in all fish, and more so in fish that may consume other fish.

Try and use something to block the other while attempting to feed, in the cause as they are already in a tank with aggressive feeders, it will be more difficult. Widely broadcast feed live brine shrimp may start to get him interested

 

[orangejuiceman1]

if it was me try and use multiple shrimp and drop them as close as you can to him

 

[Gogoggansgo]

As someone who has a betta for over a year and doesn’t eat any of the food I’ve given him. I just buy turbo snails and he eats the babies I’ve seen him do it many of times

and what gets me is he’s fat and i mean fat lol

 

[Williamson’s Reef]

Buy a few dozen freshwater ghost shrimp. There cheap. They’ll stay alive in just a bucket with water for a few days. Drop a bunch in at once to give him a chance. Another reason to quarantine fish is to get them eating with no competition. I hand feed mine freeze dried krill on a stick. But nothing worked but live shrimp to start. After a few times of live shrimp try thawed out mysis shrimp with the power heads on. After they eat that they’ll usually start eating everything.

 

[lion king]

As someone who has a betta for over a year and doesn’t eat any of the food I’ve given him. I just buy turbo snails and he eats the babies I’ve seen him do it many of times

and what gets me is he’s fat and i mean fat lol

Once they get settled in sometimes they find a spot behind the rocks where the food flows and just munch down. I've known them to disappear behind the rocks and reappear later twice the size. You first have to get them going on something, and make sure they are clear of parasites, or they will just waste away.

 

[vetteguy53081]

This is typical of marine betta. They are very shy and hide up to the first 3 weeks. They grabbing passing food without you realizing it
Some entices are live ghost shrimp or brine shrimp, LRS fish frenzy and mysis shrimp
Took mine 14 months to show itself in the open

 

[danieyella]

I got mine to start eating by feeding everyone their fill shortly before lights out, then going back in after they all settled down for the evening and adding food for him specifically.

 

[Gogoggansgo]

Here is mine and look at him versus the purple tang for size

 

[ThRoewer]

I don't know what you guys do, but almost all of my adult Marine Bettas come out and wait for the food once they see me (most of the babies still have to learn that but they are getting there). Some actually have started begging on the front glass. All eat frozen Mysis, Krill, Brine Shrimp, and even flakes. Some, if not all, will eat bristle worms. And all are picking pods if they spot them.
Key is of course a proper quarantine period that is also being used for conditioning the fish to the offered foods.

 

[ThRoewer]

Here is mine and look at him versus the purple tang for size

If you ever want to get rid of that Marine Betta let me know!