Betta Won't Eat In New Tank. Is This A Good Tank?

[dman76]

I have had a male betta for about 6 months in just a small bowl. I finally got him a new tank (a 5 gal hex with filter) with gravel on the bottom, a couple live plants, and some coral and rocks. He has been in there a couple days and I have been watching him swim around a lot so I think he likes it! Wasn't much room for him to swim in the old bowl. He seems to hang out around the top a lot, actually a lot of the time by the current (I thought bettas didnt like current), or sometimes he swims a lot up and down. There are plenty of areas with no current though. At night I checked to see where he was and he has been hanging out at the top again. I havent seen him lay on the bottom yet though to rest and was wondering if that is normal because he used to lay on the bottom of the bowl a lot.

As far as feeding him, in the bowl he would always come up real quick when he saw me with the food jar, and would even jump out of the water to grab it sometimes. I have tried feeding him 3 times already in the new tank and he hasnt eaten it. He spit it out a couple times, and would dive after it as it sunk, but didn't eat it. I turned the filter off too to see if he would get the ones floating on top and he didn't. I know there were a couple periods in the bowl when he wouldn't eat and spit them out, and eventually he would start eating again. So hopefull that will happen soon.

So is this a good tank for him? I love the looks of it and it has a lot more room than he has, but then I am reading things where it is better to have a tank that is wider than it is tall. I would also like to get a couple tankmates for him eventually (just a couple so there is a little more to look at in the tank) and am hoping this is good for that. I got this at Wal Mart and they had a 10 gal rectangular tank for the same price that I was looking at, but I really like the looks of this one. I suppose I can return it and get the other if he doesn't like it after a little bit, but I don't know. Sorry this is so long, but what do you guys think?

 

[Htw]

When i changed one of my guys to a new tank, he wouldn't eat either, and I wondered whether I should have left him where he was. After a few days though, he gradually got more confident in his new surroundings and then he was back to normal.
Give him time and I'm sure he will be fine.
Tank sounds ok, and if the current doesn't seem to bother him that's fine. It's probably a bit daunting to have so much more space than before, but he'll be much better off and happier.

 

[dman76]

When i changed one of my guys to a new tank, he wouldn't eat either, and I wondered whether I should have left him where he was. After a few days though, he gradually got more confident in his new surroundings and then he was back to normal.
Give him time and I'm sure he will be fine.
Tank sounds ok, and if the current doesn't seem to bother him that's fine. It's probably a bit daunting to have so much more space than before, but he'll be much better off and happier.

Should I just keep feeding him 4 pellets in the morning and night like I always have then and just let them sink if he doesnt eat them? Will they ever find them in the gravel if they get hungry? I suppose the food lying on the bottom would at least help in cycling the tank too right?

 

[Htw]

won't matter if he goes a few days without eating.
If he's near the top, try just one or two pellets and see if he eats them. If he doesn't, don't put any more there and try again a bit later. Even the opening and closing of his lid will be strange to him and a bit scary. If you think there may be a lot of uneaten food, use a turkey baster to suck it out. It may be that he has eaten some of the dropped pellets when you weren't looking!