Help With New Betta Please!

[Allicat]

Hi guys! I am new to this site and I am definitely no fish expert but I just got a new Betta fish. I bought him at Walmart (yeah I know) I brought him home filled his bowl with tap water, added a few drops of water conditioner and some pebbles and then the fish. He swam around looking pretty for four days but would not eat the Betta pellets I fed him. 2 days ago I woke up to find him dead on the bottom of his bowl. I figured he starved himself to death.
I went to a petstore this time and bought a beautiful new red male. I cleaned out the old bowl, conditioned the tap water and introduced him to his new home. This time I used freeze-dried blood worms as food. My new fish is still alive and swimming. He is very active and reacts to me being near the bowl but WILL NOT EAT. I don't understand and I am worried about him! Please! any advice would be appreciated! The bowl is pretty small but not too small-certainly bigger than those they had the fish in at the pet store. My only other concern is that the glass is rounded and magnifies everything? Please help before my second Betta fish in a week dies!!!

 

[Tetras]

I don't think it is uncommon for Bettas to not eat initially.

What is the temp of the tank?

Sorry to hear the first one didn't make it, always sad to loose a fish

 

[Allicat]

I'm not sure that the temp of the water is... I don't have a thermometer. Room temperature is comfortably warm. Does anyone think I should use a different bowl or something? should I keep just putting food in the water and then take it out after a few minutes?? Anything at all I could do to help him out!

 

[Ravenwing]

Hello,

I have a few suggestions for you to help you with your new fishie =) There are a couple of things you're going to want to look into getting. First, you really should have a thermometer....I know that many LFS have the small sticker kind (and trust me they work great and are only a few dollars)

When you say you cleaned out the bowl, if you don't mind me asking, how did you clean it? Soap is very bad for fish....some nice really hot water will do the trick. (Make sure of course that the fish is not in the bowl when you're cleaning it )

Also, how big is your bowl? I would strongly recommended having at least 1 gallon. The small "betta bowls" that are sold are way to tiny...

If you've just gotten him, it will probably take a few days for him to acclimate. Also, did you acclimate him to your water at all? (the link below will cover all of the bacis and a lot more)

Betta Talk

As far as the Walmart fish, I'm really sorry you lost him!!
Betta's can go a few days with out food, so my guess he was probably sick when you bought him little guy...


I hope this helps!!! Good Luck!!

 

[liz2]

dont worry about him not eating, mine havent been fed today and they are ok. also when I go away I leave them for a week. he will eat when he is hungry offer food and then take it out so it doesnt dirty the water. hope he will be ok. keep us posted.

 

[Allicat]

Okay I will look into getting a thermometer but is there a whole lot I can do to regulate the temperature of the water? I cleaned out the bowl with hot water- no soap. I am not sure how big my bowl is in gallons. I would say its a little less than a litre. its not big, but he doesn't look too cramped. I am trying to attach a picture but I can't figure out how.I am going to look into a bigger tank but it will be at least a few days before I can get one. No I didn't acclimate him... I didn't really think of it but I mixed warm and cold water to a room-temperature and conditioned the water.
Thanks so much for your help.
he still hasn't eaten anything

 

[liz2]

have u tried putting a mirror next to him he might be a bit lonely a five minute flare will do him good?

 

[Joby]

How is he doing now?

A little less than a litre is not big enough for your betta they should really have a couple of gallons. You should really think of a way of heating the water as bettas are tropical fish. If you can't get a heater in the bowl of that size perhaps a reptile heat mat? My fishroom is set at 80 degrees but any water left standing without a heater is hard pushed to stay at 75 degrees so heaters are a must.

Hope you managed to get him a bigger tank anyway and that he's eating for you now

 

[ZeeZee]

Hi guys! I am new to this site and I am definitely no fish expert but I just got a new Betta fish. I bought him at Walmart (yeah I know) I brought him home filled his bowl with tap water, added a few drops of water conditioner and some pebbles and then the fish. He swam around looking pretty for four days but would not eat the Betta pellets I fed him. 2 days ago I woke up to find him dead on the bottom of his bowl. I figured he starved himself to death.
I went to a petstore this time and bought a beautiful new red male. I cleaned out the old bowl, conditioned the tap water and introduced him to his new home. This time I used freeze-dried blood worms as food. My new fish is still alive and swimming. He is very active and reacts to me being near the bowl but WILL NOT EAT. I don't understand and I am worried about him! Please! any advice would be appreciated! The bowl is pretty small but not too small-certainly bigger than those they had the fish in at the pet store. My only other concern is that the glass is rounded and magnifies everything? Please help before my second Betta fish in a week dies!!!

Ok, I have had some experience with this problem myself. Number one: you must always remember that bettas do not do good with change so when you buy a betta, you should take things slowly. Number two: I have not experienced this but I hear that bettas are very picky eaters and won't switch food easily. I can't tell if you used the blood worms and he won't eat or if you used the worms, he ate but then stopped. But try giving him a little betta remedy to give him his appetite back. Don't switch his food anymore, it may just take a couple days. And don't make any new changes because he may just be under stress.
Hope that helped.

I'm not sure that the temp of the water is... I don't have a thermometer. Room temperature is comfortably warm. Does anyone think I should use a different bowl or something? should I keep just putting food in the water and then take it out after a few minutes?? Anything at all I could do to help him out!

Don't switch his bowl because he may get scared or stressed. The only thing you can really do is give him some time.

 

[Allicat]

He ate!! YAY! Thanks for all the advice! I guess he just needed some time to get over the stress of a new home. I have bought a new tank for him but I am on a real budget and I can't afford to buy an aquarium. This is a "betta kit" and it is a little less than a gallon I would say. Its a lot bigger than the glass bowl I have him in now, and it has a cover. It's WAAAYY bigger than the little bowls the petstores sell for Bettas and I hope he will like it. I will make sure I change the water often!
Thanks guys! If you've got any other tips I would be glad to hear em!

 

[Tetras]

Glad to hear he is eating and that you got him a bigger home

The cups that you see at lfs are not really used for housing, they are temporary homes, so you can't really compare them to a permanent home.

Happy Fish keeping

 

[liz2]

little devil..he was just making sure you loved him enough to worry.......