Is My Betta Sick??

How long have you had him, and what do you feed him?

I use betta pellets and have had several bettas over the years. Some bettas would not eat hard pellets, they spat them out until they became soggy enough for their liking. For these bettas I had to presoak the pellets then carefully place them on the water surface with a pipette. Other bettas would only eat hard pellets and would spit them out if they got soggy. I had to remove the ones that got trapped in the floating plants as it can take ages for a betta to find those.

You say he doesn't eat much, but they shouldn't be fed very much. Some brands of betta pellets tell you to feed far too much.

 

It is not unknown for a new betta to not realise that what you are giving him is actually food. If your food is different from the shop's food, it can take several days for them to start eating.

I've always used betta pellets, there are several brands with some being better than others. I'm currently using Northfin betta food.

 

Pellets formulated for bettas are usually better (sorry!) as they are tailored to a betta's nutritional requirements.

However, with guppies and a plec, you also need to feed them. The guppies are fine with flakes and the plec needs sinking algae wafers and some wood in the tank (lots of plecs need wood to graze on though I'm not sure if bristlenoses are among them). Bettas, being pigs when it comes to food, will eat any food you put in the tank - once he realises it is food that is.