New Betta Not Eating

[Just_Another_One]

ive had sparkles for 4 days now.i put a hikari bio gold pellet in his tank everyday but he doesnt seem hungry enough to eat it.
could it be because hes cold or still stressed from his big move. im off to get him a little heater today so maybe that will help.

any ideas on the best way to acclimate the heater to his tank, as i dont want to shock him too much/ thanks alot for all you guys help

 

[SoCalMom]

Like you said, he might be stressed


As to the heater; get your tank all set up and let the heater run for a while to get the temp adjusted. Float your little guy in the newly heated water so he can adjust to the temp before putting him in

 

[Just_Another_One]

Like you said, he might be stressed


As to the heater; get your tank all set up and let the heater run for a while to get the temp adjusted. Float your little guy in the newly heated water so he can adjust to the temp before putting him in

well hes already in his tank ... not sure what i would do with him while it heated up. would it be a bad idea to heat it slowly while hes in there??

 

[SoCalMom]

That I'm not sure of


I don't want to give you wrong advice lol

I'm sure someone else would know

 

[Maxsmom]

It's very common for bettas not to eat when you first bring them home. Like you said - the stress from being moved, and new surrounds, better water conditions, etc. My Max didn't eat for almost a week and a half. You can try frozen/thawed bloodworms... that might spark his appetite a little... I did that with Max and now he eats the bloodworms and the Hikari Bette Bio Gold pellets and would over eat if I let him.

I'm not sure if a heater will help him eat unless his water temp is really low. Do you know the water temp? If you get a heater, you will most definitely need to get a thermometer as well. If your room temp is warm enough to keep the water at 74F and up (to 80F)... then you don't need a heater. If your room temp is below 74, then you might investigate a low wattage heater (like 7.5 or 25watt)... depending on the size of your tank.

 

[Just_Another_One]

It's very common for bettas not to eat when you first bring them home. Like you said - the stress from being moved, and new surrounds, better water conditions, etc. My Max didn't eat for almost a week and a half. You can try frozen/thawed bloodworms... that might spark his appetite a little... I did that with Max and now he eats the bloodworms and the Hikari Bette Bio Gold pellets and would over eat if I let him.

I'm not sure if a heater will help him eat unless his water temp is really low. Do you know the water temp? If you get a heater, you will most definitely need to get a thermometer as well. If your room temp is warm enough to keep the water at 74F and up (to 80F)... then you don't need a heater. If your room temp is below 74, then you might investigate a low wattage heater (like 7.5 or 25watt)... depending on the size of your tank.

i just checked the temp with my thermoter from my big tank and its went down past the green safe zone im guessing at 65, its hard to read my thermometer.
im off to get a heater in the next two hours so should i jsut raise the temp slowly with him in it or is that bad

 

[Maxsmom]

Raising the temp should be okay - slowly - and avoid temp swings... that's the worst thing to do. 65 is really too cold for a betta.

 

[joycould]

When I have to raise or lower a temperature because the fish is being treated for ick or something else I am careful to raise it only about 2 degrees an hour and after the treatment lower it by the same amount. Any more than that I see my fish getting stressed. I would probably do the same if the was healthy.