Why Won't My Beta Fish Eat?

[pandachanluv]

hello
i recently (like a month or two ago) got 5 beta fish, 1 female and four males, and they're all in separate bowls
at first, i fed them shrimp, then i switched to pellets so i wouldn't have to change the water everytime i fed them
they took well to the pellets, but i ran out so i got a different brand of pellets and some flakes
one of them likes the flakes, 2 of them like the pellets, but the other two (males) don't eat either of them
i thought it was their water, i changed it pretty often, but they still won't eat
they seem healthy, they swim around and they still flare up and their color still looks nice, but i'm still worried cause they won't eat
also, another question is, how long can beta fish go without eating?
i'm still kinda new at the whole beta fish thing so help would be much appreciated!

 

[littlest]

Bettas are notorious for being picky eaters. If they will accept one food but not another, it suggests they are just being picky rather than something is wrong.
Try and get the old brand of pellets if you can. Bettas can go a long time without eating though.

what size are the bowls? what temp? how often are water changes?

 

[pandachanluv]

Bettas are notorious for being picky eaters. If they will accept one food but not another, it suggests they are just being picky rather than something is wrong.
Try and get the old brand of pellets if you can. Bettas can go a long time without eating though.

what size are the bowls? what temp? how often are water changes?

the bowls are pretty small, like let's see. . . half a gallon, and the temperature is maybe 60 degrees fahrenheit, and i change the water whenever it gets cloudy (at least once a week, but usually more often than that)

 

[littlest]

60F is far too cold for bettas. They are tropical fish and need heated tanks. You want the temperature to be at least 75 I think, but I normally keep mine around 79-80.
1 gallon is considered absolutely minimum really, but a preferred minimum is 2.5G. One of the problems with tanks/bowls that are small like yours is that they are very difficult to heat.