Betta eating habits

Question
Jaymie,

I bought a wonderful siamese fighting fish (betta) about a week ago, whilst monitoring him i have noticed that he is not eating and it has been 7 days! He is starting to lose colour and i am quite worried, am i feeding him the wrong food or is the water too cold for him. I have been feeding him Hikari Betta Bio-gold pellets and he won't eat them. The aquarium i bought the fish from suggested changing the water, this also did not work, he has stoned and plastic plants in his bowl. Am i doing something wrong?

Cheers,
Jenna

Answer
Jenna,


  Unfortunately you are doing a few things wrong. First off remove him from the bowl and put him in a tank no less than 2.5 gallons. Betta bowls are not acceptable housing for a Betta. I know that pet stores sell them but they are too small. Secondly are you using a water conditioner? If not you need to start and if you are make sure it removes ammonia, chlorine, nitrates, nitrites and other chemicals. Thirdly, Betta's are tropical fish and therefore need warm water. You need to buy a heater and set it to 82 degrees. Your Betta is lethargic due to the cold water. I would also feed him flakes, frozen and freeze dries blood worms and brine shrimp. Once you put him in a larger tank, and have a heater set at 82 degrees, you will see your Betta a lot more active. Also, 25% water changes every week will help as well.