beta fish wont eat

Question
my beta fish won't eat and I just recently got him,he's afraid of his food,when I drop the flakes in his bowl he swims down to the bottom,I was wondering if you have any advice or suggestions of what kind of food I should feed him?

Answer
Hi Alonso,

Bowls are HUGE no-nos.  They are cruel and will cause your fish to continue to get sick repeatedly until finally he dies.  They are not safe to house any aquaria and I don't know why pet stores are still allowed to sell these.  It's the equivilent of you living your whole life in a 2 by 2 closet.  Sure, you could but what kind of quality of life would you have?  Pet stores are ill-informed and unfortunately are out for your money, and not the well being of your new pet.

Nothing should be housed in anything less than a 5 gallon filtered, heated tank.  Nothing.  Despite myth, bettas do NOT like small spaces and they are indeed tropical fish and require a heater.  The biggest mistake betta keepers make is not filtering the tank and not heating it.  Bettas, when properly cared for, can live 5-7 years and will be happy and healthy in those years with the proper set up.

Walmart has a 5 gallon hex tank with a built in biowheel filter for $29.  All that is extra is the heater and for a tank that small they are a few bucks.  They need a consistent, contstant temp of 78-80 F.  Most people say, well, it is that in the kitchen or where I have him.  Have you ever looked at the tank at night when the temp naturally plummets?  This would not be naturally occuring in his native habitat and will cause stress.  

In less than a 5 gallon tank the bioload cannot be supported, the waste backs up (the tank can look clear and test fatally toxic for ammonia and nitrites which should always be flat 0) and this is what causes stress, disease, and finally death.

It is probably the stress of the cold, dirty bowl and the ammonia build up that is not making the betta hungry.  I would definitely get him in the proper environment asap before he wastes completely away.  You will need to change 50% of your bowl water daily until you upgrade to keep him from dying of ammonia poisoning.  I would not do this longer than a few days since larger repeated water changes also causes stress.

Once you get him in the right environment you can vary his diet: brine shrimp, bloodworms, pellets and high quality flakes.

Good luck : ) April M.