A question about siamese fighting fish?

Question

I feed him, he just coughes it up?

- I feed him tropical fish flakes.
- It's a small bowl, in a small corner, with the water changed every two weeks, with tops ups about twice a week, conditioned. I only changed him yestersday, and he seemed quite stressed, so that may be it.
- My frienbds suggest getting pellets, but so far he seems fine with flakes.

Answer 1

That's not too unusual for a betta. They will very often do this with pellets or even large flakes.

MM

Answer 2

Tropical fish flakes aren't the best food for bettas. They don't have the amount of protein that bettas need. Try getting pellets (Hikari Bio-Gold is highly recommended; I use HBH Betta Bites which are also good) and some freeze dried blood worms because bettas love those. I don't suggest you continue with the flakes anymore, they're not great for bettas. Your betta will eat it if it's all he can get, but he won't be very happy. Try to feed your betta a variety of foods. They also like mosquito larvae, daphnia and brine shrimp. I don't really understand how you can say "so far he's fine with flakes" if he won't eat the stuff.

I don't think you're keeping your fish water clean enough. Bettas (or any fish, for that matter) should NOT be kept in small quarters; the ammonia builds up way too fast and can make your fish very sick. A minimum of 1 gallon is absolutely essential; however, if you are keeping him in 1 gallon of water, you will need to do full water changes every 3 or 4 days.

Answer 3

WOW....I would get sick reading about all the crap others write and they never even had a Betta before! Hi, I don't know what type of help I would be, but we own 13 Betta's for over two years now. Not to say some of ours never died, but that is life. So first off they are a labyrinth fish...they take air bubble from the top of the tank and sink...the breath from the bubble and release it through their gills and repeat! Easy! So room at the top is important for them. Small bowl are fine (we even use vase's) Guess what? You don't need to add anything to their water...because they don't breath through their gills. You just have to keep the temp close to the same. We clean ours by using a cup, netting out the fish, placing it into the cup of water. Then clean the bowl with tap water using your hand to swish around the glass, shells, gravel or whatever to remove the fish waste...refill the bowl with lukewarm tap water...you are done. We do water changes about once a week to even three weeks. Our Betta's eat the pellets, but I am sure you can buy it in flake form too. They will spit it out at times...re-eat it...spit it...and eat it. Why...who knows...but Betta's can live up to nine years if you do not over feed them. A flake a day would be enough.

Answer 4

Bettas do that ALL of the time. Betta fish are hardy, easy going fish but they can be very picky eaters. Usually bettas will spit out generic brand betta pellets and flakes. I would try feeding him either Hikari Betta Pellets or Freeze-dried bloodworms. Sometimes if there is a "not so tasty" bloodworm in the bunch...he'll spit that out too. It's very very rare for bettas to spit out the Hikari...plus it's a clean food too.

Answer 5

in that size tank it's a possibility BUT it would be a BIG risk. 1. how powerful is your filter? if there's a hefty current blowing through a betta would struggle to swim and find his dinner in a tank that large. 2. barbs, angelfish and gouramis do not make good betta tank mates. the tiger barbs are notorious fin nippers, the angelfish can be nippy as well especially if it's a breeding pair, and gouramis come from the same family as bettas and will come to blows, the gourami is bigger and usually wins. my recent rescue was in a tank with paradise fish (a type of gourami) he had no fins left. none. he's happy in a tank alone now to regrow.

Answer 6

There are several things to check.

First, are you properly maintaining his living space? If you haven't been changing water regularly, begin doing that. I don't know what his enclosure looks like, but typically 25% a week is enough.

Second, could something be stressing him out? Major temperature fluctuations, poor tank placement (in too populated an area, perhaps), and the like could be stressing him out and costing him his appetite. Fish do not like stress.

Third, could he just not be hungry? This is impossible to diagnose, but sometimes fish just stop eating for a little while. They can live happily without food for weeks before it becomes a major problem. If you are taking good care of the tank, and removing any source of stress, things will work themselves out.

Answer 7

You can't feed a betta regular tropical fish flakes. You need to feed them regular betta food.

~ZTM

Answer 8

My Betta did this aswell. He didnt seem to eat any of the food i got him. But i got an eel who has bloodworms, he eats those, go to any pet store and you can get him betta food especially designed for bettas, which are flakes with shrimp in it. he eats those and is doing fine now. just a suggestion

Answer 9

Are you giving him flakes or pellets? I've noticed that some bettas prefer the flakes opposed to the pellets.

Answer 10

Maybe he's just not hungry (enuf) yet.

Maybe he's not used to the food you are feeding him, ask the pet shop owner where you got him from, what he have been feeding it with.

Maybe he's geeting sick...Oh oh.. But this is the worst Maybe loh.

Normally, they will need some times to adjust to changes in types of food. Just need to starve them a while, just a few days, then they will eat almost anything you give them.

Good Luck.