My beta fish isn't eating.?

Question

I feed it twice a day but it waits till the next day to eat the food.

Answer 1

What you're feeding may be too large, and the fish has to wait for it to soften so it can nibble at the edges (although it should be able to start this sooner). You may also be feeding him/her too much, or the temperature may not be in a good range for your fish. Their water temperature should be between 76-86o, too high or too low, they become lethargic and stop eating as well. Betta pellets are made to the relative size they need, but I've seen some pellets that take them a while to eat. S/he should be getting 3-5 pellets twice a day, with an occassional meal replaced with something like frozen bloodworms or daphnia, or live mosquito larvae cloolected from a clean water source (I have some in buckets I use to collect rainwater). The more varied the diet, the better it can be for them nutritionally.

Are you keeping your fish in a tank with a filter or a bowl? Not only will you have more trouble controlling the temperature in a bowl, but the water builds up toxic ammonia and nitrite quicker. In a bowl without a filter, you should change the water completely every 2-3 days, compared to 25% of the water once a week. Ammonia poisoning can also lead to lethargy and loss of appetite.

Try doing a water change (in case there's ammonia or nitrite built up), fasting your fish for a day, giving it the proper temperature, and then try feeding. Watch him eat, and remove any food that's not eaten in 2-3 minutes. You can give him/her the amount that was eaten up to twice a day.

Answer 2

Is your fish male? One of the colorful ones with the large tails? If so, he may be in breeding mode and may eat less. If he is blowing bubbles constantly, he is attempting to build a nest to attract a female and is not very interested in eating.

Also, twice a day is too often to feed this fish anyway. If your fish is in a bowl, and not a tank with a filter, his water is very dirty. So, clean it and feed him once a day.

Answer 3

Usually animals stop eating because they're sick. U may want to consult the pet shop from which U got it.