My Betta won't eat pellets that he hasn't grabbed from the surface

I'm a total newbie... so sorry if this is a stupid question.

No idea why my Betta only eats the pellets when they're floating on the surface. The food is accumulating at the bottom of the tank which is not fully covered by rocks. He doesn';t even entertain of eating the food when it's at the bottom. Advice?

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Bingamon on March 27, 2012 at 11:47pm

Betta's are top feeders, if you notice his mouth is angled to grab food above him. This doesn't mean he wont eat off the ground. but to do so makes it really hard for him to do, he has to go almost vertical. Being a predator and natural food being bugs he wants to eat off the surface. If you have a lot of food at the bottom of the tank though you are over feeding. another thing about betta's is they have a slow metabolism. I feed mine once a day, but they are fine going 2-3 between feedings and even up to a week without needing food.

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Permalink Reply by Mr. Betta Tank Newbie on March 28, 2012 at 7:21am

Awesome info... thx. He's a real little guy so I was probably overdoing it with the pellets. I also have a small filter that shoots the pellets towards the bottom if they get near the flow of the water. So, I've been turning the filter off during feedings. Tiny's getting more pellets now it seems.

Thx again.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Jango on March 28, 2012 at 1:31am

Live Blackworms, live mosquito larvae, live glassworms, wingless fruit flies, anything alive. They'll never look back.... and they'll breed. Just give them lots of plants and floating logs.

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Permalink Reply by Mr. Betta Tank Newbie on March 28, 2012 at 7:22am

Thx. I'll add those to his diet.

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Permalink Reply by GSP on March 28, 2012 at 4:11pm

Yes, the only food that betta's will eat that aren't floating on the surface, are live moving foods that attract their attention. you want to sparingly feed floating pellets so that they are not sinking and dirtiying up the water.