Beta fish refusing to eat

My mother's beta fish has apparently refused food for two weeks, and she thinks it is slowly dying. She puts food in the tank twice daily. I am skeptical, given that it appears over-fed (its stomach is distended and food-pellet colored), and I would guess that either it is eating when she isn't looking or it is simply not hungry because of how much it has eaten, but knowing very little about beta fish, I figured I would ask. Perhaps it has an infection in the discolored, bloated area? It has always eaten well before this.

Hello there, feeding a beta twice a day is way to much. Also tempeture also plays a large part. If the water temps are below 78degrees the fish will slow or stop eating all together and could die. Betas are warm water fish and air breathers and should be kept at 78-80 degrees lower temps will slow their metabolism and while some betas will tolerate lower temp others will not. Try raising temps if they are low and only feed two to three times a week about 5 pellets at a feeding. Hope that helps.

My guess would be bloating/constipation but it's hard to tell without a picture. That's too much food for it. I don't keep bettas right now but when I did I'd feed them four pellets every second night and one day of the week would give them a little piece of pea which helps them avoid constipation. They're really piggish fish but remember that their stomach is roughly the size of their eye. Very easy to over feed. Also I find when they get a bit older they tend to get incredibly lazy. When they're younger and blowing bubble nests all day it's not so bad but I don't expect their general laziness helps their metabolism any :laugh:.

Blue is on the money with temps for sure. Considering that most people keep bettas in fish bowls a lot of people don't provide heaters for them. In such a small environment water temps can fluctuate quickly with the room. I usually suggest keeping them in a 1-2g tank with one of those really small watt heaters. Can even add a little sponge filter with very, very little flow. They seem to do well when kept like this.

Thanks, both of you! I had a feeling overfeeding could be an issue, but temps hadn't occurred to me. Luckily it began eating again, so I don't think temps were the problem after all, probably just overfeeding.

i just bought some and had them imported from Thailand. The Thailand breeder told me two pellets a day with one day a week with no food. Keep at 78-80 degrees and keep water clean every 5-7 days.

I agree with the higher water temperature and feeding it very small pieces of thawed frozen peas about a quarter size of its eye. Do not use canned or fresh peas since they may have pesticides on them. Also if it's not eating because of an infection or swim bladder you can add plain unscented, non-dyed Epsom salt but if you do only use 1 teaspoon to every gallon of water and make sure it's completely dissolved. The salt may sound strange but trust me it works wonders on sick bettas. Also Adding a live plant in with them will never hurt.

I've bought bettas that looked like they wouldn't last the night and after two days of treatment they were so active you wouldn't have ever known that it was sick! I hope this works for you and good luck with your fish.