My male betta Ginseng will not eat his food from the surface of the water the way normal bettas do. He waits till it sinks slighlty. However this creates a problem as he missed some of the pellets as they float down and they ended up in the glass marbles fouling up the tank. Do any of you have the same problem and how did you solve it?

I wondr what kind of pellet you are feeding him, and how much?
Certain brands are rather large and some bettas, even fully grown ones, can't fit them in their mouths.

I give him only hbh betta bites. That is the only thing I can get him to eat. I tried hikori betta gold, freeze dried blood worms, omega one betta buffet flakes and he won't eat anything but the hbh betta bites which much to my dismay sink all the time. I have only had him for a about for about 3 weeks . any Ideas?

I don't know if this is normal for a betta. I have never had one do this before. They always ate from the surface of the water.

I am thinking I am going to switch him to Hikori betta bio gold that floats. Presently all I can get him to eat is the hbh which sinks which I do not care for. Do any of you have other suggestions for food? thanks

I am harsh. I doubt an adult betta is going to starve himself to death, so if I want a fish to eat something, I will feed that and only that.
They have five minutes to eat their food, and it is gone.
If they don't eat it I know they are getting sick, (time to pull it from the rack, and place where I can keep a close eye).
Now new fish are different. They are not on a rack, they are right by the computer where I can keep a close eye on them. That way I can see what they are eating fastest. But I do the same with them, you eat what you are fed, or you don't eat Again, they have the 5 minute limit, otherwise they lose it. I do this everytime I feed them. And they soon know, they better eat or it is going to be gone.
Sooner or later (within a week, usually) they are eating.
If they are NOT eating within a week, and I know that they are healthy, I will offer them something they are used to eating, and the next day, I will again, offer the food they were refusing. This time, every 3 days I will offer the prefered food, and the rest of the time, the hated food.
Usually they will get hungry, and eat the food they turned their nose up at.
The only HBH I ever bought, was over large and sunk like a rock, super soft I think it was, Anyway, it is now snail food.

I know I am going to have to stop codiling him. He is goin to have to learn to eat off the surfrace of the water or not eat at all. I think I am returining the hbh betta bites ( got them at petco and they are good about taking back food that does not work out) and getting him some hikori betta bio gold that floats. I have to change his water every 3 days with the hbh cause it goes to the bottom of the vase and makes a mess. I figure with the floating food , I will put it in there and like you said he gets 5 minutes and if he does not eat it I am gonna net it out of there. hopefully he will start learning to eat off the surface. The first week I had him he would not eat at all. Stuborn picky little dude he is. Someone on here mentioned baby chiclid floating bites. Are they any good? thanks Bella

I have heard the same thing and actually just bought hikari baby chilid pellets.
It looks about the same color as the betta bio gold, and it is a comparable size, just a little larger.
All the fish ate it, except the little guys that don't even eat regular fish food.
I suppose I can drop some in the chiopper, and give it a quick buzz, and knock some size off of it, but they are taking it just the way it is, and it is a better deal than betta bio gold. I paid 4 some odd for food in the amount that would cost me at least 10 bucks more.
But here is the thing, if you aren't feeding fish in any large number, you may as well get the betta food. You really want to fish feeding up the ood you get your fish within 6 months.
I would think that the quality degrades over time.
I actually told my mom to keep her fishes food in the fridge.

Thanks Bella. I only have one betta right now. I am hoping to get a purple female one of these days. I don't have a lot of them like some of you all do. I may check that food out on petsmarts site. Did you know that some of the petsmart stuff is actually cheaper online. And if you print the online page with product mentioned , the petsmart banner accross the top, and the price listed and take it with you to the store , the store will match the online price. I have done this several times. I got my Aquarium pharamceuticals freshwater master test kit for $14 doing this. It would normally cost $28 in the store. I was thinking you could probably freeze large quantities of the food or put it in the fridge like you said.

Yeah I did know that, and that was a good thing to post it so that those who didn't could know.
I have purple females, lolol.
OK, they are copper purple, but they do look purple, that bunch of black coppers I got, the light hits them, and WOW!!!
Plus they are community tank aclimated, which means I get to have them all in one tank, lol.
OK, there was ONE fight, and would you know it, the female that I am keeping is the one that got chewed... oh well.. fins grow back...
Sure you aren't interested in one or three???
HM bred bettas at pet store prices, lolol.

I just knew you would have purple females, since you love the color purple like I do. I would love one of your females. that is all I probably have room for. I bet Ginseng would love to gaze at a female in a container next to him. :OO Yeah I am wanting a female. I even have a name picked out for her. Phoebe.

Well PM or email me and we'll talk

thanks Bella. I finally got Ginseng eating from the surface. I got some Hikori betta bio gold and he caught on. Now I should only have to change his water every week instead . When I went back to petco to take the hbh food ( the sinking kind) back for a refund. I gander over in the betta section and believe it or not they had some pretty good looking bettas. I ended up getting a red female. I believe she is either a wild round tail or a plakat. She is crimson red. I really like her. Thanks for the offer of one your girls. I have her in a 1/2 gallon glass vase that sits on the nightstand next to my bed , cause we girls got to stick together. Ginseng is in the front room on the nightstand between my two wicker chairs. I spend time sitting next to him when I am eating. She is very active. She even ate that night with no problem.

Well how much water does his vase hold?
Unless he has minimum 1 gallon, you should changemore often.
The general rule of thumb is for ME (we all do things differently) 1/2 gallon and beanies, every other day. 3/4 gallon 2xs week, 1 and 2 gallons once a week, larger than that, the tank should be cycled.

he is in a 1 gallon vase. Seems here lately he will eat off the surface but only if I sit there and watch him. If I go to the other room to feed Phoebe , he stops eating. picky little dude that he is

Oh, so you are good.
Picky spoiled lil dude.

yup got that right

my moms in love with my betta now that she looked after him for a week. lol she goes up to him and talks to him and evey thing:) She was amazed by his personality.

My betta is also very picky. lol

Sounds like yur bettas worce than myn.

that is cute what your mom does. That is nice of her to look after him. Yup my boy is pretty spoiled. Though I do go into the bedroom and spend more time sitting on my bed which is next to my females container. I talk to both of my fish all the time. I always telll Phoebe she is "a pretty girl" and believe it nor I think she knows what I am saying to her cause she moves her pectoral fins faster in a fluter almost as if she knows what I am talking about. Ginseng will swim over to where I am sitting next to him and stare at me. yup they do have personalities. Bettas are very attentive to their owners believe it or not.

I believe it:) I cant wate to get another Betta:)

I know they are so neat. Once you get one you get bitten by the betta bug and can't quit

Ok, so this is an old topic. But I thought to post for preservation anyways. I have had a number of bettas that think they are cory catfish and eat from the bottoms. They were in a tank with cories, so the confusion maybe due to that. Silly fishes!

:OO

Poor things were confuzzled.

Sounds like me.

Oh, I am always confuzzled.

Betta Coryadoras.

LMAO!!
:bonk

Bettadoras!!