# Food Keeps Sinking, & Rotting on Bottom



## scripto (Jul 15, 2013)

Whenever I feed our Betta several of the pellets sink, faster then he even has the ability to acknowledge. Those end up rotting away, and causing the tank to become moldy, etc. 

Is there any suggestions, or recommendations to prevent this problem from happening so frequently?


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## givemethatfish (Feb 10, 2014)

Get a turkey baster or a long plastic pipette and just suck the pellets back up when you're done feeding him. I've also found if you get your finger wet, pick up a pellet with your finger, and then very gently just touch it to the surface of the water, it's less likely to sink.


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## hgual22 (Jul 18, 2014)

Feed one pellet at a time.


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## scripto (Jul 15, 2013)

How many total pellets per feeding is recommended? How many times per day?


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## givemethatfish (Feb 10, 2014)

That's someone up for debate. There seem to be 2 schools of thought on here.

1 - feed them 3-4 pellets once a day
2 - feed them until the tummy looks rounded

I follow school #2. My bettas get between 8-15 pellets once per day and have gotten this amount for the better part of a year. All healthy guys, nobody is overweight or has trouble with bloating/constipation. I feed them until either they lose interest or I can see the stomach rounding out. I do also alternate their diet with live/frozen foods, but most of them mainly get pellets.


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## artemis35 (Jul 11, 2014)

I agree with feeding one pellet at a time until he either loses interest or looks rounded.


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

I feed pellets one at a time to reduce waste. My guys get meals 2 times (and occasionally 3 times when I'm home) per day, and I give them 2-3 pellets per feeding or enough that their stomach looks slightly rounded. Pellet size is also a big variable here. Mine are eating OmegaOne or NutriDiet Betta, which both have an average pellet size. I also feed a comparable amount of frozen food (daphnia, brine shrimp, bloodworms, etc.) in place of one meal of pellets fairly often (3 or more times per week). 

Also, like has already been said, I'd recommend a turkey baster to remove uneaten pellets directly after feeding.


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## MikeG14 (May 31, 2014)

What kind of pellets are you feeding him? Omega One pellets float as do New Life Spectrum. Occasionally you get a dud but most of them float for a few minutes. 

One at a time is the way to go, it'll cut down on waste.


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## SabastiansMom (Jul 25, 2014)

I always feed Nick Omega One and he gets 3-4 in the a.m and p.m. meals. One at a time so that I make sure he gets them and they don't go to waste.


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

scripto said:


> How many total pellets per feeding is recommended? How many times per day?


Everyone does this different, and I've found my current 3 betta boys take different quantities, though I feed them all 2xs a day. My plakat (who i think has a little of the king/giant betta gene) is very active and has the largest tank of the bunch, he gets 5-6 pellets, Alastor and Magnus are slightly smaller bodied deltas in smaller tanks but I notice Magnus gets a plump belly going quicker than Alastor (I think he tried to eat plants in his tank =,=), so Alastor gets 4 and Magnus gets 2. Same sort of ratio for frozen or live food feedings and I fast them for the next meal after a meat to ensure there's no constipation issues. But that's just my way. I train my bettas to a certain spot in the tank for feeding so they know where to look for food, and feed one pellet at a time. If a pellet manages to go to the bottom well all my tanks are planted and have snails so they'll eat the leftovers, but its rare that one goes down.


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