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that's Betta Flake-Eating Disorder.
he wouldn't touch anything else. nada.
i gave him worms. he wouldn't touch them. i tried starving him for worms by not giving him anything else. he started losing color and the fins got frail. also, the tetras looked at me funny, so after 4 days i gave up and got back to the flakes he's so fond of (the ones for the tetras).
is there any other thing for me to do, or should i accept his excentricity?
otherwise, he's healthy and active. too active, as a matter of fact. he wants a pet every time i stick my hand in the tank, and he LOVES strong current. he also likes lying on the side between the leaves from time to time. whacky fish.

I don't see a problem with him liking flake food. It's supposed to be nutritionally balanced isn't it?

it shouldn't be a big problem, plenty of tropical fish have survived years on flakes alone, and its not a bad thing for him to love

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

so my betta is industrivour (eater of industrial foods), but that's fine. it is kind of convenient for me too.
may he has a good and long life with the flakes!
beautiful fish. i'll have pictures taken.

My Betta wont stop eating flakes, and he's not dead. Flakes are not bad for a fish at all. They may not have as much nutrition but is still god for them.

EDIT: Good

hehe..
All Hail the God Flakes! :%)
A lot of my bettas like flakes. A lot of them would eat just about anything that went into their tank including fleas though I suppose.

My Betta wont stop eating flakes, and he's not dead.

Hehe... I would like to see a fish that was dead and still eating!

Flakes aren't bad for most fish. Bettas seem to do fine with them. The only fish I can think of that would have health problems only eating packaged foods is a puffer, because their teeth would jsut grow and grow... but I don't think that's a common problem. Bettas, no big deal. If that's all he'll eat don't force him to eat 'better' food because he probably won't even show colors as good as what he's got now.

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Frankly, I have the opposite problem with some of my male Bettas --- they seem to hold off for the brine shrimp or blood worms!!! Kind of sniffing any flake or pellet food --- but not eating... Now this concerns me, because I've always had the impression that Bettas needed a certain amount of plant food to prevent serious illness.... I finally purchased some Spirulina Enriched Brine Shrimp --- hoping this will work....
I'm just thankful that all of my ladies and most of the males aren't such picky eaters!

To thine own self be true...