Marine Betta

becks · Mar 19, 2017

These looking stunning in real life and photos do them no justice and as a result I'm thinking about buying one for my tank,

Does anyone have experience with them and will my current stock be ok? The specimen I saw is 2.5"
My current stock is;

Large fire shrimp
X2 clowns
Coral beauty
Peacock wrasse
Yellow watchman goby

sc50964 · Mar 19, 2017

I think it will eat your shrimp. Other than that, you are fine.

eatbreakfast · Mar 19, 2017

If the fire shrimp is large than it will be safe with a 2.5" marine betta. I have 2 marine bettas with 3 cleaner shrimp, 2 fire/bloods, and a coral banded. The bettas ate peppermint shrimp, not the larger shrimps.

Bao · Mar 19, 2017

They are very beautiful fish but just remember it get very tiring to keep this fish and feed it after awhile. You either hand feed it or you have to pour in more foods while shutting down the flow to allow it to eat. For a predator, it is quite slow at catching frozen food that we feed. Also, it requires some caves with very slow water flow to stay in to be happy. My Betta is a giant about 7-8 inches long. The previous owner didn't want to deal with it anymore so he gave me the fish. It is simply a stunning fish but does have some special requirements. Make sure you can deal with it before getting it.

TTTony · Mar 19, 2017

I have now over 12 years old , it's been kept in 4 different tanks, I'm not OCD with my current reef and just drop in a few frozen cubes and the marine beta inhales one, frozen, retreats to its cave , then pops out after it swallows it. I was nervous adding a few small clowns about 3/4 to 1 1/4" but not interested, also not a shrimp eater.

eatbreakfast · Mar 19, 2017

Bao said:
They are very beautiful fish but just remember it get very tiring to keep this fish and feed it after awhile. You either hand feed it or you have to pour in more foods while shutting down the flow to allow it to eat. For a predator, it is quite slow at catching frozen food that we feed. Also, it requires some caves with very slow water flow to stay in to be happy. My Betta is a giant about 7-8 inches long. The previous owner didn't want to deal with it anymore so he gave me the fish. It is simply a stunning fish but does have some special requirements. Make sure you can deal with it before getting it.

I haven't had that issue with bettas. While they are certainly deliberate feeders, they manage to get what they need. Plus, there are captive bred ones that eat pretty readily.

laga77 · Mar 19, 2017

I have a pair in a 120G reef. Sometimes they swim around and other times they go a month without showing themselves. They definitely need caves to hide in and seem to eat enough on their own despite being slow. They really don't need a lot because they are not that active. Their names are Dot and Spot.

mort · Mar 19, 2017

Bao said:
They are very beautiful fish but just remember it get very tiring to keep this fish and feed it after awhile. You either hand feed it or you have to pour in more foods while shutting down the flow to allow it to eat. For a predator, it is quite slow at catching frozen food that we feed. Also, it requires some caves with very slow water flow to stay in to be happy. My Betta is a giant about 7-8 inches long. The previous owner didn't want to deal with it anymore so he gave me the fish. It is simply a stunning fish but does have some special requirements. Make sure you can deal with it before getting it.

That's not been my experience, if anything I think it's one of the easiest fish I have ever had to keep. Mine is around 6-7" and happily sucks down 2-3" krill or bits of prawn as thick as your finger. All I do is defrost the food and hold it in the water with my fingers and it comes up and eats it. I feed 3 times a week. I did train it before it went in the display and it was out and bold at the wholesalers which I think is important. If they are timid to begin with they are often timid in the tank.
I have very high flow and it doesn't have a problem. It actually holds itself with fins flared out, in front of the powerhead occasionally. It might help that my sps have taken over the top half of my tank so the lower levels are very dark with overhangs and caves. I also don't have any other large fish with it so it doesn't get intimidated. The only negative was it ate my cleaner shrimps that it had been with for over a year. They were fully grown and getting quite old before it ate them both in a week. There were signs before as it would lung at them when they annoyed it but I can't get a net down to the bottom of my tank to catch anything so nature took its own course.

I'd personally recommend a betta to anyone.

becks · Mar 19, 2017

I forgot to list my scooter Blenny, will she be ok? I'm very attachted to my scooter Blenny.

Kmsutows · Mar 19, 2017

Most model citizen in my tank! I've had him probably 8 years and never harmed a thing and have always had shrimp. He'll eat anything including large pellets. He's always visible and prefers lots of over hangs

eatbreakfast · Mar 19, 2017

becks said:
I forgot to list my scooter Blenny, will she be ok? I'm very attachted to my scooter Blenny.

Perfectly fine with a scooter blenny.

becks · Mar 19, 2017

Great I'll pick him up

wkscott · Mar 19, 2017

becks said:
These looking stunning in real life and photos do them no justice and as a result I'm thinking about buying one for my tank,

Does anyone have experience with them and will my current stock be ok? The specimen I saw is 2.5"
My current stock is;

Large fire shrimp
X2 clowns
Coral beauty
Peacock wrasse
Yellow watchman goby

These are beautiful fish. However, they can live many years and can get to around 8 inches. How large is your tank?

becks · Mar 20, 2017

I recently downsized to a reefer 250, from what I read it would be ok as they range between 6-8" and are not very active.

mort · Mar 20, 2017

becks said:
I forgot to list my scooter Blenny, will she be ok? I'm very attachted to my scooter Blenny.

I have a small female mandarin with mine and they get on fine. I have seen the occasional hunt where the betta follows the mandarin looking ready to lunge until it figures out what it is and sulks off. It's probably because the mandarin flushes out tasty things from time to time.

revhtree · Mar 20, 2017

Don't see much on these beautiful fish.

Dancingmad · Mar 20, 2017

Ive had my marine betta for over 2 years now. Hes buds with my large fire shrimp. He eats everything - krill, frozen mysis/brine, pellets and even flakes! This weekend I dropped in one of those flat algae waffers for my conchs...he caught it on the way down and was carrying it around the tank like a puppy with a frisbee lol. Took it into his lair and ate it. Awesome fish!

becks · Mar 24, 2017

Does anyone have any feeding tips? So far I've tried frozen mysis, frozen brine shrimp, small bits of frozen clams and I added some live brine shrimp and I don't think he ate them either, he was eating at the lfs. I'm hoping it's just being in a new tank as my scooter blenny done the same and did not eat for three days and just sat in one spot before she started to eat and hunt even with live pods swimming past.

wkscott · Mar 24, 2017

becks said:
Does anyone have any feeding tips? So far I've tried frozen mysis, frozen brine shrimp, small bits of frozen clams and I added some live brine shrimp and I don't think he ate them either, he was eating at the lfs. I'm hoping it's just being in a new tank as my scooter blenny done the same and did not eat for three days and just sat in one spot before she started to eat and hunt even with live pods swimming past.

Just what was he eating at the LFS? Have you tried that?