Marine Bettas: Show Me Yours!

[Waters]

Those with Bettas, do you have then in a SPS tank? I am wondering how they would handle higher flow, if at all.

 

[mort]

Those with Bettas, do you have then in a SPS tank? I am wondering how they would handle higher flow, if at all.

Mine doesn't care about high flow at all. You would think being mostly fins that they would find it hard to handle but I often see mine flare his fins right in front of my biggest powerhead and it doesn't move at all because they are really good swimmers.

 

[Hugh Mann]

Currently I'm not running any powerheads, but have an aquaclear 110 and 70 running in a 55gal. It's got a good bit of current. Doesn't seem to bother it much. It's a slow eater though, I have to set the flow to minimum to feed, otherwise the food blows around too much.

 

[Waters]

Hmmm.....interesting. I always assumed they preferred slower moving waters like Lions.....which is the only reason I have stayed away from them. Might have to give them another look for my final fish

 

[mort]

They don't want to be constantly blasted by flow but they can cope with it. If you have plenty of caves then they will find somewhere that suits them.

I used to turn my powerhead off to feed mine because I wanted to train it to come out for food. I haven't bothered to do that for years and as they are quite capable of sniping any food that blows past it. It is nice to sometimes turn off the flow and hand feed it though.

 

[ThRoewer]

Similar species, plesiops corallicola.

I got a spawning pair of those. Both Biota captive bred. Generally, I just see them during feedings and then just as a blurry flash shooting out to grab the food and shooting back into hiding. They get more active at night...

 

[ThRoewer]

Those with Bettas, do you have then in a SPS tank? I am wondering how they would handle higher flow, if at all.

They handle high flow quite well.
Have a look at the videos I posted in my Marine Betta thread in the Fish Breeding Forum: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/marine-betta.716039/

 

[Han]

I got a spawning pair of those. Both Biota captive bred. Generally, I just see them during feedings and then just as a blurry flash shooting out to grab the food and shooting back into hiding. They get more active at night...

That’s awesome, I have never seen them available anywhere before and had no idea they’ve been captive bred. How long have you had them?

 

[ThRoewer]

That’s awesome, I have never seen them available anywhere before and had no idea they’ve been captive bred. How long have you had them?

I got them on 2017-03-17. Bought them off Diver's Den. Back then nobody seem to want them so I was able to get 2 at once:

For a while, I only saw one and thought he may have killed the other - until I had to break down the tank for a move and discovered that the other one was still around. In their new tank, I found a few nests of them with the male guarding them. Interestingly they stick their eggs to the substrate like damselfish or dottybacks and don't produce "egg-balls" like Assessor or Calloplesiops. That was kind of surprising.

 

[Waters]

They handle high flow quite well.
Have a look at the videos I posted in my Marine Betta thread in the Fish Breeding Forum: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/marine-betta.716039/

Very cool! Thanks for posting Glad to see they can handle reef tank flow.

 

[Zionas]

Looking forward to mine. Must have fish for me.

That Coralfish looks sick. I’ve never seen one for sale though.

 

[ThRoewer]

Some of the larger Marine Betta relatives from Southern Australia:

Paraplesiops bleekeri (Eastern Blue Devil Fish)

Paraplesiops meleagris (Western Blue Devil Fish)

Juveniles:

I have seen these guys in person at DeJong Marinelife when they were still available. Very impressive fish but way too large for a normal home aquarium. And they are temperate water fish, so nothing for a tropical tank.

 

[ThRoewer]

Back in Germany, I had a Plesiops coeruleolineatus. One of the interesting fish I found at DeJong. Unfortunately, they only had one and I was never able to find a second.

My single guy looked like these:

If you keep more than one you might see males in mating colors:

 

[Han]

It’s too bad most of those fish aren’t collected regularly and can be so expensive when they’re available, I know I would like to keep them even if it meant setting up a dedicated species tank.

 

[ThRoewer]

It’s too bad most of those fish aren’t collected regularly and can be so expensive when they’re available, I know I would like to keep them even if it meant setting up a dedicated species tank.

The small Plesiops are usually dirt cheap because very few people want them. In their ranges, they are abundant and easy to find in relatively shallow waters and tide pools. They are rarely collected because there is little demand. They are fish for people who like more cryptic species, fish you know to be in the tank but which you only see once in a week or even a month maybe... And they will clear your tank of all shrimp that fit their mouth!

The Paraplesiops have been put under strict protection by Australia and collecting or even having them is illegal. There was also never a big market for them. Most of the ones DeJong had were destined for public aquaria.

 

[ghrorick]

Here is mine in my 120. Had him for over 6 years

 

[ghrorick]

Better pic.

 

[JAMreef]

Similar species, plesiops corallicola.

That fishes eyes make it look very intelligent. Like a wise old man!

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[Cra-z wolf]

Hard to get pics pc mine, cave dweller until the lights go out. Did manage a video a long while ago. When he was alone in a smaller tank.