Pairing an Assortment of Fish

[Hugh Mann]

Sometime in the next six months I plan on upgrading from a 55 gallon to a 125/150/180 depending on what I can find for what price.

I'm currently working on a stock list for that upgrade, and I would like to pair as many fish in that list as possible. I know it depends on the particular species, but am wondering if anyone has any input on the following species.

Marine Betta, my favourite fish and would love to have two, but I hear they are very difficult to pair.

Flame Hawkfish, love this little guy and it's quirky behavior. I read that pairs can be done somewhat readily if both introduced as the same time. I would assume this could also be done with an established fish if it's moved to a different tank?

Greyfaced Moray Eel. I read they pair quite readily with most other moray if introduced at the same time. Same question as above, and anyone have experience pairing any moray?

Coral Beauty Angels, again, I hear they pair quite readily when introduced as the same time.

Undulate Triggerfish, have no experience with Triggers, but am told they can be paired.

Lyretail Anthias, I understand they can be kept singly, or in groups of 4 or more, with 1 male.

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Most of that seems doable, however i would be worried about the undulate triggerfish killing everything else

 

[mort]

I know undulate triggers can be sexed but I've never heard of anyone who tried to pair them. I'd be very very surprised if that went well because they are an extremely aggressive species who aren't community fish. If you said blue throats then you should be fine.

 

[Zionas]

I’d love a pair of Marine Bettas too. They are a must have fish for my tank and I simply can’t do without one. Heard their hardiness is legendary. You concern is precisely mine as well. The first thing I can say is, each of them WILL need a cave. It’s really hard to sex them but here’s what I plan to do (if I can find two healthy specimens), according to advice given by ThRoewer a European member on Reef Central who’s kept these fish for many years:

You need one big and one smaller Marine Betta. The smaller one should be below 4” or 10cm. The bigger one should be 25-50% bigger. At the LFS, put them in the same tank with a divider and see if they are acting aggressively towards each other. Do that for a week. If they’re not killing each other, remove the divider and observe them for a few more days. If they can coexist, then they have a good chance of getting along.

We like some of the same fish. Bob Fenner from Wet Web Media told me for Flame Hawks it’s best to get two juveniles, no more than 5cm, and introduce them at the same time. They may chase each other for a few days but if they don’t try to fight each other you should be fine. I’d love to give it a try as well.

Coral Beauties and dwarf angels, Mmmm quite a few on this site have kept them in pairs or harems but I’m not the most qualified to give a response.

Happy reefing and good luck with whatever you choose. I wish you lots of satisfaction in the hobby and I hope your fish get to live long lives.


P.S. Are the dimensions of your tank in centimeters? -sorry, you meant gallons.



Some additional comments:

-Anthias require multiple feedings every day.

-If you get an eel, you’ll absolutely need the tightest fitting cover for your tank. They like to escape like snakes. I have not kept an eel and I don’t plan on doing it any time soon, but I’d watch your smaller fish. Eels are predators that exert a heavy bioload due to their extremely carnivorous feeding habits, so it would be good to keep that in mind.

-Marine Bettas are fairly sedentary fish, they don’t use that much space for a fish of their size.

-Triggers will probably get too big for a tank below 150 gallons, if I’m not wrong.

-Get the best cover you can for your tank regardless. Treat 95% of fish as jumpers. Better safe than sorry.

 

[sp1187]

Some additional comments:

-Anthias require multiple feedings every day.

what's considered multiple times a day?
is that considered through out the day?

mine are fed multiple feedings from 7pm-11pm.

 

[Zionas]

Not sure, but some people have said they feed their Anthias 4-5 times a day.

 

[mort]

what's considered multiple times a day?
is that considered through out the day?

mine are fed multiple feedings from 7pm-11pm.

Generally multiple feeding a day is 3 plus but it depends on who you are talking to. In the wild anthias are near constantly picking plankton from the water column and have therefore evolved to not store food. This essentially means that chucking in some food a couple of times a day doesn't really work for most species and they fade away. Lyretails are kind of an exception as they seem to do ok with less feeding but they live a rather energetic lifestyle and have a high metabolism which means little and often is the best policy. Feeding 10 plus times a day, but small amounts, can also reduce some of the aggression shown in anthias and other planktavores like chromis.

Such feeding is easy if you can get the fish on pellets and have an auto feeder but very tricky if they only take frozen or live foods. That's the reason why many anthias are seen as expert only.

 

[Hugh Mann]

I know undulate triggers can be sexed but I've never heard of anyone who tried to pair them. I'd be very very surprised if that went well because they are an extremely aggressive species who aren't community fish. If you said blue throats then you should be fine.

Fair enough. Knew they were aggressive, but not that much. Blue throats it is, they're also a pretty neat fish. Know a guy who has a pair.

 

[Hugh Mann]

I’d love a pair of Marine Bettas too. They are a must have fish for my tank and I simply can’t do without one. Heard their hardiness is legendary. You concern is precisely mine as well. The first thing I can say is, each of them WILL need a cave. It’s really hard to sex them but here’s what I plan to do (if I can find two healthy specimens), according to advice given by ThRoewer a European member on Reef Central who’s kept these fish for many years:

You need one big and one smaller Marine Betta. The smaller one should be below 4” or 10cm. The bigger one should be 25-50% bigger. At the LFS, put them in the same tank with a divider and see if they are acting aggressively towards each other. Do that for a week. If they’re not killing each other, remove the divider and observe them for a few more days. If they can coexist, then they have a good chance of getting along.

We like some of the same fish. Bob Fenner from Wet Web Media told me for Flame Hawks it’s best to get two juveniles, no more than 5cm, and introduce them at the same time. They may chase each other for a few days but if they don’t try to fight each other you should be fine. I’d love to give it a try as well.

Coral Beauties and dwarf angels, Mmmm quite a few on this site have kept them in pairs or harems but I’m not the most qualified to give a response.

Happy reefing and good luck with whatever you choose. I wish you lots of satisfaction in the hobby and I hope your fish get to live long lives.


P.S. Are the dimensions of your tank in centimeters? -sorry, you meant gallons.



Some additional comments:

-Anthias require multiple feedings every day.

-If you get an eel, you’ll absolutely need the tightest fitting cover for your tank. They like to escape like snakes. I have not kept an eel and I don’t plan on doing it any time soon, but I’d watch your smaller fish. Eels are predators that exert a heavy bioload due to their extremely carnivorous feeding habits, so it would be good to keep that in mind.

-Marine Bettas are fairly sedentary fish, they don’t use that much space for a fish of their size.

-Triggers will probably get too big for a tank below 150 gallons, if I’m not wrong.

-Get the best cover you can for your tank regardless. Treat 95% of fish as jumpers. Better safe than sorry.

Marine Bettas are hardcore fish. Mine survived a velvet outbreak that killed 5 fish, including a Dwarf lion. Was barely effected. That's bit of a process to pair them, and even if I didn't already have one, my lfs would never go to those lengths, maybe if I spent 10 grand there they would.

Already have a flame Hawk too, lfs only let me buy one, since they only had 8. I bought it already over that 5cm, so might not be able to pair it too?

Yup, I've got a heavy glass lid. Never witnessed my eel try and get out, but every now and again I hear a thud from the Hawk hitting the lid. Buddy of mine has 5 fish carpet surf before he got a lid, so I got one asap.

I already feed my tank 3x per day, mostly frozen due to everything being carnivorous, so bumping it up to 4 or getting an auto feeder with flake wouldn't be a big issue. Most of my fish also eat flake too.

 

[Zionas]

Yeah. I’m really excited about getting a Marine Betta, for both the looks and its great durability.

As for Hawks, I don’t know. Maybe a smaller one would work? The larger one is likely already a male (if I’m or wrong). Not sure though so feel free to ask around.

My lid will be an acrylic lid.

I don’t know if Flame Hawks in a pair would feel more secure and less likely to want to jump, but I’d be glad if that were the case.

Everyone’s saying just how difficult it is to pair the Marine Betta. I guess I won’t risk it after all. If you still want to give it a go, I hope it can work out.

 

[Hugh Mann]

Yeah. I’m really excited about getting a Marine Betta, for both the looks and its great durability.

As for Hawks, I don’t know. Maybe a smaller one would work? The larger one is likely already a male (if I’m or wrong). Not sure though so feel free to ask around.

My lid will be an acrylic lid.

I don’t know if Flame Hawks in a pair would feel more secure and less likely to want to jump, but I’d be glad if that were the case.

Everyone’s saying just how difficult it is to pair the Marine Betta. I guess I won’t risk it after all. If you still want to give it a go, I hope it can work out.

Yeah, I probably won't bother either, but they're an awesome fish. Mine took 3 weeks to become comfortable enough to eat while I was watching, but now it's front and center begging for food when I'm in front of the tank. Wouldn't trade it for anything.

As for the Hawk, it's hard to tell, it's right on the cusp of that 5cm mark. Will definitely exceed that when I upgrade. But with this covid stuff, I doubt my lfs will be getting imports by then anyways.

 

[Zionas]

That is one stunner of a fish.

Another reason why I want to get the Betta is because I want a fish that I feel is personable, one that I can feed in a more intimate way. The begging behavior is really cute indeed.

Once your LFS imports Flame Hawks again, maybe you could try one around 3/4 the size of your current one or slightly over half the size? (Say an inch smaller?) I don’t know but maybe that’s how it works if you’ve already got an established one.

Covid is also affecting imports of fish in my part of the world. My LFS is only importing a few species of fish and corals.

Hope you enjoy your Comet for a long time to come. I assume they’ve got a pretty long life for a fish, perhaps the same if not more than clowns.