Marine Betta ...

mort · Apr 10, 2020

Zionas said:
By the way does anyone have experience keeping a pair of Marine Bettas? Did they fight and try to kill each other?

I've not had a pair but they can be kept together. They are pretty brutal when they pair and breed and it's been known that they could potentially kill each other or at least shred the fins. However they are very hardy fish, near bombproof tbh and such a cool fish that even if you only had one they are worth it. (I think @OrionN has paired them). I've had mine 7-8 years now and it's 8" and at a point where I don't want to risk pairing it. I do however have a wish to try and breed them one day so I'll likely start with young captive raised fish when it do.

As for shrimp, they are definitely on the menu. I kept mine with a couple of fully grown cleaners that were much larger than it and in two days they both disappeared, after a year-18 months together. In truth it wasn't unexpected as they used to annoy it and it did lunge for them occasionally. I was planning to move them but thought I had more time.
I've also kept them with a mandarin and they got on fine. Mandarins taste pretty yucky so even if it had a plan to eat one it would soon change its mind. They may be predatory but they are pretty easy to mix with most fish.

Rvs187 · Apr 10, 2020

Hugh Mann said:
Ah, that would be most unfortunate. Maybe a baby betta if you could get one would be too small to eat it and then get used to it as it grew? Can't say for sure though, I got mine it's current size. But unless you have a second tank to store the shrimp, odds are your kids will get a lesson in the brutality of nature eventually.

Other things I can say about these fish, is it can take a long time to get them to eat, it took mine three weeks to start eating frozen foods. Might have to use live shrimp to get it to eat.

They often come into stores with swim bladder problems due to improper capture. I've seen 3 in stores, and 2 couldn't get off the bottom of the tank.

They also don't like bright light, if you run intense lights to grow coral or anything you'll definitely want a dark cave for it to hide in.

Thanks for all the info , I might end up not getting one then , I’m growing corals , I might enjoy other fishes for now and grow my corals ... and down the line see about getting one , the kids are really happy and excited about everything on the tank , so for now might become one those on the wish list ... but what a beautiful fish , definitely going to have one some day ...

OrionN · Apr 10, 2020

There are people who know enough about Marine beta, who can tell the differences between the sex, I cannot. I get a pair by being good friend with LFS. I put two together until I get two that dis not get any injury after a few night together. If their find are all torn up I remove one, nursing him back to health with all healed fins and trade back to the LFS.
They are pretty bullet proof. Often (did not happened to me) many people report that their Marine Betta is the only fish survive a disease wipe out of their tank.

OrionN · Apr 10, 2020

They don't get violent during mating. Once pair, they never fight. If you put tow of opposite sex in there they never fight and will pair up. They are solitary fish otherwise, only keep in pair of single.

Zionas · Apr 10, 2020

Will my 4 foot 105 gallon tank system be enough for a pair? 48”x24”x22”. I am thinking of getting one big one smaller, put the smaller one in a cage or something for a few days.