Marine Betta ...

[Rvs187]

I’m thinking of getting one ... right now I have
1 clown fish (killed my other one )
1 royal gramma
1 yellow watchmen goby
2 fire fish
1 fairy wrasse

will the marine betta get along with my fishes and will get along with a dragonet mandarin.... waiting for my tank to get older to get one ... my favorite fish

 

[ndrwater]

How big is the tank? Marine Betas aren't a small fish.

 

[Hugh Mann]

I've got a mid sized one, maybe 6 inches nose to tail. It gets along pretty well with my other fish, some of which are much smaller than it. Only aggression I've seen is towards the cleaner wrasse when it gets a bit too enthusiastic about cleaning. It's even left alone my hermits and snails, though shrimp are definitely food.

 

[Rvs187]

I've got a mid sized one, maybe 6 inches nose to tail. It gets along pretty well with my other fish, some of which are much smaller than it. Only aggression I've seen is towards the cleaner wrasse when it gets a bit too enthusiastic about cleaning. It's even left alone my hermits and snails, though shrimp are definitely food.

Oh **** really I got a cleaner shrimp , and a fire shrimp ... but they are pretty big .... is the marine betta still going to pick on then ?

 

[mattzang]

a marine betta will definitely appreciate you having shrimp cocktail available for him

 

[Hugh Mann]

I don't know about a cleaner shrimp, I hear most predatory fish will recognize symbiotic species and leave them alone.
The fire will almost certainly be eaten at some point. Bettas have deceptively huge mouths, mine easily eats 1/2 chunks of shrimp.

Still, unless that fire cost a ton of money, or serves a very important function in your tank, I'd say it's worth the risk. Such a great fish.

 

[Rvs187]

I don't know about a cleaner shrimp, I hear most predatory fish will recognize symbiotic species and leave them alone.
The fire will almost certainly be eaten at some point. Bettas have deceptively huge mouths, mine easily eats 1/2 chunks of shrimp.

Still, unless that fire cost a ton of money, or serves a very important function in your tank, I'd say it's worth the risk. Such a great fish.

Yeah I definitely want the fish , the problem I have is I got 2 daughters and the love the tank also the help with everything and been a new tank they named every single animal on it ... and I know they would be heartbroken if (charizard) the fire shrimp , became a meal

 

[Zionas]

I agree, shrimp could become its food. Overall though everywhere I’ve seen the Marine Betta does not need a big tank size, lots of sites say 55 gallons but as long as you have at least a 75 gallon tank (better IMO) you will be fine. It’s not a very active fish.

BRW it is a must have fish for my setup.

 

[Hugh Mann]

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.

 

[Hugh Mann]

I agree, shrimp could become its food. Overall though everywhere I’ve seen the Marine Betta does not need a big tank size, lots of sites say 55 gallons but as long as you have at least a 75 gallon tank (better IMO) you will be fine. It’s not a very active fish.

BRW it is a must have fish for my setup.

Can confirm on the tank size. I have a 55 and mine usually just drifts lazily around the tank. Full grown would need a 75 most likely.

 

[Zionas]

Swim bladder issues? Sucks butt. Where are they usually collected from? Are they often collected using cyanide?

I really want one for my tank but this makes me concerned. Do they die easily and are they a fragile / easily stressed species?

 

[Hugh Mann]

Swim bladder issues? Sucks butt. Where are they usually collected from? Are they often collected using cyanide?

I really want one for my tank but this makes me concerned. Do they die easily and are they a fragile / easily stressed species?

Not sure where or how they're collected. I asked and it's usually from being brought up too fast by inexperienced divers. Sometimes they recover, sometimes not.

My experience with my Betta is its a pretty hardy fish. I had a velvet outbreak that killed half my fish in days and the Betta was barely effected. It also seems to be pretty chill, once it got used to the tank, which took mine about a month. For a while it would hide when I approached the tank, but after it settled in, zero issues that I can see. It's even a few days into copper treatment for the aforementioned velvet and is doing just fine. Still eating.

 

[Zionas]

Wish me good luck with mine then. I’ll probably need it.

You’re like the 10th person who says it’s a hardy fish, so I’m very hopeful. I will try to get a healthy specimen that’s already eating prepared foods at the LFS.

Did the velvet outbreak wipe out all of your other fish? Which ones were they? Were there any bulletproof species like the Betta?

 

[Hugh Mann]

Wish me good luck with mine then. I’ll probably need it.

You’re like the 10th person who says it’s a hardy fish, so I’m very hopeful. I will try to get a healthy specimen that’s already eating prepared foods at the LFS.

Did the velvet outbreak wipe out all of your other fish? Which ones were they? Were there any bulletproof species like the Betta?

Best of luck. I found mine, super healthy for $90. Definitely worth it if you can find a healthy specimen.

Greyfaced Moray eel, Survived
Flame Hawkfish, Survived
Cleaner Wrasse, Survived (Somehow)
Marine Betta, Survived
Lemonpeel Angel, Deceased
Coral Beauty Angel, Deceased
Fuzzy Dwarf Lion, Deceased
Tomini Tang, Deceased
Lyretail Anthias, Deceased

Tangs are pretty susceptible to diseases, but lions are supposed to be very parasite resistant, mind you mine was malnourished from refusing a proper diet. All of those died in under a week, Betta barely showed any symptoms.

 

[Zionas]

RIP Tang and RIP angels. Are they usually among the first ones to die from any disease?

Are Basslets usually very resistant to disease?


Go Betta, go Hawkfish. I’m definitely getting a pair of Flames.

You’re keeping an eel and a lionfish with those smaller fish? Do they get along okay?

 

[Hugh Mann]

I don't know about their specific disease resistance, but I read they're supposed to be hardy-ish. Cleaner wrasses are usually the first to go as I am told, part of why they're only $12. I've only got 2 months of aquarium experience, so take everything I say with a grain of salt.

Flame Hawkfish are awesome, I wish I could have gotten a pair, but my lfs only had 8 and I barely got mine. 10/10 would also recommend. They might however, eat any snails, crabs, hermits and small shrimp.

Yup, or at least I was. Neither the lion or eel are particularly large, eel is 14" and the lion was maybe 5". There was pretty much zero aggression in my tank. A little harassment here and there, but no death matches. Lion stalked the Flame a couple times, but quickly realized it was just a wee too big to swallow, otherwise I'm sure it would have. The lemonpeel angel actually bullied the eel at first, stole its pvc tube. The only real hostility I have seen was from the Betta towards the Wrasse, when the wrasse got too enthusiastic towards cleaning the betta, which chased it around the tank. That was shortly after the lemonpeel died and it and the wrasse were swimming buddies and hasn't happened since.

 

[Zionas]

That’s cool. I wonder what happens when your lionfish gets to 7” though. I’m a bit concerned but I hope everything will be okay. I’ve thought about getting a lionfish before but heard they’re very hard to feed, that they only take live foods.

 

[Hugh Mann]

Oh no, lion was one of the fish that passed. My hope was by the time it got to that size the others would grow in proportion.

But yes, that was my issue with my lion. Refused most frozen foods, and was thus vulnerable to the velvet when they're normally pretty resistant.

 

[Zionas]

I see. Guess I’ll drop the idea of getting one.

 

[Zionas]

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