Marine Betta

[TriggerFinger]

Hey @ThRoewer i went to the fish store yesterday and they had a very large and beautiful marine betta in. I believe a female...they received it from their supplier. Do you need another??? It was really beautiful and looked healthy to me.

 

[ThRoewer]

Hey @ThRoewer i went to the fish store yesterday and they had a very large and beautiful marine betta in. I believe a female...they received it from their supplier. Do you need another??? It was really beautiful and looked healthy to me.

Looks great and I always could need another but St. Lous is a bit far from here. It's a good catch for someone locally there.

 

[ThRoewer]

The large female of the harem group is gravid again and I caught them doing the mating dance this evening but when I tried to film it she fled the male's cave and didn't return. They are some particularly prudish fish and not exhibitionists like the Anemonefish.
I expect them to spawn Monday or latest Tuesday.

 

[leilani908]

I really want one of these but on live aquaria it says they eat small fish... I have a few small fish in my current tank.

 

[ThRoewer]

I really want one of these but on live aquaria it says they eat small fish... I have a few small fish in my current tank.

That's most definitely false information. Calloplesiops only eat small shrimp but not fish. Even shrimp are not automatically food. I have a pair with several shrimp (a pair of Stenopus cyanocelis and a Lysmata debelius) and small enough fish for them to eat but they haven't touched any of them. I even just added a Halequin shrimp and they never even looked interested at her.

 

[leilani908]

That's most definitely false information. Calloplesiops only eat small shrimp but not fish. I have a pair with several shrimp and small enough fish for them to eat but they haven't touched any of them. I even just added a Halequin shrimp and they never even looked interested at her.

Okay thank you! That makes me feel better. I've always wanted one. I hope it'll be okay in a 50 gallon.

 

[ThRoewer]

Okay thank you! That makes me feel better. I've always wanted one. I hope it'll be okay in a 50 gallon.

I have a spawning trio in a 40B and had a pair for years in a 42 gallon CADlight tank. They are not fish that need a lot space as long as you give them enough suitable caves.

 

[leilani908]

I have a spawning trio in a 40B and had a pair for years in a 42 gallon CADlight tank. They are not fish that need a lot space as long as you give them enough suitable caves.

Okay! Thank you! So you think one would be okay around my clown goby?

 

[Hugh Mann]

Can confirm, mine is plenty happy in a 55 gallon. As for eating small fish, mine never went near the live feeders I was getting for my late lionfish. As for shrimp, it won't even try to eat krill bigger than my thumbnail. Though mine is only at most 5" nose to tail.

 

[ThRoewer]

We are on for the next attempt:




Larvae tanks are ready, plenty of food is available, I even finished my copepod nauplii harvester. Now it is all on him to keep the eggs safe until they are ready to hatch...

 

[Sharir]

What are you guys using toraise the larvae?
Black round tubes or normal tanks.

 

[ThRoewer]

What are you guys using toraise the larvae?
Black round tubes or normal tanks.

Normal tanks won't work.
I'm trying a tank converted into a partial kreisel tank: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/marine-betta.716039/post-7531895
If that doesn't work well enough I will try the tub I'm right now using for my next A. bicinctus batch.

 

[TriggerFinger]

Yay!! Busy bettas over there! Hope he lets this batch mature. I’m rooting for you/them!
Will youtry to collect the eggs right before you expect them to hatch or right after?

 

[Hugh Mann]

Finally got some decent pics of my Betta, he's starting to come around after the move.

On a side note, how did you get so lucky to end up with, what, 5 healthy adults?

I've only ever seen 3 in stores and 2 had major swim bladder issues.

 

[jsvand5]

That's most definitely false information. Calloplesiops only eat small shrimp but not fish. Even shrimp are not automatically food. I have a pair with several shrimp (a pair of Stenopus cyanocelis and a Lysmata debelius) and small enough fish for them to eat but they haven't touched any of them. I even just added a Halequin shrimp and they never even looked interested at her.

You think these guys would be safe? I have a decent sized group of them.

 

[ThRoewer]

You think these guys would be safe? I have a decent sized group of them.

This little guy had been safe for over a week now by staying close to the Marine Bettas' territory:


His brother, who hitched a ride with the anemone when I moved it to the parents' tank, was not so lucky because he was stationary and therefore easy pickings for the real predators of my tank. He either got killed by his parents or scooped up by the mandarin male...

 

[ThRoewer]

Finally got some decent pics of my Betta, he's starting to come around after the move.

On a side note, how did you get so lucky to end up with, what, 5 healthy adults?

I've only ever seen 3 in stores and 2 had major swim bladder issues.

They are a bit shy at first but can become pretty bold quickly.

Patience and a fair number of good stores around here. Most I bought as smaller specimens. So far I only lost two: one got likely killed by a Red Sea Regal I quarantined it with and another - unfortunately a C. argus - never ate a bite and died within a week. I suspect cyanide poisoning with that one.

If I manage to raise this batch I will throw a few of the little ones to my other pair.
And should I get lucky enough to raise one of the other pairs spawns then I will put a pair of unrelated babies in each and every one of my tanks to get more pairs to breed with.

 

[ThRoewer]

Saturday I noticed that the male of pair 2 (in the reef tank) is also guarding eggs. Now I might have 2 batches to raise at once... and my Apocyclops cultures are not yet at full capacity. If I catch both, one has to be raised with Brachionus alone...

 

[Ardeus]

Can you please help me to interpret what's the relationship between these 2? I have to leave the camera filming many hours to catch any sort of interaction because they rarely see each other.



I got them 15 months ago. The argus was around 4" and the altivelis less than 2". The argus almost seems that hasn't grown, is much more reclusive and I never see him them during daytime.

 

[ThRoewer]

Can you please help me to interpret what's the relationship between these 2? I have to leave the camera filming many hours to catch any sort of interaction because they rarely see each other.



I got them 15 months ago. The argus was around 4" and the altivelis less than 2". The argus almost seems that hasn't grown, is much more reclusive and I never see him them during daytime.

Hard to tell. They are different species and from all I know, argus gets larger and potentially lives longer. The argus looks like a male from its head-shape and the altivelis is a female but I'm not sure if they will pair and spawn together. Only time will tell.
The tail-first approach is a defensive move, simulating a moray eel.