Marine Betta

[mmd]

Howcome I never see these assessors in anyones tanks?
from what i read they are not active swimmers, need to be fed 4-5 tx a week, are reef friendly (except small shrimp/fish) and are gorgoues.
i here they hide but dont they come out once acclimated. my lfs has one in a 30-40 gall tank w/a piece of lr and it is always out in the open....
what am i missing, are they good reef inhabitants, and more importantly do they hide all the time

[jgoodrich71]

Had one in a 240 reef for 6 years, the only time you could see him was at feeding time, then right back behind the rock.

[laszlo]

very interesting. The one at my LFS is always out too. Would be nice to hear if they are reef safe or not. I had thought that they weren't, but I could be wrong.

[mmd]

anyone have on that does not hide ?

[IanInDC]

The one at the local Japanese reataurant by my house absolutely does not hide.

[Uel]

If you have alot of rock work they will hide. Mine only comes out at feeding time or when he thinks it feeding time. If I could catch him I would take him out and put in a more active fish.

[tibbs2]

They are a cryptic fish. I recommend researching your next purchase. See this book http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1890087386/102-5675808-6727329?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance

[vthondaboi]

I have one and love it. I have yet to see it attack any of the tank inhabitants. They are reef safe.

Mine hides but it does come out. Depends ony our rockwork possibly, as mine has big open spaces for fish to swim around, not a hill of 5# rocks.

[sendiewestlake]

I had one for about a year and all it did was hang out at the top of the tank and at the end all it would eat is live gold fish. They are pretty, but not healthy eaters like other fish.

[ACBlinky]

These guys are predators, the 'hiding' is their natural behaviour - they wait for something tasty to swim by so they can dart out and grab it. We have one at work (LFS) that's very sweet-natured and eats frozen foods as well as live. S/he does spend time in the rockwork but also comes out into the open (usually begging for food). From what I've read they're not entirely reef safe; they may prey on shrimp. Beautiful fish, wish I had a marine tank large enough to house one :)

[moogoomoogoo]

I had one years ago. Always had its head out peaking from behind a rock. It would eat frozen shrimp, clams, etc., and was fed several time a week using tongs. If I watched the tank from across the room it would swim across the front. However if I was standing there it would only peak. Mine never bothered the ornamental shrimp or even the tiny spotted goby.

[mmd]

thanks guys, tibbs i have that book that were i got my initial info in my post from, sill wondering who has one that does not hide/

[moses13]

I have one in my 135. Coolest fish I have. He comes out occasionally during the day and is completely in the open when the "day" light goes out in the evening (that's also feeding time). He eats frozen mysis and brine shrimp, and so far is completely reef safe, I have peppermint and cleaner shrimp that he does not bother.

[willy21]

I had one for about 6 months until my eel ate it 2 nights ago. He was out almost all of the time and finally got him to eat flake food. It is amazing how big their mouths and stomachs are. I didn't have it with anything it could swallow, but i would say that it would have eaten any shrimp or small fish in the tank.

[mmd]

willy i have 2 large cleaner shrimp , a percula, an anthia and a royal gramma , all atleast 2 inches, the betta im looking at is about 5, i dont believe theres a problem with that do you?

[Steven Pro]

Originally posted by mmd
willy i have 2 large cleaner shrimp , a percula, an anthia and a royal gramma , all atleast 2 inches, the betta im looking at is about 5, i dont believe theres a problem with that do you? That Betta could eat any one of those.

That is one of the biggest problems with these fish. They need to be with peaceful tankmates. The more assertive their co-inhabitants, the more they hide. But, that needs to be balanced with the fact that they can eat anything much smaller than them.

[VolitanLioness]

Here is a really good article I had found when checking into this fish http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/sept2002/Fish.htm

Kaye

[mmd]

how big could there mouth be, sounds like a largemouth bass, its moutyhg structure seems comprable to a a royal gramma

[willy21]

Their mouth is like a grouper, so they can eat just about anything as wide as their head.

[mmd]

IMG]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a375/Michaelsreef/downloadnov1505071.jpg[/IMG]
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a375/Michaelsreef/downloadnov1505104.jpg
I went to the lfs, were i have seen this guy out in the open everytime for the last 2-3 months, they fed kim frozen mysis and he ate.
NOW HE IS MINE.
After 2 hours in my tank he already fed on frozen mysis.

[mmd]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a375/Michaelsreef/downloadnov1505071.jpg

[mmd]

you can not tell but he has alot of blue in those spots.
by far my most attractive fish, lets see if he maintains his out in the open disposition

[fishox]

I've had mine for about 18 mos. It eats frozen mysis, squid, marine cuisine, pretty much everything. They are shy fish. As somone above mentioned it will swim in the open unless you are right in front of the tank. If you're close to the tank you'll see it's fake eye as it tries to scare you away. Cool fish. Very peaceful and very colorful when you get to see it.

[willy21]

Nice pickup mmd! I need to replace mine(RIP) with a new one.