Marine Betta

[adambrum]

Im currently looking as what to stock in my new tank and i came across this in a lfs.

Has anyone kept these, oh the tanks a 35 uk g

edit. oops wrong section should have been in the fish section, any chance of shifting it mods

 

[matt295]

not good with UK gallons but marine bettas should be housed in a 50 US gallon tank. They are carnivores and grow to around 8 inches long. they are relatively easy to keep, are not reef safe, and are semi-aggresive.

 

[andywg]

I know of a few people who keep comets in reefs, I believe Nav did, and Scott Michael doesn't mention that they aren't reef safe.

They are unlikely to get past 6" in the aquarium.

 

[stang1]

They are a beautiful fish and as Andy said they only reah up to about 6".
Have a look at this link from PFK to get a better idea:

Marine Betta

 

[shibby]

they do look awesome, saw one at the LFS wasnt going to get one cus i thought they may get too big for a 40gal, i then relsied liveaquaria gallons are most done in us gallons lol!

since im keeping a fowlr i may look into them, but wen it says they eat small fish, my clowns arent too big so im guessing it wud be wise to wwait for them to grow up a bit!

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, marine bettas won't eat corals, so they're reef safe, but so are lionfish . Just like a lionfish, it will eat just about anything small enough to fit in its big mouth.

 

[adambrum]

Looks like its a no as i want it in a reef tank and my tank might be a bit on the small side 35uk g = 45us g

 

[andywg]

Comparing a comet to a lionfish gives the wrong idea, however. Scott Michael writes:

Usually Comets are of little danger to established residents, but small fish may be at some risk when introduced to a resident Comet. I had a large individual that persistant;y stalked a new Bluelined Dottyback (Pseudochromis cyanotaenia) and small Wheeler's Shrimp Goby (Amblyeleotris wheeleri). Forunately it never succeeded in capturing either of these diminutive tankmates.

It would appear that the main diet is somewhat smaller fare than most of the ornamental products we buy as they apparently feed on worms and small crustaceans found in live rock. Also of interest is that in 2004 a Comet was still alive in Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha, Nebraska some 8 years after Michael thought had died in a tank. The fish survived for 4 months without feeding, living off the live rock.

I should have more personal experience soon as a Comet will be the next fish to go in my new reef.

 

[adambrum]

Think i will keep it on my maybe list

 

[STD]

I have a Marine Betta in my Reef

It is as good as gold

They are very hardy and mine has never touched any of my fish even much smaller ones

Also once they settle in they will eat flake and pellets

I would recommend them to anyone

I also have a couple of Friends with them and have never heard of one eating a fish

Might not be safe with small shrimp tho

An old picture of him

He's a fair bit bigger now

 

[Lynden]

Agreed, they are awesome animals, and reputed to be amoung the most hardy of all marine fish.