Marine Betta
- Thread starter GabeB
- Start date
They are my favorite fish, and my tanks have almost always had one. They are very easy to keep, and almost indestructible, but you need to understand them to really enjoy them.
First, in the wild they fish that live fairly deep and are cave dwellers, and because of this they stay underneath rock shelves and in caves often for up to the first year when you get them. Because their eyes are fairly sensitive to bright lights you will tend to see more of them as the lights come down on your tank. They will almost never be a fish that's in constant movement or swimming around the tank. They may "meander" from protected place to protected place eventually and even occasionally swim the length of the tank, but that can take many months or years before that occurs with regularity.
Second, they are ambush predators in the wild. They move slowly and feed off things on the sand bed. As noted this is in fairly deep water and they are exclusively nocturnal feeders so the slow approach and then grab works for them. What it means for you is that you need to to consider what you're feeding and how. They will never compete for food in the water column. Mysis and other things are too small for them and drift through the water and they have no interest in that. They will eat pellets quite readily, but the pellets have to end up near their feeding area and on the sand. I often feed some fish at one end and then make sure pellets end up at the other end with the Betta.
First, in the wild they fish that live fairly deep and are cave dwellers, and because of this they stay underneath rock shelves and in caves often for up to the first year when you get them. Because their eyes are fairly sensitive to bright lights you will tend to see more of them as the lights come down on your tank. They will almost never be a fish that's in constant movement or swimming around the tank. They may "meander" from protected place to protected place eventually and even occasionally swim the length of the tank, but that can take many months or years before that occurs with regularity.
Second, they are ambush predators in the wild. They move slowly and feed off things on the sand bed. As noted this is in fairly deep water and they are exclusively nocturnal feeders so the slow approach and then grab works for them. What it means for you is that you need to to consider what you're feeding and how. They will never compete for food in the water column. Mysis and other things are too small for them and drift through the water and they have no interest in that. They will eat pellets quite readily, but the pellets have to end up near their feeding area and on the sand. I often feed some fish at one end and then make sure pellets end up at the other end with the Betta.
GabeB
Guest
Thank you so much. Do you often keep them in a quarantine tank to train them to be a little more friendly and open and then add them to the DT or is that not needed/helpful? Did you have any issues with them eating your fish/shrimp? Also where do you purchase yours from? Thank you!
They are going to be timid at first no matter what in most cases. They will always stay somewhat timid. They are nocturnal in the wild and spend their days in caves along with Moray Eels (which is badass and explains their coloration and markings!.) I have never had one eat a single shrimp, fish or any part of a clean up crew. They are also very long lived if they are in a healthy environment and I have seen estimates of normal lifespan of 40-50 years.
GabeB
Guest
Will they eat large frozen shrimp? As in like frozen shrimp you buy from the grocery story for human consumption? Curious if target feeding pieces of that would be a viable option or if just getting them on pellets is best? Do you generally buy yours from anywhere specific?
I have had three and all of them ate the large TDO pellets as long as they were on the sand bed close by. I suspect that they would do so with little chunks of shrimp as well, but TDO pellets are far more nutritious. They won't bother with something too small or too big. My latest one which I very, very sadly just sold came from Diver's Den I think.
I will say that smaller captive bred ones can be found these days, and those might act entirely different. I did have one small one in my current tank that I didn't know I had. He came in from a retailer that QT's much smaller than I have kept before (2"). After about the third day I never saw him again. I looked for him for weeks before deciding he hadn't made it. I then bought a much larger one from Diver's Den (my current.) Flash foreword a full year later and the small one showed up again. Now -- I look at my tank for long periods every day. I often go in with a flashlight at night to look as well, and he evaded my sight for a year! No clue what he ever found to eat.
So my suggestion is if you have a large tank with lots of rock then buy a good size Betta.
SupraSaltyReefer
Supporting Member
My captive bred one I got from Thomas is always out in the open. Eats TDO pellets as well as small chunks of shrimp in the LRS packs.
I'm not surprised that Captive bred are out in the open. They wouldn't have the same issues with eyesight, etc that wild ones do.
GabeB
Guest
What size tank do you have do you feel like it disappears in the rock? I like the idea of it being in the open more but not sure I want that if it’ll be tiny and I won’t see it often? Do you recommend I go captive bred small or go for a larger wild one?
GabeB
Guest
Thank you so much for all the information! I’m leaning toward buying a larger one from divers den I think but not confident. Do you remember how large you bought yours? I saw you listed it as 7” when you sold which seems pretty large!
5" when I bought this one I believe.
SupraSaltyReefer
Supporting Member
My tank is 90g 48x24x18. I personally prefer to buy small fish and watch them grow. I would recommend saving some money and not buy from Diver’s Den. I’ve bought a Marine Betta from Diver’s Den before and it died within a 24hrs due to some sort of fungal / fin rot disease. Luckily they gave me store credit.
If you want a small Marine Betta go with captive bred. If you want a larger size go wild. Aquatic Collection usually has them in stock so I think it’s better to go there and observe it then decide to buy or not.
NanoCrazed
Supporting Member
Coral reefer
Past President
Captive bred. Easy call.
ThRoewer
Guest
This isn't entirely correct. They are definitely not ambush predators or related to groupers (not even close) but rather hunt more like lionfish, cornering their prey and fencing it in with their large tailfin. They hunt larger shrimp if they spot them but most of the time they pick pods, smaller Mysiids, or go for worms. I have even seen my largest ones picking pods like mandarins. Getting healthy marine bettas to eat has never been a problem for me, though what they eat seems to depend on the individual tastes and moods. Some days they like large cocktail shrimp, the other they just scoff at them and rather go for PE Mysis or pellets. Some of them stand at the front, begging for food and taking it directly from tweezers while others hide and wait until the food has fallen to the ground to pick it up from there. My regal angels are far less picky than the marine bettas, yeah, even less picky than my clownfish.
ThRoewer
Guest
Some of my larger ones take cocktail shrimps, some even from tweezers. Most take frozen foods, pellets, flakes... All will usually be able to live of pods if there are enough and, in a pinch, they can go with little or no food for quite a while.
If you go with wild ones, buy locally if possible and make sure they look well and behave normal. Avoid individuals that seem to have fin-rot or ongoing infections on the mouth.
Ambush predator was definitely the wrong term. It should have read "stalker." They move slowly with their bodies (at least in a tank) somewhat vertical. Thank you for the clarification. The point was actually that they won't (at least none of mine ever have) eat out of the water column or top of the water like most of the other fish we tank, and that can sometimes result in adjusting feeding for them.
ThRoewer
Guest
I have wild ones that take floating foods and some even go for flakes on the surface. It is more a matter of tank mates than marine bettas not doing it.