Marine betta in reef tank

[lhm nole]

I have a pretty similar experience to the above. I purchased mine at about an inch - captive bred from Sustainable Aquatics. Is finally getting some girth on it at about 3-4 inches. Beautiful. I've also seen it eat bristle worms but would not consider it a danger to all but the smallest goby.

I saw mine eat a huge bristle worm was kinda shocked .. Very peaceful fish mine is 6 inches and I have cleaner shrimp and small dragonettes no issues

 

[SecretiveFish]

My marine betta is the oldest fish in my tank (2 years old? I lost count). He was sitting at a LFS for close to a year before we got him, so he was already eating frozen foods.

He is my favorite fish! Mine is not shy, although during the day he is behind the rockwork and not viewable, but he always comes out at dinner time. He eats frozen mysis, frozen spirulina brine shrimp, krill (ripped into smaller pieces... the full size pieces he ends up spitting up), and sometimes pellets (if I get them close enough to him when I drop them).

He cleaned up all the bristle worms in that tank... the tank was infested and now the only place there are bristle worms is in the sump...

 

[Fade2White12]

mine eats pellets, great reef fish!!

i have open rock work so viewing is good, however years ago i had more rock and viewing was not so good; only saw fish when feeding. imo, broadcast feeding is better than spot feeding, brings fish out more: another mistake i did with first betta!!!

They have always been my favorite fish, but I've been somewhat hesitant to add one to my new build considering my minimalist aquascape. Knowing they can be timid and nocturnal, I've been afraid that not providing a lot of shelter and so much open water could cause stress. I assume that this has not been a problem for you, then? Should I be concerned about that?

 

[Fallling]

I had one in the past (like 15 - 20 years ago) that ate frozen, meaty foods readily. Really beautiful fish... think I'm going to add one to my mixed reef as my last fish. If you're concerned about smaller fish being eaten, go with a smaller, captive bred one. They'll be less likely to go hunting for small fish snacks compared to a larger, wild caught one.

 

[CHSUB]

They have always been my favorite fish, but I've been somewhat hesitant to add one to my new build considering my minimalist aquascape. Knowing they can be timid and nocturnal, I've been afraid that not providing a lot of shelter and so much open water could cause stress. I assume that this has not been a problem for you, then? Should I be concerned about that?

i agree with your concerns. i do have some over hangs and some rocks lean against the back wall; where the betta spends most of his time. however, it is a peninsula tank and he is always viewable. i have had him almost 3 years, but imo, some shelter is important.