sad day

[jimmer]

marcelo
the fish may have been disturbed by its reflection.i thought i read you were supposed to keep them by themselves in aquariums.mine would also flare up and swim back and forth when seeing his reflection.i believe they are nocturnal but mine was out all the time.i also had a tusk fish wich was a very aggresive eater as the betta was passive.i used to put the food on a piece of hard tubing to make sure he got some.never had aproblem eating tho because i seen he was eating in the store where i got him.i only fed him a couple times a week until he swallowed a firefish as it hit the water.talk about expensive meal!!i never thought the betta could eat it but they can really open up wide!!maybe next time put some large pieces of pvc for him to hide in or maybe put the backing paper around 3 sides to eliminate the reflection.let us know how it goes!
jimmer

 

[marcelo gomes]

Jimmer,

Thank you for your response it's very usefull! As i told you I don't have any previous experience with marine bettas or know someone that have it.

Mine was calm but not very shy. In the distribuitor it was swiming open water all the time even with the lights on. The other one they have are under the rocks. Suddenly it became a "crazy guy" and started the agressive (?) behaviour. I removed some of the shells and small rocks from the bottom os the tank earlier (to clean it better) and Ithink he/she could see the reflection better whitout it.

I found the same info, one "per tank", except by a mated couple (as most of the marine fishes). They appears to be very terriotorial!
Yours flare up but didn't attemtp to jump. I never heard of this kind of behaviour before with marine bettas.

What happened with your tusk? Another one of my favourites (i think we have a similar "taste" for reef fishes! I also have a Regal angel. Do you like it?)
I'm thinking in use a tube to feed the betta. In QT he/she only eated a fresh mussel piece and a ghost srhimp. All of the attempts with "dead" food are refused. I have access to the biggest brazil importer, good prices and inventory, but fish almost out of the bag, my betta arrived on wensday. Only live food and some work for train it to accept live food, but I like the game. )

Swallowed a firefish!!! I have 2: a purple and a regular one. Did you have any small fishes with yours?

I really thinked in put a piece of PVC pipe but the fish have a quiet place behind the filter and appers to be ok.

The main problem wiht the reflection are in the bottom, I don't have a simple way to solve it. Except if I turn my bare bottom QT in a QT with sand... not a bad idea.

Thank you again!

Best regards,

marcelo.

 

[jimmer]

marcelo,
it looks like we do like the same fish!i love angels!a couple guys in our local club have them in their reef tanks-beautiful aditions.my tusk un fortunately got ick and didnt make it.my betta never tried to jump.i had him in a 90 then a 180 and he was always a middle to lower tank swimmer.just coming up for food.i had a small stripped cardinal and a small harlequin bass in there.i never seen him go after anything and the fish even swam pretty close to him.even had a coral banded shrimp in there for a few years with him.maybe cuz i gave him the easy meals.can you post some pics of your tank?man you must see some beautiful fish having acess to a distributer!!!see ya
jimmer

 

[marcelo gomes]

Hi Jimmer,

Sorry for the long delay. I was traveling for the past few days until Monday.

Angels are by far my favourite fishes! Very beautiful, "intelligent" and elegant fishes. My tank was construct around the regal. He/she ate half of a scolymia (killed by one of my clowns later) and I removed a Red Open Brain because of it, but it's still my favourite!
I also have a female Genicanthus melanospilos (japanese swallow/spotted breast angel) that I'll try to pair up with another female. I'm also thinking about an Emperor juv. but i think my aquarium will become cramped with to many large fishes when they grow up.

Sorry to hear about your tusk. Not exactly the most beautiful fish in the world, but a very interesting one. The "tiger like" pattern and agressive appearence combined with its funny personality is a must!

Your description of the betta is what i ever heard/read about this fish. It was in an open top tank at the distribuitor with some corals and other fishes (including another powder blue the same size as mine). I really doesn't understand why he/she jumped of the tank and the strange behaviour previous to that.
Well... probably the firefishes, the watchman goby and my small clown will be safe. I read that small fishes that are previous inhabitants of the tank are usually left alone. The same for the harlequin tusk.

Pictures are a problem... i don't have a digital camera. Sometimes I take a friends or more frequently my girlfriend's camera. The pictures are usually of bad quality, but I'll try to find some interesting ones.

Not at all, remember that I live in Brazil where animals and equipment costs usually 4 times the price you pay in USA. So the number of reef aquarists are not very big. Probably you'll see much more beautiful fish in LA distribuitors. It's the first time I went to this distribuitor in Sao Paulo (i think it is the largest in south america) and take fishes directly. My previous orders was made by phone. They had some beautiful fish like a very small Imperator (unfortunately sold), some adult ones, blonde nasos, juvenile chevron tangs, an oragne spot file fish eating srtemia, a banded pipe fish, large tanks with 30-40 powder blue tangs and 40-50 hepatus... and so on.... I was at a business trip and decided to have a little time for leisure.

Now some old pictures. I'll try to find some better ones.

tank in it's first months:

lateral view:

Siganus doliatus:

Genicanthus melanospilos and Regal angel in QT:

Marcelo.

 

[jimmer]

very nice!love the stack job!

 

[marcelo gomes]

Jimmer,

Sorry for the long delay (again)! I'm engaged in a very large project last days...

Thank you, you are very gentle! I really like tall tanks and tried to leave some "open water" above and around the rocks with lots of swiming space.

The "rockwork" is a little different now. The right side now is more flat to accommodate my sps.
A pic when i changed the lights:

As I promised some more fish photos!

one of my favourites, miss(?) mandarin

everyone's favourite: my female ocellaris (do you have a nemo fish?)

another of my favourites, the YT

Sorry for the quality of the photos. I really need t improve my skills with cameras!

Regards,

Marcelo.

 

[marcelo gomes]

some more due to pic limit on previous message.

The beauty, my favourite fish and one of the most beautiful fishes in the oceans:

and the Beast

Marcelo.