New Marine Betta

[littlefoxx]

Hey all. Got a new marine betta, he has been in my tank about two weeks. He has found his cave and comes out to swim a little more a day, but he never comes out during feeding time. I always squirt food in his cave but I cant see if he is eating it. Im feeding planktoon, mysis shrimp and algae soaked in garlic. Any suggestions? He doesnt look thin when he comes out of the cave but he is too shy and goes in his cave when I go to look at him so I cant get a good picture of him out and about to attach. This was him the first day in the tank. He wouldnt eat in the acclimation box so I released him, but like I said i cant verify if he is eating cause he doesnt come out during feeding time

 

[Spare time]

I've had mine for a while and only saw it eat once lol

 

[Mav88]

Buy a live ghost shrimp and watch him come to life…they can be difficult to get feeding in a new aquarium but live ghost shrimp usually at pet smart did the trick for me.
Video if it works

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey all. Got a new marine betta, he has been in my tank about two weeks. He has found his cave and comes out to swim a little more a day, but he never comes out during feeding time. I always squirt food in his cave but I cant see if he is eating it. Im feeding planktoon, mysis shrimp and algae soaked in garlic. Any suggestions? He doesnt look thin when he comes out of the cave but he is too shy and goes in his cave when I go to look at him so I cant get a good picture of him out and about to attach. This was him the first day in the tank. He wouldnt eat in the acclimation box so I released him, but like I said i cant verify if he is eating cause he doesnt come out during feeding time

View attachment 3174906

Took mine two+ years to eat in front of me and its still shy after all this time.

 

[littlefoxx]

An okay, so you think he is probably eating the food I squirt in his cave? I just want to make sure he is eating. And Im hesitant to try the ghost shrimp cause I have a lionfish too thats small and shes eating frozen great! He was eating frozen at the store, I have a video of him doing it. The shop was feeding him krill, which both my LFS stores are out of. So I have the plankton and mysis shrimp

 

[littlefoxx]

Took mine two+ years to eat in front of me and its still shy after all this time.

View attachment 3175013

Yours is stunning! Mine is like half that size!

 

[Nick Steele]

They are wonderful fish!!! When looking in his cave if he opens its mouth it should be bright white. This is how I knew ours were eating when we raised them.

 

[littlefoxx]

They are wonderful fish!!! When looking in his cave if he opens its mouth it should be bright white. This is how I knew ours were eating when we raised them.

Ah okay! Yes his is bright white. What color is it if he isnt eating?

 

[Nick Steele]

Ah okay! Yes his is bright white. What color is it if he isnt eating?

Oh I was just saying you’ll see the bright white when it eats. The ones we had at work would just sit in a jet black corner of the tank. Only way to know they ate was to see a few flashes of their bright white mouth every feeding.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

They are crepuscular and prefer to eat dawn and dusk... But they also will eat pods and other small fauna, when you're not looking

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Hey all. Got a new marine betta, he has been in my tank about two weeks. He has found his cave and comes out to swim a little more a day, but he never comes out during feeding time. I always squirt food in his cave but I cant see if he is eating it. Im feeding planktoon, mysis shrimp and algae soaked in garlic. Any suggestions? He doesnt look thin when he comes out of the cave but he is too shy and goes in his cave when I go to look at him so I cant get a good picture of him out and about to attach. This was him the first day in the tank. He wouldnt eat in the acclimation box so I released him, but like I said i cant verify if he is eating cause he doesnt come out during feeding time

View attachment 3174906

Marine betas are groupers. Mine will come out during the feeding time but he won’t touch mysis or any floating food. He just knows I’m there when the smell of food is in the water. He knows when I grab my forceps he’s going to be fed. The way I feed him is getting a chunk of frozen diy food in forceps and put it in front of him, he will snatch it right out of the forceps. This is my favorite part of the fish feeding process TBH. I feel like him and yellow tang are the two fish that I actually interact with. I can post a video if you want to give you an idea of how to feed yours.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Marine betas are groupers.

No, they are not.

 

[littlefoxx]

Marine betas are groupers. Mine will come out during the feeding time but he won’t touch mysis or any floating food. He just knows I’m there when the smell of food is in the water. He knows when I grab my forceps he’s going to be fed. The way I feed him is getting a chunk of frozen diy food in forceps and put it in front of him, he will snatch it right out of the forceps. This is my favorite part of the fish feeding process TBH. I feel like him and yellow tang are the two fish that I actually interact with. I can post a video if you want to give you an idea of how to feed yours.

Ive tried feeding him with the tongs but he sees me coming and darts to a different cave. But he is okay with the spot feeder for some reason, he just turns his bum to me and sticks his false eye spot out. So I squirt both mouths of the cave with food. How did you train yours with the food?

 

[Macdaddynick1]

No, they are not.

 

[littlefoxx]

Yeah Im pretty sure its in the grouper family from what I read. Never had a grouper before though

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

View attachment 3175093

You can post incorrect Google search results... congratulations!

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Ive tried feeding him with the tongs but he sees me coming and darts to a different cave. But he is okay with the spot feeder for some reason, he just turns his bum to me and sticks his false eye spot out. So I squirt both mouths of the cave with food. How did you train yours with the food?

It took me a few weeks after I adopted him, I would just very slowly move food in front of the cave and wait for him. At first it took upwards of 10 -15 minutes of me standing there, and slowly but surely he learned. Now he’s waiting for me.

 

[littlefoxx]

It took me a few weeks after I adopted him, I would just very slowly move food in front of the cave and wait for him. At first it took upwards of 10 -15 minutes of me standing there, and slowly but surely he learned. Now he’s waiting for me.

Ah okay. I will try. What all does yours eat? So I can try different foods. My trigger loves a chunky food and will eat it but my lion wont touch that food.

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Ah okay. I will try. What all does yours eat? So I can try different foods. My trigger loves a chunky food and will eat it but my lion wont touch that food.

I usually go to local Korean market and buy assorted frozen seafood bags. I chop them up in tiny pieces and freeze them. I think it has squid, shrimp, octopus, oysters, clams etc. Then I break up the frozen mush into smaller pieces.

 

[littlefoxx]

I usually go to local Korean market and buy assorted frozen seafood bags. I chop them up in tiny pieces and freeze them. I think it has squid, shrimp, octopus, oysters, clams etc. Then I break up the frozen mush into smaller pieces.

Ah okay cool! I will try to work with him on the tongs. He is just a beautiful fish! Does yours come out and swim?