Marine Betta with Ocellaris clownfish pair in a 30 gallon

[Savage Henry]

I am deciding on a trophy-fish for a 30 gallon display tank that already has a pair of ocellaris clownfish.

 

I have rockwork with hiding spots. 

 

There’s quite a lot of opinions on the web against and for keeping these fish together, but it’s not always obvious what the specific circumstances were that led to success or failure.

 

For instance, it seems if you keep the Betta well fed with shrimps etc they won’t go hunting their tank mates.

 

Anyway, it would be great to get opinions from anyone who has kept Bettas in a small tank. Their behaviour seems ideal for a nano.

 

i am also looking at other potential trophy fish, including a Flame Angelfish or a Fathead Sunburst Anthias. Alternatively may go instead for a trio of Yellow Assessors or Royal Grammas.

[Snow_Phoenix]

4 hours ago, Savage Henry said:

I am deciding on a trophy-fish for a 30 gallon display tank that already has a pair of ocellaris clownfish.

 

I have rockwork with hiding spots. 

 

There’s quite a lot of opinions on the web against and for keeping these fish together, but it’s not always obvious what the specific circumstances were that led to success or failure.

 

For instance, it seems if you keep the Betta well fed with shrimps etc they won’t go hunting their tank mates.

 

Anyway, it would be great to get opinions from anyone who has kept Bettas in a small tank. Their behaviour seems ideal for a nano.

 

i am also looking at other potential trophy fish, including a Flame Angelfish or a Fathead Sunburst Anthias. Alternatively may go instead for a trio of Yellow Assessors or Royal Grammas.

They grow quite large though. As their size increases, so will the bioload. Depending on how long your tank is, a flame angel *might work, but I have no personal experience in keeping one, so it's best to wait for someone else to chime in. 

 

Do you have any pics of your setup yet? 😊

[TheCoffeeReef]

From what I've read and seen, the marine beta get too large for 30g, however you could look to go for an assessor - i went this route with a yellow assessor due to size of tank and wanting a fish with that cryptic behavior. 

 

Been excellent so far.

 

[Tamberav]

They get pretty large but some spend so much time hiding you won’t see it much so it’s not much of a trophy fish in that regards. 

[Savage Henry]

Thanks for your responses, I won’t go with the Betta.

 

When I say trophy, it’s doesn’t always have to be out and about like an Angelfish.

 

I’m a bit limited as to what I can get. So, even though I’m in n the waiting list for a Fathead Anthias, if an interesting fish comes up at the shop, I’ll come back and research it before buying. This is what happened with the Betta - I’d researched them some time ago as I considered one for my 70 gallon tank, but didn’t go ahead. So, when I saw one the other day for sale, I resisted the impulse to buy it. 

[Savage Henry]

I do have a tank journal by the way and you can see I have rock work to shelter a shy fish.

[Tamberav]

On 10/8/2024 at 4:45 PM, Savage Henry said:

I do have a tank journal by the way and you can see I have rock work to shelter a shy fish.

 

Can you link it here? 🙂

[Savage Henry]

 

Not sure how to link yet. The above was the best I could do.