Chatty_Platy Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 I recently acquired three female betta fish. Two of them are in a 3 gallon filtered tank together. I noticed one of them has some very dark stress lines on them. I am guessing they are stressed due to being transferred around. However, I want to know if I can do something to make them less stressed. Suggestions and help greatly appreciated. I have only ever kept male betta fish and have never had this problem with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 (edited) Those lines are they horizontal or vertical? Don't know as I don't keep them but was curious so a google search found this: http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=20319 http://www.fishlore....tml#post1089369 Females can display horizontal stripes when they're stressed. Usually a grayish white color. At least on my blues and reds they were. Vertical lines are breeding lines. http://www.fishforum...ost__p__2754267 Yes, vertical lines are breeding stripes and horizontal are stress. My females bettas took just over a month before they settled. http://webcache.goog...1&hl=en&ct=clnk http://webcache.goog...6&hl=en&ct=clnk When betta are stressed they tend to get paler and will usually show stress lines (horizontal bars of another shade running along the body, not to be confused with the vertical bars that show when they're ready to mate.) If they are very stressed or generally unhappy they may bleach themselves out enough that their color actually changes. Thus when you get them home, and put them into a better environment than those little display cups, the fish has less stress and gets happy again. And so the color they were hiding comes out. I've heard of white fish becoming red, red fish suddenly aquiring blue tones as well as the red, and one of my own girls (Marina, pictured at the end of this lens) was actually a very dark blue/purple in the store and turned green when I got her home. Edited May 5, 2012 by ckmullin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcgd Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 Three gallons is pretty tiny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted May 9, 2012 Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 yeah 3 gallons is pretty small for 2 betta females. How big or how old are they? My guess is that they are establishing pecking order and the one stressed one is probably the one that is getting beat up on constantly. Because of the small size of the tank it is unable to get away and hide. A bigger tank with ample areas to hide can do wonders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chatty_Platy Posted May 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 They are both very small female Betta's so I'm not sure if size is an issue. I have never seen them chase or bother one another. I did have a larger female in their that was but I removed her as soon as I saw her do this. But the two in their now are both very docile. Her lines have gone away though which is good news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted May 9, 2012 Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 Well that is good news. Are the females siblings? or separately bought? just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chatty_Platy Posted May 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 They may be siblings because when I bought them at petsmart they were sharing the same cup. So I got 2 for the price of one 1. Must have been a mistake but if they lived in that tiny space together I'm sure the 3 gallon is no big deal. I think it was just a new environment that stressed her out perhaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polleni-puffer Posted May 10, 2012 Report Share Posted May 10, 2012 Ya ,females tend to stress bar up for a few days when ever you move them. I find the weird small females that you get from pet stores never really seem to grow or breed ,but get along really well with other bettas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fin2you Posted May 27, 2012 Report Share Posted May 27, 2012 stripes that are up and down are 'ready to breed'. stripes that go from head to tail are stress stripes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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