Fishface

Two of my female bettas usually show their 'stress stripes', and it worries me. Should I be concerned?

granted, one of them I just got from wal-mart toNIGHT, and is quarantined using water and rocks from my fully cycled tank. the other is in the before-mentioned community tank with another betta - they usually get along though.

chickadee

Any time stress is indicated in a betta it is serious and if possible the fish should be removed from the stressful situation. The little one you just bought may be okay as soon as she gets over the stress of the move but the other little one is not happy where she is and is possibly being traumatized and you are just not seeing it. She needs to come out of that tank. She may not survive if left in there. Someone is abusing her in there and she is afraid or feels stressed.

Rose

Fishface

well, I took the UNstressed betta and but her in a floating breeder as a quick remedy.

I should mention that the stressed betta does lose her stripes when she's eating - I think that's proof in favor of your theory because the stressful stimuli is out of mind when she's focused on something else, i.e., not the water

chickadee

Just please watch very carefully. At least she will eat. I lost 4 lovely little ladies because they eventually become so frightened they won't eat as they have been harassed and are too afraid to try. They eventually will starve at that point even if you seperate them. It is a sad, sad thing. I know that some people do not want to believe it but it just does not work to keep them together and Phloxface and Cherryrose and I found out the hard way.

Rose

Phloxface

Most of my females (except the ones with white bodies) show stress stripes from time to time. It's a good indicator that something is wrong. All will be stressed when first coming home, even if the tank is much nicer than the cup. They are just nervous or excited in a new place and they will settle down within a couple days.*
Mine will show extreme stress stripes even if I turn the tank light on while they are sleeping. It shocks them. I try to make sure they are awake and aware that I am turning the light on now...
The female in your community tank is stressed because even if no fish is bothering her it is completely unnatural for Bettas, male or female, to share their living space. They are constantly "on alert" and most people just don't see the signs of stress, especially in white females or any male(because they don't get stress stripes). They just assume everything is okay and the constant stress weakens the immune system and they get sick and die.* Sometimes a large tank with bottom dwellers like Otos or Cories will be okay for "some" Bettas, mostly because these fish don't swim at their level and get so close to them. Other community fish are constantly swimming around and getting near them and it makes them very uneasy.

COBettaCouple

If each female betta is seperated from the others, either thru being in different tanks or by a tank divider, they should feel more relaxed and comfortable. A lot of females like anemones to play with as well and they are such great fish as their amazing personalities come out. I'm a big fan of female bettas, although i love them all.

voiceless_kat

pardon my ignorance..what is a stress tripe, what does it look like, where is it on the body. thx

Phloxface

Here is two pics of one of my fish, Karma. The first one is when I first got her and she was still recovering from a bad gill infection. You can see she has black horizontal stripes on her body. The second pic is Karma feeling much better. Her overall color becomes darker and you can see her stripes are now vertical. Vertical stripes or no stripes mean the fish is feeling good.

Some females, like my pure red Whisper, don't get stripes but when she was stressed she would turn almost white! It was like looking at a different fish! Her color would return sometimes within minutes once she was no longer feeling stressed. Basically, a Betta that loses it's color and becomes pale, or has horizontal stripes is sick or very stressed.

Attached Images

	karma-stress-stripes.jpg (35.0 KB, 19 views)
	karma4.jpg (197.1 KB, 19 views)

Asinity

Christen tends to get stressed when there is any kind of current in her tank, which is why it is unfiltered. Water changes scare her as well, which is why I've got to the point where I add water slowly and make sure it is sitting right beside her tank so they are both similar temperatures. Right now she's busy exploring the new plant I put into her tank, no stripes, she must be happy... she also did just eat lunch... lol.

Fishface

otherwise, she's plump, warm, healthy, and now protected. maybe she's just neurotic!