pinkfloydpuffer

Sorry, I looked all over and couldn't find what I was looking for. Ok, so when females have horizontal stripes/bars, it means they're stressed. Is this the same for the males? And what about vertical for males and females? I was just wondering because my Emerson has horizontal stripes across his body, and I'm hoping he's not stressed out. Thanks.

jdhef

One direction means they are stressed and the other direction means they want to mate I believe. But i'm not sure which direction is which.

Lucy

On girls, horizontal lines are stress, vertical ones, I believe shows she's ready to breed.
I'm not sure about the male, but I know this question has been asked on the forum before.
I'll look, if I find it, I'll edit this post.

Red wag platy

Does anyone have pictures?

Martinismommy

I own a lot of males (as you all know) and I have never seen any vertical or horizontal stripes on any of them......I have however seen girls at the pet store displaying horizontal stripes from stress...I know vertical stripes on a female means she is ready to spawn......

A photo would be very helpful....

pinkfloydpuffer

Here's some pics of what Emerson looks like. Sorry they're not very clear.

Attached Images

	bars.JPG (40.0 KB, 14 views)
	stripes.JPG (40.8 KB, 13 views)
	stripeys.JPG (48.2 KB, 22 views)

Lucy

They look like the stress lines Prissy used to get.
I looked for a pic, but I guess I don't have one of her showing lines.

His fins colors are beautiful.

pinkfloydpuffer

Why thank you.
But if it is stress lines, I don't know what's causing it. The water is great, I feed him a good variety of foods... I just don't know what could be wrong.

cognizant

How old is he? Have you recently changed the filter cartridge? Have you made any changes in the tank at all recently?

Lucy

I seem to recall.....now I could be wrong, that Rose had told me the male stress lines are different than a female's. Possibly opposite.
Don't take my word for that though.

pinkfloydpuffer

Lucy: I hope they're opposite.

Cognizant: I've had him since the end of August. Come to think of it, when Rodya was sick (about a week ago) i added one dose of maracyn-2. the next day i put carbon in the filter, and it's still in there. i don't know if that has anything to do with it though.

cognizant

Found the following quote on: http://www.freewebs.com/ontariobetta/bettainfo.htm

Remember, its only the vertical stripes that mean female, NOT horizontal. Horizontal stripes are fear/stress stripes and both male and female get them.

pinkfloydpuffer

Ok, thanks for the link.
But I still don't know why he has them...

Fishies-for-me

Is there any other fish in the tank that could be stressing him?? how long have you had him?? what are the exact water parameters??..hmmm can;t think of anything else....umm what about traffic around his tank?? is there to much activity??not enough?/ just tossing out some ideas ...good luck.

Pandora

Is there a lot of activity going on around the tank? Can he see other fish?
I've found my hm's to sometimes be huge wimps that just about anything scares them (and yes, they get stress stripes when frightened). Even if his tank is reflective he could be worrying about the big bad male he can see. If you're sure all the water parameters are good, he's healthy, etc. try looking for less tangible things that could be bothering him.

pinkfloydpuffer

Maybe the divider is too seethrough...
I don't think the rubberlip pleco bothers him at all.
He's in my room, so when I'm not home there's no one in there.
I tested the water a few days ago and it was perfect.

Red1313

Hmmm.... I don't think that I can help you out but good luck. I've never seen any of my betta's show lines of any type before.

pinkfloydpuffer

Well, thanks everyone. I hope he gets over it soon, or I find what's wrong.