Female Betta Body Colours

[xanthianacid]

Hi,
I have two female Betta's currently, living in seperate tanks. One is emerald, she is coloured all over her body with the emerald colouring. She's very confindent and holds her own with ease. My other female is a light browny/grey on her body quite lightly coloured compared to Emerald, but her fins are definately crown and definately beautiful.

My question is this. Since we brought her, the CT is forever showing those horizontal lines which I believe are stress barbs? But she doesn't have clamped fins and she's swimming quite normally, even playing a little in the filter's current. Have I misunderstood the lines, and taken them for stress lines but they are just part of her naturalness as her body colour is so light?

I ask this as my first female betta many moons ago, quite a plain girl of light grey held those horizontal lines always except for when she was showing her vertical lines. She seemed happy otherwise as well.

Cheers.
Thanks in advance, Xan

 

[BettaMomma]

Are they like this?

and here's another shot of the same fish:

without the lines.

I panicked because I thought there were major problems with her, but I was told that when the lines are present is when it's time for eggs - and then their gill edges and cheeks get firey blood red.

I have also noticed that during and after a water change for a little while, Millie (the fish above) gets those lines - and i"m currently cycling the tank they're in and when it's time for a water change because one of the parameters has risen a little bit, she gets the lines too!

 

[xanthianacid]

Yep, they are just like the top photo exactly! So does that mean she's ready for eggs?
Do they just shed them if you don't want them to breed? I think I've read they can get sick if they don't release them naturally ie by themselves or with help from a male?
Cheers, Xan

 

[littlefishie]

Those stripes are fear stripes/stress stripes, not breeding stripes.. those are vertical.

Stripes like this ======== are stress.
Stripes like this | | | | | | | | are because she is horny and full of eggs.

 

[xanthianacid]

I've done everything humanly possible to make her happy! I guess some fish are like some people IMPOSSIBLE to please!!!!

I have given her a seperate tank on her own, I have given her plenty of good food, tried gently talking to her, just leaving her alone. Nothing seems to work at all!

What to do? I am not sure, my main aim is for all my fishies to be happy but i just don't know what else to do!

Cheers, Xan

 

[BettaMomma]

OH.
Hmm...
I've been told something different then - probably wrong. lol
I was told that when the horizontal lines and the red gills and cheeks appear that they're ready to release eggs.

Hmm....

Millie always has the vertical stripes on her - it's her natural color.
She does get the horizontal lines when she's stressed or the water isn't quite at the right parameters - but she also turns that way when her belly is big and fat w/eggs. Maybe she just doesn't like the way it feels when she's ready to drop eggs? lol

I dont know...

 

[Raechal]

Two of my tannish female bettas always have the stress bars. The rest of my bettas in the same tank do not have them. She's had them ever since I've had her.

 

[xanthianacid]

So maybe they might be natural if they aren't showing any other signs of distress?

 

[Synirr]

So maybe they might be natural if they aren't showing any other signs of distress?

Could be. Some females just show the bars all the time, for whatever reason

 

[SMSBrunetteGirl]

Those stripes are fear stripes/stress stripes, not breeding stripes.. those are vertical.

Stripes like this ======== are stress.
Stripes like this | | | | | | | | are because she is horny and full of eggs.

Ohhh, I guess my lil Valerie's a bit horny then