first post - male displaying?

[catxx]

helloo!

i have one male betta, he's my first betta, and my first fish ever.

today i came home from work and gave him a little bit of food (tetra tropical things) and he started displaying and messing about, then i noticed, on either side of his head, on his gills, these pale red stripes (he's blue) like parallel sores on his gills, i'd never seen them before, and as i turned away and turned back they began to fade, and now he looks normal again. was this just another part of him doing a really "c'mon then" display, or something to worry about?

(he's already had white spot AND fin rot, recovered from both, i'm paranoid!)

 

[wuvmybetta]

It's most likely just his natural, full coloring, since they disappeared after he stopped flaring/displaying. Quite often their colors are at their best when they're putting on a show. I wouldn't worry too much.Keep an eye on him though, I can understand your paranoia.


Welcome to the board!!

 

[catxx]

thanks!

i hoped that was what it was
i had to be sure!
i'll keep my beady eyes on him though

 

[xxSarahxx]

Introduce a mirror - as long as it doesn't stress him out. This will provide excercise if tha tmakes sense. Just hold it against the tank so he can see it from inside. If he's got enough guts he'll swim up to it and really stare at it and then flare up! This is amazing to do and gives you a chance to examine various bits you don't see until they flare. From the sounds of it he was just showing off and you saw the flap of 'skin' (can't think of the proper name for it!!) under the chin as they puff this out when they flare.
Keep an eye on him and if you notice anything else just post and we'll see what we can do!!!
I SO understand being paranoid...... I'm ridiculously paranoid about all my fish and frequently freak out!!!