HELP! my Betta has stress marks!

[Saphira101]

Hi guys, Saphira here. a few days ago I noticed that my male crown tail Betta, Merlin, has stress lines. at first I though they were the lines a Betta gets when It's ready to breed, but then I noticed that they were horizontal. Merlin currently lives In half of a divided ten gallon (my divider is transparent) with Peach, another male Betta. (breed unknown) the tank has gravel as a substrate and has floating plants at the top. I got Merlin about two weeks ago and he was put in the tank at the same time as Peach. (Peach has been with me longer than Merlin, but I was transferring him to this new tank with Merlin) Merlin is a fairly timid fish and is quite shy and has been this way since I got him, But peach is bold and flares his gills whenever he sees another fish. I see no signs of illness from Merlin, and all the other fish at the store were healthy. what can I do for Merlin to make him feel better? should I offer more hiding places? should I take Peach out and put him in another tank? I'll do whatever I can to make Merlin happy. Thank you so much, Saphira

[Gracie8890]

Well the divider is the problem. The divider cant be see through at all! You can either fix this by getting a new one or covering one side with a bunch of silk plants to block the view. If neither are an option i would take one fish out,and add some stress coat:) good luck!

[DragonFish]

I agree, it sounds as if the see-though(I assume store-bought) divider is the problem here. Merlin is probably very stressed, seeing Peach all the time.

You can try to get some full, tall silk or live plants to line the divider on both sides to try and break up the line of sight a little more, though IME the fish just swim around the plants so thats not always effective....but its worth a shot.

Another option is replacing the see-through divider material with Craft Mesh, like in this tutorial: http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/d...ividers-21866/
I make all my dividers with this stuff, and I find that using two sheets and doubling up on the craft mesh not only makes the divider a little more stable, and secure, but my boys can't hardly see each other at all.

[Myates]

Some bettas do fine in a divided tank (with see through mesh...), and some prefer to be separated. It's just the fish's own personal preference.

Try placing one in another tank for a bit and see how it goes.