keep betta in the dark?

[kellyyoungmoney]

i have a female betta who often will have stress stripes on her at night when i feed her. she naturally has a little stripe to her but it becomes really noticeable at night. she also looses color in her face by then also. but when i feed them in the morning she looks all better. is the dark like therapeutic or something to her?

[LizzyP]

What kinds of bulbs do you have for your tank? The bright light might stress her out.

[Sena Hansler]

Well, it is not recommended to have them in complete darkness. There could be something stressing her out. My one female is in a driftwood tank which she no longer has stress stripes. I also have her in a naturally lit room rather than having the hood light on.

Try changing the bulb in your hood - it may help. Adding floating plants, and making the tank more dense, will also help.

[kellyyoungmoney]

i hardly ever use the light in the hood, i just leave my blinds open for natural light.

[Sena Hansler]

Hmmm can you get a pic of her tank? :) does she have tank mates?

[kellyyoungmoney]

yeah i can try, but ill have to wait until tonight when she gets the stripes. and yeah she has 3 other female bettas with her and a netted breeder box with 6 baby mollies. she is by far the biggest betta in the tank and obviously runs the whole operation.

[Sena Hansler]

Have you tried not having her in the sorority? I've had females (bosses or not) who would stripe up in the sorority, or lose color... Once they were by their lonesome they colored up and were a lot more relaxed (and no stripes!)

[kellyyoungmoney]

it'll be a while before i can take her out, im fresh out tank money and space, but if she gets terribly worse then hopefully i can persuade someone to donate to the cause :)

[Sena Hansler]

Well find someone on here that is nearish to you :) maybe they can drop off a small quarantine or something for ya? Just a thought =D No one's near me LOL.

[kellyyoungmoney]

here is what she normally looks like (my camera is terrible):


and i turned on the light so i could get a good picture. ill see if she stripes tonight and hopefully i can get a good picture of it.