stress stripes

[bettalover2033]

what are stress stripes and what do they look like. i mean of course stripes but does anyone have a picture of them? because i dont want my betta to have them. to me i think that my betta has stripes because she wants to mate but im not mating them so what do they look like and

a few Questions:

how are they caused?

maybe from shipping??

so how long do they last?

can they die from it?

how do i cure it?

[BettaxFishxCrazy]

Here's a picture of it: http://www.getahugetank.com/images/betta-female.jpg

They are stripes that they get when they are stressed out. Stress can be caused from many things, being in a small tank, being cold, having other fish in the tank that make them stressed. Shipping can definitely cause this.

I've never heard it actually kill a betta, but like with humans, if you're constantly stressed, it's not good. I had a betta who acted like I was killing him when I did water changes, it was terrible.

It's not an illness so you can't cure it with medication. Just make sure that they're in a big enough tank (2G or up) with a heater so the water is 76-80 degrees F. They also love heavily planted tanks with hiding places; it makes them feel safe.

[Min]

My newest Dexter gets them anytime i move stuff around in his tank. his body color get pale & then u see stirpes that arent usually there. Im not an expert but thats what ive observed in the 5 or so months ive had bettas.

[bettalover2033]

that picture up there that BettaxFishxCrazy had a link to the stressed betta thats how two of my females look. and i can see that the stripes are going away. but when i got them at the pet store they were in a ten gallon and they were very stressed.

[dr2b]

I know anytime I do anything in Marina's tank she gets them. But within 30 minutes of finishing what I am doing they are gone. I found females get stressed a lot easier than males.

[dramaqueen]

My Reina is the only one of my fish who ever got stress stripes. She had them bad when I first got her and she usually gets them when I do a water change.

[Neelie]

my females have stripes BUT they always are there, and they are defo not very stressed lol. my male maehk got them after first water change when he arrived at my place but they went away after an hour. lost all his color and got stripes on his body. but my other guy salmon, just goes pale. no stripes. i guess it depends on the individual betta imo...

[bettalover2033]

Thanks for everyone that has subscribed to my thread!! and i thank everyone else who help me with the stress both my two blue females are happy as can be and they do not have anymore stripes

[Adelheidi]

Wasn't it vertical stripes that meant one thing and horizontal meant another? I forget which stripe meant what, but I know one meant the female was willing to mate and the other meant she was stressed.

[BettaxFishxCrazy]

Yes. Horizontal stripes (left to right) are stress stripes which is what the picture is of that I linked to. Vertical stripes (up, down) are breeding stripes that females will show when they're ready to breed.