# Female Betta,Constant Flaring & Horizontal Stripes



## LetItBe4Sanity (Dec 5, 2010)

About a month ago I purchased 3 female betta together and started them off in a quarantine tank, then added them to a 10 gallon that had been cycled and properly ornamented. Temperature is great, and its also filtered (but not too much where it'd cause any problems).

I noticed that this particular fish tended to be rather bossy and mean to the other fish. Within the last week, however, she's the one who was being bullied (although it never ended bad considering its a large tank). Up until the last few days, however, she's seemed in good health.

Her colors are still bright and beautiful, but she has the horizontal lines (which I know means stress) and she's constantly flaring. All of the other fish look marvelous and in great shape. I decided to quarantine her (yesterday) and even alone she's flaring.

What should I do?


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## baylee767 (Nov 5, 2010)

You're supposed to have a minimun of 4 female bettas in a sorority, some even say six! Females tend to be stressed out slightly in a sorority, but the more the merrier! I was told once that odd numbers are best, so there can be an alpha female. If I were you I'd add some more females (But remove the current females and rearange the decor first!) So that there was 5-7 females! The more females, the more the aggression is spread out. If your fish is stressed from the other fish attacking her, then there's the answer to your problem.


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## LetItBe4Sanity (Dec 5, 2010)

baylee767 said:


> You're supposed to have a minimun of 4 female bettas in a sorority, some even say six! Females tend to be stressed out slightly in a sorority, but the more the merrier! I was told once that odd numbers are best, so there can be an alpha female. If I were you I'd add some more females (But remove the current females and rearange the decor first!) So that there was 5-7 females! The more females, the more the aggression is spread out. If your fish is stressed from the other fish attacking her, then there's the answer to your problem.


I forgot to mention I bought a fourth a bit ago... she was quarantined then added to the tank. She's doing awesome. The forementioned betta just seems to be getting worse.


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## baylee767 (Nov 5, 2010)

Sorry than idk what the problem is )= Maybe sorority life isn't for her?


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## Tsuhei (Nov 26, 2010)

*Not testing your intelligence here*, but are you sure it's a female? Because I think we had a forum member make a post about how one of his/her "females" was actually a male.

If not, I'd still take her out anyway and start treating her if she's hurt =( poor girl. Sounds like if she's still a she, then she's probably not the sorority type.


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## LetItBe4Sanity (Dec 5, 2010)

I'm pretty positive she's a girl... I've had her for about a month now and her fins haven't really grown at all. I've been watching her today and even alone she's flaring. She looks REALLY sad, and doesn't really have the energy to swim around even though she's in a large tank all by herself. I love my Jasmine...  I want to fix her!


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## LetItBe4Sanity (Dec 5, 2010)

Oh, and another quick note... I noticed she doesn't really spread her tail like the others do. She keeps it kind of, um, I guess you'd call it contracted? I mean here and there she does, but mostly they're small and she continuously flares.


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## sayurasem (Nov 20, 2010)

its normal, my double tail female is a bully too.
she bullyother veil, and my crowntail females as well.
so 10g tank is a must.


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## Tsuhei (Nov 26, 2010)

Actually it doesn't have to have long fins to be a male. There's a type of finnage called "plakat". For example, like my avatar picture of my fish, Stamps. But if you're positive it's a girl, then I won't test you  

If her fins are clamped, she might be really stressed out or sick. Make sure there's enough hidey-holes in your tank so she can seek shelter when she's had enough bullying if you decide to keep her in the sorority. But if she's weak, I would put her in a quarantine / hospital tank until she got better and regained her strength, then possibly try to reintroduce her later.


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## BettaGirl290 (Jul 29, 2010)

Himmm, idk how to treat this, maybe try putting her in with a male, (snd buy a male if ya dont have one) she might get happier and mean flare can turn into happy flares. (maybe im just saying, maybe.)


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## BettaGirl290 (Jul 29, 2010)

post pics of her?


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## Jayy (Dec 23, 2009)

If she truly is a female you should able to she a white eggspot underneath her. Posting pics if you can would also help us out. When she flares is her beard larger than the other females? It's sounds like you may have a male plakat. Their always mistaken for females at most pet stores including Wal-mart. Infact a member just posted a thread like this and foundout that her ''female'' was really a male.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I agree. A pic would help. :]


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## LetItBe4Sanity (Dec 5, 2010)

After MUCH time, I finally got a few pictures of her/him (I don't own a camera so I'm using a camera phone).


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Looks like a stressed/sick female betta to me. She may just be very low on the totem pole and because there is such a small number of females in the sorority there is not enough fish to spread the aggression out. 

Also, did you acclimatise her properly before putting her in the new tank? She might be clamping her fins because of the change in environment. The tank itself looks rather bare. Bettas tend to love densely planted tanks because it gives them the security of having somewhere to hide if they get stressed out. Large, leafy plants are a great favourite with my bettas. 

Since you have taken out this female, I would keep very close watch on the other two that have been left behind. Usually, if kept in pairs, the dominant female will often harass the more submissive one and possibly injure it.


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## LetItBe4Sanity (Dec 5, 2010)

LittleBettaFish said:


> Looks like a stressed/sick female betta to me. She may just be very low on the totem pole and because there is such a small number of females in the sorority there is not enough fish to spread the aggression out.
> 
> Also, did you acclimatise her properly before putting her in the new tank? She might be clamping her fins because of the change in environment. The tank itself looks rather bare. Bettas tend to love densely planted tanks because it gives them the security of having somewhere to hide if they get stressed out. Large, leafy plants are a great favourite with my bettas.
> 
> Since you have taken out this female, I would keep very close watch on the other two that have been left behind. Usually, if kept in pairs, the dominant female will often harass the more submissive one and possibly injure it.


There were 3 in the tank originally, but a bit ago I added a fourth so it was a sorority of 4. Now that this one has been removed, there are 3, and they seem to be doing really well in their tank.

The tank shown in the pictures is my small hospital tank that hasn't been used up until now except when quarantining the new fourth fish. Its ornamented with a large ruin like building to swim through and a cave in the back. I'm planning on getting a plant or two as well, but I don't see how you could consider this a "bad" tank.

When I introduced her into the hospital tank, I cupped her with the same water from the big tank into a bag, acclamated her for 20 minutes, added some water in from the new tank, left it for 20 minutes, then poured her into the hospital tank. So it can't be that. Its been over two days now and she's still acting like this.


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## shinybetta (Jul 3, 2010)

Actually, Quarintine tanks are best with minimal decoration for convenient cleaning.


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## LetItBe4Sanity (Dec 5, 2010)

shinybetta said:


> Actually, Quarintine tanks are best with minimal decoration for convenient cleaning.


Well there you are. Nothing wrong with the tank. So now... how do I cure my poor Jasmine?  Day 3 in quarantine and still the same. Perhaps slightly better (in that her tail isn't clenched) but still constant flaring and flitting about, and very dark horizontal lines


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