So, I got a juvenile male betta fish a few weeks ago, and his behavior seems normal. He rarely hides, he swims around a lot, and when I'm in my room he's on the side of the tank I'm closest to looking at me. However, there is one strange thing. He seems to have stress stripes all the time, despite rarely acting stressed. He just acts like a happy fish. When he's asleep, he has his normal coloration. A few minutes after he wakes up though, he'll have those stripes. Why the heck does this happen? I would post a picture of him, but it makes him freak out. I'll see what I can do later, but for now, here's a fish meme.
>>2163793
Bettas usually like to hide behind plants and things like that so maybe he doesn't hide because he can't
>>2163829
No, I have some fake plants and even a little plastic lot he can swim into. Good try though.
>>2163835
*log, not 'lot'
>>2163793
are you sure its a male? You might have a female
In my experience, 'stress' stripes is an inaccurate name as females (and lighter colored males sometimes) will stripe up as soon as anything moves. Mine will do it when I get up to feed them. It's more like 'stimulation stripes' since they'll do it in excitement as well.
If you fish is stressed, you'll know though because the stripes get very prominent. My dark Red-violet girl turned white when I put her in a new tank. Stayed that way all day, I could hardly find her against my white walls
>>2163793
>My fish freaks out at the idea I'd post a pic of him on 4chan.
Come on Anon, I know fishes aren't as dumb as people say, but they're not that smart either!
>>2163874
I'm nearly 100% sure it's a male. It's still a juvenile, and since juveniles aren't usually very vibrant, it just being excited is probably the case. Thanks for your help!
>>2163881
Come on Anon, i know this is a fish thread, but that doesn't mean you should bait!
Sorry to hijack this thread.
I have a betta in a 30 gal. Or at least I used to. I have seen him out once the past 3 months. I still feed as normal, turn lights on/off etc. There's not a lot of places to hide, but he's a dark fellow and hard to spot. Does anyone else have experience with this? Do bettas naturally hide often? I have to look on the floor and lid every day because i can never find the fucker. As it stands now idk if he is alive or dead but I don't want to start taking shit out looking for him and stressing him out if he is alive
