forever_and_a_day Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 I finally convinced my mum to go to the Coburg aquarium and get me a female ^-^ The photos don't really do her justice. She's got a light smattering of blue iridescence and her fins are a faint yellow with blue rims and her eye has this very vivid blue splotch in it. on the way home i inspected the spots on the fins and then started wondering is that actually normal? I'm assuming that the horizontal stripes are juvenile stripes because the tank had quite alot of females with them and they themselves were pretty small is my assumption correct? or are they stress lines? that might also be probably because there was quite a lot of nipping going on in the tank as well... if they are juvenile lines, it is possible to approximate her age? and when the lines will go away? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 Congrats on her. Horizontal stripes indicate stress. They should go away as she settles in. Naming ideas? Are you going to spawn her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forever_and_a_day Posted January 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 that'd be nice. the whole spawning process seems quite fun and the weather's currently perfect for it we'll see. I want to see what she looks like when she colours up a bit before I start anything Still thinking of a name... hmmmmmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenGirl13 Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 Just looking at that first Phot MT Syndrome I'd call her Vamp, not as in Vampire but as in the old-fashioned Marilyn Monroe deal. She looks like she's wearing make-up and doing a bit of a shimmy! Love to see more when she's relaxed and happy, Jo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 She looks ALOT like the mother of my current spawn, and like half of the fry I have. Yours may be a bit more definite in yellow colour, where mine was a light browny yellow. Can't remember if the girl I had had as much blue irid on the caudal fin. The horizontal stripes are both stress stripes and juvenile markings. Adult fish will have horizontal bars when stressed. All juvenile fish show these markings. No, you can't determine the fish's age by the stripes. She's lovely. Have you got a male picked out for her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forever_and_a_day Posted January 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 @Flame Dragon: you're right, it does look like she's shimming XD bit of a noob question, but how old is a 'juvenile'? and to answer your question paul, I'll probably try her with Sunnie ^-^ who's a white/blue/yellow CT +here, which is why i went through so much trouble to pick out a female with the most compatible colouring and the least red... although since they're both LFS babies the results may be... interesting... doesn't that just sound like fun? i need to get some live plants first though... the store i went to was out of java moss and fern <_< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 Colour wise I think you've probably done very well. Does she have more of a blue glint to her fins or more green? A little bit of a shame you didn't find a CT female for him, but I'm sure the fry will still come out lovely. I'd suggest fattening her up a bit for a couple weeks before considering an attempt at spawning. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forever_and_a_day Posted January 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2011 (edited) :blush: thanks paul. and it's more of a blue tint than green ^-^ fattening her up shouldn't be a problem; I just fed her for the first time this morning and she ate like a pig edit: I just noticed a white thing inbetween her ventral and anal fins is that the breeding tube? I swear it wasn't there yesterday O_o Edited January 16, 2011 by MT Syndrome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul Posted January 16, 2011 Report Share Posted January 16, 2011 Yep. "egg spot". Fatten her up. Set up your spawn tank, and see what happens. Turquoise x steel blue will give you royal blue. Sounds lovely over yellow! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forever_and_a_day Posted January 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2011 will do paul will i end up with combtails do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forever_and_a_day Posted January 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2011 i take that back paul... she may actually be green. but blue in other lights? I think I may call her Subtle... because that pretty much describes her colouring although her behavior certainly isn't. she always zooms right up to my face to say hello, dances around and then tilts her head at me. <333 i never thought i would like my female over my pretty and brilliantly coloured male... but i do she's just got more... personality... XD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenGirl13 Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 Great photos MT! She is a lovely colour and sounds like a chronic flirt Jo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forever_and_a_day Posted January 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 :blush: thanks! and she definitely is a chronic flirt <3 btw i showed her a mirror yesterday and she flared (for the first time) at it and her stress bars immediately disappeared and gave way to the appearance of vertical bars... is this supposed to happen? I thought the vertical bars only appeared after seeing a male, not herself in the mirror. The vertical bars disappear after i take the mirror away and the stress bars reappear again faintly... does this mean she's ready to breed?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournebetta Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 She's very sweet MT, I'll be curious to hear about the stripes changing too - perhaps she thinks she's seeing another compatible fish, and showing signs of readiness? The weather in Melb is definitely ripe for spawning, out heaters don't have to work quite so hard either. All the best with the little lady (I've just discovered the personality of the female betta - and I have to say, I'm definitely impressed - these girls are FAST to learn and really good at tricks!) - Ness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 Boy and girl betta will intensify in colour when flaring. The girls get dark and tend to show vertical bars. These are the same as breeding bars, but don't necessarily mean that your dealing with courtship behaviour. From memory, the girls I've bred the breeding bars were even more pronounced than these aggression/display bars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forever_and_a_day Posted January 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 @Ness: defs! female bettas are awesome @paul: thanks for the heads up! i can't really tell the difference between her bars when she's flaring at the mirror vs when she's flaring at Sunnie... i'll take a closer look later. btw can anyone give me a list of "homicidal" behaviors (for both m/f bettas)? I'm worried that being a newbie, I might mistake one for the other and they'll kill each other :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 There is a good article on the AusAqua homepage on sexing Bettas. http://www.ausaqua.net/files/sexingbettas001.html :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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