Color changing betta

[IShallNtEatFish]

Hey y'all!

Let's start at the beginning, I have a 10 gallon tank with three female bettas in it the one I have had for te longest is the youngest due to me buying her as a baby. Over the past few days I have noticed Little Bit has been changing colors, here's the catch tho she isn't just changing then staying. She changed back in forth between bring blue/green to being blue and red and brown with stripes going horizontal down her body.

 

[brennae]

The stripes are from stress.

 

[IShallNtEatFish]

She's been stripped since I got her over a month ago.... She stays stripped 90% of the time.. And eats fine and swims and plays with the floating plants I have in there as well as plays with me... I'm just confused how she could be that healthy if she is always stressed... She's doubled in size since I've had her...

 

[Toad]

It's possible she's the lowest on the totem pole, when you have multiple females in a tank it's suggested to have at least four because often in trios two of them will gang up on the third.

 

[Samdaman]

I have a fighter doing that exact thing she is the strongest of my fighters and she has been like this since birth even when kept alone in a 20l and I have bred her to. So I think it's just a bit of an odd thing I kept her because I love the colour change but her babies never did it.

 

[IShallNtEatFish]

Well I know she isn't the lowest and I had just two and everyone said they did better in odd numbers. So I got the third. Little Bit and her sister Rose stick to one side because they have been together the longest and the third girl likes to be alone and plays with the floating plants. It didn't start when I added the new girl it just did it one day and I thought she had just finally come into her own and she was maturing the the next day she was stripy again. She is still as playful as ever. She plays hide and seek with me. She will look me on the eye and then go hide in the fake plants, once I'm not looking right at her she will pop out and follow me. She loves when I put my hand in the tank she swims through my fingers and will nibble at them if I don't have them wife spread wide enough for her to fit through.