Pics Of My Bloated Females...

[HayzH]

This is Snow...
 
 
https/www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151428094552896&set=a.10151002446167896.428631.532877895&type=3&theater
 
https/www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151428094542896&set=a.10151002446167896.428631.532877895&type=3&theater
 
 
This is Ice...
 
https/www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151428094917896&set=a.10151002446167896.428631.532877895&type=3&theater
 
https/www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151428094827896&set=a.10151002446167896.428631.532877895&type=3&theater
 
This is Beauty, who seems to be losing all her beautiful blue scales for some reason...but i took this to compare bellies too.
https/www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151428094947896&set=a.10151002446167896.428631.532877895&type=3&theater
 
https/www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151428094522896&set=a.10151002446167896.428631.532877895&type=3&theater
 
 
This is Shadow...my stunning boy in with the ladies.
 
https/www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151428094712896&set=a.10151002446167896.428631.532877895&type=3&theater
 
https/www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151428094762896&set=a.10151002446167896.428631.532877895&type=3&theater
 
hope these links work?!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[Wildbetta]

Ok.  Snow and Ice look good to me.  Nice, round, well fed females with no pineconing and everything looks symmetrical even though they are plump.  Ice looks a little clamped but that could just be from the way the pic was taken.  If she normally keeps her fins clamped up like they look in those photos I would be concerned but otherwise to me they both look like nice healthy females.
 
Beauty is the one I am concerned about.  I am almost 100% positive that Beauty is a male plakat and not a female betta.  As you can see he is looking very poorly with his scales having major issues.  Possibly could be anchor worms under the scales or some other form of parasite.  His fins look pretty torn up to which is probably because of the two females in the tank OR from the other male you have in there now.  This fish is not well at all.  He is extremely thin which is probably why you thought your two females were bloated. 
 
Shadow is beautiful but won't be for long especially in the tank with two females and another male.  
 
**Another thing I would like to point out is in your sig, you have only 3 barbs and 1 cory in that same tank.  If this is correct, then you have a possibility of the barbs doing damage to the bettas as well since they are not in a decent shoal and the poor cory needs AT LEAST 2 more of its own kind to be happy.

 

[372xp]

I'll go with Wildbetta on Beauty being a plakat male, I had one of these. For months I couldn't figure out if it was a boy or a girl then one day I put him in a breeder trap and he blew a lovely bubble nest. This type of plakat always ends up in the females tank at LFS's. Because they are normally quite young when sold in shops and have spent all of there lives with a large group of females they tend to be ok for a while. However as they start to reach sexual maturity they will start to be more aggresive. Males like this are often palmed off as females by lazy breeders who hav'nt screened there fish properly by moving them on. If treated as a male they grow up to be the most beautiful adult fish. Mine was rehomed to another breeder after he ripped the face off a female whilst I was unsure of his gender. A parasitic in fection could be the problem, is he doing white stringy poo?
Here is a picture of my old fish who I bought as a female

 

[HayzH]

Ok.  Snow and Ice look good to me.  Nice, round, well fed females with no pineconing and everything looks symmetrical even though they are plump.  Ice looks a little clamped but that could just be from the way the pic was taken.  If she normally keeps her fins clamped up like they look in those photos I would be concerned but otherwise to me they both look like nice healthy females.

 
Ice usually has no clamped fins.
 

Beauty is the one I am concerned about.  I am almost 100% positive that Beauty is a male plakat and not a female betta.  As you can see he is looking very poorly with his scales having major issues.  Possibly could be anchor worms under the scales or some other form of parasite.  His fins look pretty torn up to which is probably because of the two females in the tank OR from the other male you have in there now.  This fish is not well at all.  He is extremely thin which is probably why you thought your two females were bloated. 

 
OMG! I am in shock! he/she has always been the boss of the tank. i got him/her with another female. the other females is the one i sadly lost to bloating/pineconing. I remember asking at the time why her colours changed from time to time..she went from royal blue to browny striped!
what treatment should i give Beauty?
It's probably the crappy picture, but the fins are not torn..they are fine and dandy. Her/his only problem is the scales. He/she eats well and not really seen him/her poo so i don't know there.
 
 

Shadow is beautiful but won't be for long especially in the tank with two females and another male.
 
**Another thing I would like to point out is in your sig, you have only 3 barbs and 1 cory in that same tank.  If this is correct, then you have a possibility of the barbs doing damage to the bettas as well since they are not in a decent shoal and the poor cory needs AT LEAST 2 more of its own kind to be happy.

 
ideas on ways i can solve this? can beauty go in tank 1 with the DG's?
 
I have 6 Cories in the tank with the barbs and betta, none of the betta have fin damage.

 

[HayzH]

bump...

 

[Wildbetta]

I am positive that Beauty is a male plakat and so would need to be moved away from the females.  After relooking at the pic I can see what you mean about the fins.  I would not put him with the DG if you have a choice because that will not work out any better than the situation you have him in right now.  You situation is a difficult one since you now have 3 males instead of 2 and only 2 females.  Not enough females for a sorority and really you shouldn't leave them in the tank by themselves (betta wise).  You really need around 3 more to keep a safe number of them.   What sizes are your tanks?  I may be able to come up with a solution depending on the sizes.

 

[HayzH]

tank 1 is 110L
tank 2 is 77L
tank 3 is 60L
tank 4 is 30L
 
how the dickens can you tell Beauty is a male?? Have you seen the other thread when i first got him/her with the other one Fiona?

 

[Wildbetta]

Ok so here is what I would do if I were you.  Leave tank 1 and 4 alone as they are fine the way they are.  Tank 2 can house 1 male betta, plus all the other fish from tanks 2&3 (that are not bettas).  Tank 3 can be divided 4 ways to separately house each of your other bettas safely.  Similar to this :   
 
As far as how I can tell Beauty is a male...it takes experience with bettas and there are some other telling features even from early on.  The anal fin is a big flag to me and looking at the before pics and the now pic -- it definitely tells me that Beauty is a male.

 

[HayzH]

cool.
 
so in tank 2 or 3...whichever way round i do it......
 
i'll have : Flare (male betta)
               Beauty (male Betta)
               Shadow (male Betta)
               Snow and Ice in together? (female bettas)
 
then the other:
 
                6x Cories
                6x Rummynose
                5x Rasboras
                1x Platy
                3x Barbs
 
is that not over stocked?
Think i will be getting another tank!!

 

[Wildbetta]

It will probably be a little overstocked (had no idea how many of certain fish you had in the tanks) at least for a while until you can get another tank.  It is the best option for your situation that I can see besides immediately going out and getting another tank.  You might be able t squeeze a few of the smaller fish into the bigger tank depending on how many G. light tetras are in there.  Keep the schooling fish in tank number 2 since it is a larger tank than number 3.  Tank number 3 can easily be divided slightly differently to accomondate all your bettas in tank 3 except for the single male in tank number 4.  Tank 3 needs to be divided into 6 sections -- one section for each betta.  The females need to be separated as well, keeping two by themselves is just asking for trouble.  Here is a pic of another one of my tanks divided into more sections.
 

 

[HayzH]

i have 7 Glowlights in Tank 1.
 
Where do you get these dividers from??? and how do you manage filtration? still one in the whole tank?
 
This is stressing me out now!!
 
and a 60 L tank divided into 5 doesnt leave much room IMO

 

[Wildbetta]

The dividers are homemade.  I used craft mesh and suction cups in the last pic, and craft mesh with report binder pieces for the first pic.  Normally on the tank in the second pic,I had 3 filters running(When I took the pic, I was about to take the tank down so I had already removed the other filters).  I would have the intake in one betta's side and the outflow in another betta's side which kept the tank very well filtered and it was heated with a decent sized heater in the middle.  
 
A 60L is about 15 US gallons which would give each of your bettas around 2.5 gallons which is a decent amount of water.  The tank will be a much more stable cycle and environment for your bettas than what they are in at the moment.
 
The main thing to consider is you need to separate your bettas soon.  At least one more tank would help with that.  I was trying to help you out in ways that didn't include buying another tank. 

 

[HayzH]

been to the LFS today, and i spoke to the lady who sold me the Gourami (and told me it was fine to house 1 male with 3 female) and told her what you said, she looked like i was pulling her leg!
She didnt believe Beauty was a male Plakat at all.
I had my hands on a new tank but with filter and light would be £47!!
I decided to go home to price up tank dividers...
i have bought 4... at a cost of £38!!
I have another issue about Beauty now.
 
Can They go blind??? He/she has a pure white spot in each eye, and swims into things, this with the scale problem is starting to do my nut in!!!
what do i use to help him/her, medicine wise.??? He/she is hiding all the time now..poor thing.
 
please help.