Is This Normal?

[krisjoh]

We just got a betta fish yesterday. This is our first one. We put it in a 1 gallon tank that said it was specifically for a betta fish. Right after we put him in the tank, he started acting weird (well it's weird to us). He seems listless, laying on the bottom of the tank alot, sometimes swimming upside down, or swimming to the top of the tank and then quickly dropping to the bottom on his back. We got him last night and he hasnt eaten much. A friend of ours said we needed to turn the filter off because the bubbles are upsetting him. The temp in our house is about 68-69 degrees.
Is his behavior normal? If not, what can we do to help him?

 

[Hollymolly4]

In my opinion bettas shouldn't be in anything that small. I had mine in a 5 gallon for about a year and he has since graduated into a 10 gallon. Betta's don't like that much water movement so any filter in a 1 gallon will be moving the water quite a bit.
JMO
Good luck!

 

[Amerce]

If you have bubbles in the tank then turn them off, also I would up the temp of the tank to around 75f as I think that temp is too low really.

For a 1 gallon I wouldn't bother with a filter but do 50% water changes every other day.

But as previously stated really 2 or more gallons is better then you can add a filter and also give the betta more swimming space, plus you can landscape the tank better.

But really 1st thing is up the temp and turn off the filter/air bubbles as the bubbles will get into his gills and make him unstable which is what is happening to him as far as I can figure.