Strange Betta Behaviour

Question
Hi Amber,
I recently bought a new betta and he's in a 1.5 gallon tank with an water filter/bubbling thing. (I'm not really sure what to call it.) Anyway, I change around 25% of his water yesterday and it seems to have changed his behaviour quite a lot. He used to be a very calm swimmer, but he suddenly become very spastic. Additionally, he's be lodging himself into the plants in the tank. Sometimes it looks like he's doing a headstand. Right now he's at the bottom of the plant and it looks like he's buried his head into the gravel. I don't really know what to make of his behaviour and I was wondering if you could help.

Thank you!

Answer
Hello Sandra-

When you changed his water, were you sure to use water conditioner? Untreated tap water (even if your house has well water) can kill a betta in hours. If you did use water conditioner, did you check the temperature? Adding very hot or very cold water can traumatize a betta. Are the levels of ammonia too high? You can take a water sample to PETsMART and they will check the levels for free. All of these things can affect a betta's behavior, and it may even be a combination of all three factors.

Hope this is useful, and sorry for the long wait! (emergency root canal...ouch)

-Amber Worman