[Emilyyy]

Hi there,
I have a rescue betta who I got on February 11th. He's currently in a cycled 1 gallon tank with a filter and heater.
Water Parameters:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: around 10
I do 30-50% water changes every other day with spring water and half the dose of dechlorinator.
Once in a while he will jerk to one side and then continue swimming. It looks like he can't control it. I linked a video below, but that's the only video I can get of him twitching a bit. It's not as bad as it usually is.

Skip to around 0:11-0:12 and that's where he will twitch a bit once and then after when he swims away he will twitch a bit too. Sorry it's really shaky, I recorded it with my laptop.

 

[MissCris]

Looks pretty normal to me. Most of the bettas I've had did that, and my last betta lived over half a decade. I'm watching my current betta, and he moves the same way. The thing is, they do that when they are about to dart off to check something out (like a cat that just spotted a bird), but in a 1 gallon he lacks the space to actually move very far, so it looks like he's twitchy. Mine is in a 30g, so when he does that he follows up by darting 10, maybe 15, inches or more towards whatever has caught his attention.

If you can, try to move him up in to at least a 5 gallon tank, ten is better. A one gallon is not a good permanent home for a betta as they are actually fairly active and intelligent fish, and a bigger tank is much more stable too. In the meantime, keep up on those water changes (good to know you're doing them often). They have a lot of personality, and bettas that are not stressed out will often become very interactive with their keepers because they learn to recognize you over time.

 

[Emilyyy]

Looks pretty normal to me. Most of the bettas I've had did that, and my last betta lived over half a decade. I'm watching my current betta, and he moves the same way. The thing is, they do that when they are about to dart off to check something out (like a cat that just spotted a bird), but in a 1 gallon he lacks the space to actually move very far, so it looks like he's twitchy. Mine is in a 30g, so when he does that he follows up by darting 10, maybe 15, inches or more towards whatever has caught his attention.

If you can, try to move him up in to at least a 5 gallon tank, ten is better. A one gallon is not a good permanent home for a betta as they are actually fairly active and intelligent fish, and a bigger tank is much more stable too. In the meantime, keep up on those water changes (good to know you're doing them often). They have a lot of personality, and bettas that are not stressed out will often become very interactive with their keepers because they learn to recognize you over time.

Oh I forgot to mention...The 1 gallon is only temporary until I can get his 10g cycled!
Thanks for the reply!