Help! New betta fish floating at top, not swimming or eating?

[SkeletonCandy]

I bought a 3.7 gallon tank yesterday ( the temperature is about 76F) and got it set up and bought my betta fish today. I put the cup with him in in it in the water for 30 min like the Petco employee said to do and then put him in the tank. At first he was swimming around curiously for the first 30 - 60 min and seemed okay. Then i noticed he was looking at his on reflection constantly and not really swimming except occasionally up and down. I was worried about him looking at his own reflection and taped a piece of paper on the outside so he couldnt see it. Now he is just floating the top, leaning against a wall on the filter.(His tail is going in the filter a bit but it doesnt seem to hurt him and He is able to move away from it but doesnt want to. He wont stop doing this and no matter what he wont look at any wall but the one with his reflection. I tried to feed him but there was no reaction. Is he okay? Am I overreacting? This is my first fish so Im worried!

 

[Silvercloud]

I’m not an expert, and I don’t really have a lot of advice to give but I think the temperature might be a little low

 

[King Fisher]

Is your tank cycled?
Did you use dechlorinator?
Does he have any visible problems such as torn or deteriorating fins, unusual spots or growths, swelling, ect....?

You should bump your temp up to 80. Bettas seem to do best between the temps of 79-82. Do this slowly. About 2 degrees tops an hour.

It's a pig in a poke when it comes to Petco Bettas kept in those room temp cups. A lot of them don't survive or end up with illness when you go to buy it and take it home for a month or two.....or less. I've had some success with them from Petco but I inspect them thoroughly or I get the baby ones that come in.

 

[SkeletonCandy]

Thanks! I've been trying to get the temperature up and i even tested the water twice to see if i needed to change it but this morning he seems to be doing a lot better! He's swimming around and exploring the tank and seems to be healthy. I think I probably freaked out for no reason because I think he just needed to adjust lol

 

[King Fisher]

Switching tanks is stressful. Glad to hear he's doing better. Just remember, you have an uncycled tank so you will need to be doing 50% water changes every 3 days......use dechlorinator in the water you add to the tank. A good one is Seachem Prime. If you could buy an API master test kit to test your water that would help you out a lot to determine a water change schedule. I've kept a Betta in a 3 gallon uncycled tank before and tested the water. I know you will pretty much be doing 50% water changes every three days. Eventually your tank will cycle.