Fin Rot? Help!

[hanrob]

I've had my betta fish, Loki, for about two months now and he's been a little sensitive from the beginning. Last week I noticed that his fins looked ragged and I googled it and saw that he may have fin rot. I completely cleaned his tank and gave him new water, but it just got worse. I now have him in a 5.5 gal tank and am treating him with Bettafix and aquarium salt, but he seems to just be getting worse. He is very weak and is having trouble swimming, his appetite has gone down, and he is constantly itching himself against the glass. Sometimes he swims down and his body folds over his head and he has trouble setting himself right again. His fins are very jagged and I can't seem to get a good picture of him, but what you can't see is that the edges of the fins that overlap are very deteriorated. I'm pretty sure it's fin rot, but he just seems to be getting worse and I don't know what to do.

[sainthogan]

If he is itching himself against the glass, he doesn't have fin rot by itself, that sounds more like an external parasite or fungus. It will help us help you if you fill out this form:
Housing
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?

[hanrob]

Housing
What size is your tank? 5.5 gallon
What temperature is your tank? 74
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? No
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? No

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Wardley Betta Food Alimento
How often do you feed your betta fish? Once a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Once a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? None

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? No

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Yes
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Yes
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Last week
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Yes, Bettafix and Aquarium salt
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? I'm not sure, I've had him for two months.

Also, he's been energetic until now, but today he started almost laying on the gravel and then darting to the surface before going back down.

[sainthogan]

First start with more frequent water changes, with no filter or live plants you should be doing about at least a full water change once or twice a month (if you have live plants, you won't want to do a 100% change), with a minimum of 1 50% a week. But if he's sick, you should bump it up to at least 3 a week.
There are mixed feelings about bettafix here, with the general consensus being that it's actually dangerous because it contains a type of tea tree oil that can damage the labyrinth lung. So to be on the safe side, do a complete water change, and don't add anymore bettafix (there was a case recently where as soon as the person quit using the bettafix, the fish got better and more active.. Do you have a hospital tank you can put him in to make water changes easier? You can always float a large tupperware in your tank to put him in so he can reach the surface easier.
Another thought is that he's been biting his tail, which would cause it to appear not to ever get any better. In that case, you don't need any medications at all (although aquarium salt won't hurt as long as you're using the recommended dose for a maximum of 14 days). The lethargy in this case could be from over medicating. If it turns out to be tailbiting, you'll need to find ways to keep him entertained to break this very difficult habit.