Help! Sam has tiny holes in his fins!

[KukaaKatchou]

I moved Sam into a 5 gallon tank with plants Tuesday night. I just noticed that he has some small holes in his fins. What do I do?? What is the cause? He is still swimming around and looking healthy and flirting with my cat but I don't want him to get sick!

Housing
What size is your tank? 5 gallon
What temperature is your tank? 78 - 80 F
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? no not yet
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? he's alone

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Hakari Betta gold, occasional bloodworm
How often do you feed your betta fish? twice a day, only once on Sunday , 2 pellets a feeding

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? new tank, he's been in only 2 days
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? n/a
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Betta Plus conditioner

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? small holes in fins
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? hasn't
When did you start noticing the symptoms? today
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? no
Does your fish have any history of being ill? no
How old is your fish (approximately)? I got him 1.5 weeks ago

[Capricorn]

Clean water.

Make sure it isn't a decoration or plant that is causing the problem.

[KukaaKatchou]

so I do a 100% water change on my 5 gallon or I move him into a 1 gallon and do 100% water changes?

The first day I had the filter on high by accident and its on low now. I think my plants are pretty soft. He's been in 5 G only 48 hours or so - is that enough time for water to be dirty?

[Capricorn]

Well, if the holes are small they shouldn't really be a problem.. if they're not giving him trouble swimming then there's no reason to take him out of the 5gal. Just keep up with your regular water changes and he'll be fine.

[Ajones108]

Are they pinholes in his tail? This could be a sign of stress. If the 5 gallon tank is uncycled, make sure you do water changes frequently. Not 100% changes though, because you want your bacterial colony to develop. I recommend feeding him high-protein foods like frozen bloodworms. Your Hikari pellets are high on the protein but high on fillers as well, so if he gets bloated easily you might want to consider a different brand.

To help his tail heal up, you want clean-testing water and high protein foods. Bumping up the heater gradually to about 83-84 degrees can also speed up his metabolism, helping his fins heal faster. If they're just pinholes, they'll heal quickly. If they get bigger and become tears, you're going to want to QT him with some aquarium salt to speed it along. You don't want fin rot creeping up its ugly head.

The filter probably just knocked his tail around a bit. He IS a crowntail and they're a bit sensitive. Just give it time and keep us updated. :)

[Adastra]

Holes in the fin can also be from flaring too much or struggling against the current--the webbing gets put under a lot of tension and pinholes are the result. He should heal with clean water--you should consider baffling the filter and making sure he's not getting over-flared.

[KukaaKatchou]

I noticed he was flaring more often in the new tank. I have the filter turned way down. Will keep an eye on him. He is super active all over the tank and seems healthy.