Several problems all at once

[Crazykat]

Hey all, I finally got my betta (best present ever!) and being a bit of a hypochondriac, I'm concerned right off the bat. Taji hasn't eaten since I got him three days ago, and has some other wierd symptoms and behaviours. Let me know what you think!
Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5 gal
What temperature is your tank? 76 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? No tank mates

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? I've tried Aqueon betta food, Wardley betta pellets, soaked freeze-dried bloodworms, and a mixture made by a betta breeder that contains all sorts of proteins and seaweeds that just flew right over my head when she was telling me. XD

How often do you feed your betta fish? Well, I've been trying night and morning.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? I'm currently doing a change every day.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? About 20%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? I'm adding 1 drop of Prime conditioner, and 1/2 tsp aquarium salt.

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
My test kit just shows whether anything is above normal, but there are no acual values (just color changes).

Ammonia: none
Nitrite: none
Nitrate: none
pH: 7.2
Hardness: 0-25ppm
Alkalinity: 180 ppm

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? He has a blackened edge along the bottom of his anal fin, and it looks crimped, but not like it's fading away. I'm treating it as fin rot, but is it really? In addition (and I totally may be overreacting as a new fish mommy :D), I think I see one little whitish, filmy mass over his eye. (Ick?! OH NO!)

How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He has generally been pretty active, although for several hours during the afternoon, he hides under the heater and won't come out. Also, when he flares, he...chases his tail? O.o Is it normal for them to flare in circles? He does swim straight the rest of the time.

When did you start noticing the symptoms? He hasn't eaten since I got him, the tail issue I saw as soon as he was out of the blue water three days ago, the white thing I saw a few minutes ago, and the wierd flaring thing started a day ago when he was feeling happier in his new tank.

Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I'm giving him 1/2 a tsp of aquarium salt after each water change.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? I have no idea.
How old is your fish (approximately)? At least 1 yr old I'd guess from the size of him. He's a pretty big guy.

[tsoto80]

can you take a pic?

[Crazykat]

Okay, after much chasing here are two rather blurry pics. He wouldn't stop moving. Honestly, he's okay with warning humans off his territory, but a camera? Terrors! I can't even get a picture of the thing on his head, so I guess I'll just keep an eye on it to see if it spreads.

[DormDrax]

*Sips Tea*

Not to ignore your other issues but could I see a good image of your Betta's eyes?

After all the problems I've had with Drax's bad eye I'm probably an expert on them now...

Drax's had a white-cloudy glaze to it (His right one) but it used to be MUCH worse.

So I'll take the eye issue and I'm sure someone else will take the fin issues... because I've never dealt with FinRot so I can't give first had advice.

[Crazykat]

Thanks DormDrax! Okay, I only got one photo before Taji realized I was holding THAT THING! and escaped into a plant, but what I'm looking at is the white spot above his left eye (it's very faint, but it's definitely there in real life). Now that I'm looking at the photo, it's actually in the centerish of his face. I'm starting to see more of these (could just be I have better light this morning), extremely tiny, smaller than grains of sand.

[Colibri]

I would say your little one is having Ich. It's a pretty common decease that's usually triggered if the fish is stressed. If your fish looks like he's been showered with white grains of sand, it's definitively Ich. The treatment is actually very simple, he'll get over it soon. You can use some malachite green for that.

[Crazykat]

Well, the good news is, I was staring at Taji and I can now see clear regrowth under the black tissue on his anal fin, so the salt treatment must be working. He's been rocketing around the tank rubbing on things for the last five minutes, so I think you're right about the ich. Can I get malachite green at a Petsmart, do you know? Thanks for all your help!
Edit: Also, could ich explain why he isn't eating?

[Colibri]

If he's a new fish, it's actually normal that he's not eating and won't be willing to eat for a few days. It's because of the shock of being on a new environment. Ich can also cause fish not to eat, but, from my experience, that only happens if Ich is very spread on the fish body. Some of my girls in the sorority had Ich and they all ate well. To treat Ich, it's important to understand that the parasite won't be affected by any medicine while attached on the fish's body. It's only when it falls off that the medicine kills it. I like better to use malachite green than other products because it works great for me. Here in Mexico it's very easy to find, I guess a PetSmart or Petco would have some, but I can't assure you that. What I can suggest you, is putting your little one on a quarantine tank (or the same one he's living right, only take out all the decor etc because if you use the malachite green it'll color all of it and taking that color away is almost impossible) and raising the temperature to 84-86F to accelerate the parasite's cycle. Perform a 100% water change every 2 days to get rid of the remaining parasites in the water. Good luck!

[Crazykat]

He's in 84 degree water and I've just done a water change and put Rid-ich (malachite green and formalin) in. He's rubbing himself against everything. He looks so uncomfortable, poor boy. In addition, he has become a tailbiter in the two hours it took me to get his meds. Hopefully that will go away once he doesn't itch anymore. Thanks for the great advice Colibri!