Is this finrot?

[pepperr]

Hello,
When I purchased my fish 10 days ago he had a small piece of his caudal fin missing, which I ignorantly thought was just how he was built. The rear portion of his anal fin also appears to be frayed. The missing piece on his caudal fin seems to have gotten a pinch bigger.
Is this finrot?

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? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? Currently none. However, I tried 2 ghost shrimps a few days ago but he killed them both within 24hrs.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Hikari Betta Bio-Gold & occasionally freeze dried brine shrimp
How often do you feed your betta fish? 1 pellet, 3-4 times a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? It depends bc I am currently cycling but about two times a week.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 25-45%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Nutrafin's Cycle, API Splendid Betta water conditioner, & Kent Pro-plant if need for the live plants

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
Yes, and I have also been cycling the new 5 gallon tank he is in for the past week.

Ammonia:0.50ppm before water changes, 0.25 after water change
Nitrite: 0.5 ppm
Nitrate: 10ppm (possibly 20ppm, hard to tell with color chart)
pH:6.8
Hardness: ? (using reverse osmosis water)
Alkalinity: ?

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? missing portion on tail seems to have possibly gotten larger
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? It has not, he is very active and has a healthy appetite.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Two days ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? No
Does your fish have any history of being ill? At time of purchase (10 days ago) his caudal fin had a piece missing and all his other fins were how they currently appear. He also had an episode of swim bladder on my 2nd day with him, which resolved within 18 hours.
How old is your fish (approximately)? He appears to be a mature adult, 2-3 inches long- he was purchased at a LFS.

[pepperr]

Any opinions?

[Canuck Fins]

Fin rot tends to be black along the edges. I'm not sure. Are those two pictures from the same time? Or do you have any before and now photos?

(Note on the food: You'd be better to feed frozen rather than freeze dried. Freeze dried isn't as nutritious.)

[pepperr]

Thanks so much for your input!

The pics above were both taken yesterday... here are pics from when I got him (10 days ago) and now... they are the best I could find.
The "before" is the one where dorsal fin looks floppy and the "after" is the one with his dorsal fin up.

I also noticed that he tore a slit in the center of his anal fin on something, but that healed up in two days... since then I replaced his silk plants with live ones, and changed his decor... also he went after the 2 ghost shrimp that were in there, so maybe they did it? I have no idea as I am new to having fish.... again thank you for your thoughts.

[pepperr]

One more "before" pic...

[Blazer23]

Doesn't look like finrot to be. Finrot is supposed to show a brownish-blackish line across the fin.

See this website about finrot: http://www.bettafishcenter.com/Fin-Rot.shtml

[pepperr]

Yippie! Thanks for the input!

[cesitlie95]

Very pretty Betta! It is definitely not finrot but his fins do look a bit shredded. The ghost shrimp could very well be the cause.

[FuulieQ]

Personally, it looks like he's just cut himself. Nothing scuzzy to indicate finrot! :D Just clean, warm water should be sufficient to heal that right up.

[lilchiwolf]

yeah, either snagged himself or picking up the tail biting habit. Keep an eye on him >.>