Betta help - is this fin rot?

Hi! This is Mr gills by betta fish. I've noticed that his fins appear damaged these last couple of days. He has some fake plants in his tank, but they aren't sharp, and he has a few pigmy cory friends in his tanks, but from what I have seen, there is no fin-nipping behaviour. Is it possible that he has fin rot?

Do you have a picture from before you noticed the damage? It looks like Mr. Gills may have a case of fin rot, but hard to tell without knowing what his beautiful pattern looks like in it's full glory.

The next step would be offering some basic husbandry info so people can help get to the bottom of the issue

• Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate level
• Tank size
• Tank temperature
• How often you're doing water changes and what % of the water you're replacing

If he has been added to the tank recently, fin splits would be natural. He has huge fins, and has been raised in a jar to keep them from moving so he'll sell. Out in the wide world, the fins move and rip along the edges. If the tail is fin rot you will see a greyish edge where it breaks off. You will have to watch him in case the tail fin starts to form solid pieces larger than the fin rays naturally there. They can get almost cones forming due to a fungus infection.
They can also just shed chunks of fin in a real aquarium where they can swim for the first time in their lives. When they lie around immobile in jars with those fins folded all over each other, things get trapped and fins get damaged. I had one of the many Bettas I kept whose tail fin shortened considerably after I got him. He lived for years.
I no longer buy long finned bettas because none f the breeding is for their health - it's all for our eyes.

If it calls for treatment, what is available is different in every country. You'd need a British betta keeper to comment.

about 50years ago i bought a betta and overnight its fins became impaled on the filters syphon tube and it not only killed the fish, it removed all the color on the fins.