Is This Fin Rot?

[JenniferRose]

Good afternoon all, 
 
I need to know whats going on with my Betta's fins. I'm thinking fin rot? 
 
I have a dragonscale betta, I posted pictures here earlier to help identify him when I bought him. I got him maybe 3 weeks ago? When i got him he had a slice in his fins, and since then it had healed up almost completely! I'm heartbroken to look at him this morning and see that his fins look horrible. When I looked at him two days ago the slice in his tail had healed up about 75% with a 1mm area still to go. 
This morning I looked and he looks pretty bad. His gorgeous fins look mangled and shredded and much more transparent and lackluster. 
 
I have artificial plants, but after hearing that he could get injured, I removed any plant that was able to shred tissues. All the plants in there have been checked that they are not sharp. (Long broad leaf replicas). I was intending to put him in a planted tank but haven't been able to do that yet.
 
He's in  2.5 bow tank, with running filter (and a buffer over the waterfall to make sure the water stays calm and doesn't stress him!). He eats like a pig, I feed him every couple of days and do 1/3 water changes every week. The tank was cycled before he was introduced. new water is always treated with Prime. 
 
If this is fin rot how to combat this? I've also noticed his color is fading, since I see him multiple times a day I didn't realize his color had changed so much until I saw his pictures from before. 
 
I've attached two pictures, with a before and after so you can see what's happening. 

 

[Wildbetta]

I see no sign of rot.  The damage appears to be from him biting his fins.  The color change doesn't appear to be anything to worry about either.  Most bettas carry the marble gene which means that they can change color (sometimes very dramatically) really quickly.  

Just some FYI -- your betta is not a dragon scale and even the broad leaf fake plants (if they are the ones made of plastic) can still snag betta fins at times.  Best way to check is to run a piece of panty hose across the plant and see if it catches.  

 

 

[omega59]

I had the same problem my Bettas tail near the bottom and top fin looked torn, I believe its the stones I have. Your Betta looks more like a super Delta Betta . Check your water stats and let us know as well, and I'd remove all fake plants asap, try felt or real ones. I believe plastic is a no no for any Betta. As for what to do water changes help a lot believe it or not with healing fins.

 

[omega59]

After looking closely, that is more of fin biting. They can do this if they are stressed or bored from what I understand.

 

[JenniferRose]

So I wanted to update. I bought the test kit and tested my water with that. As I suspected the stupid little water test strips were not accurate. My ammonia was really high, so he was obviously stressed and uncomfortable from the ammonia.   I've been doing 25% water changes every day, with 3 changes the first day 1 hour apart. (ammonia was very very high!) The ammonia is now down to .25 ppm and his color has returned to the iridescence.  He's actively begging me for food again too.
 
Nitrates spiked for a day but after a water change they were down to 0. I'm thinking I goofed up that test. 
 
I did cycle the tank before putting him in, but I'm wondering if it wasn't completely cycled. I know small tanks are hard to properly cycle. Right now I'm testing the water daily. 
 
I want to move him to a bigger, planted tank at some point but for now this is what he has to be in. I did the tissue test and pantyhose test on the broadleaf plant. I removed the two that caught on the hose, but those were removed long before his tail looked like this. 

I have yet to see him flare at me, so I don't know exactly how "big" his tail is. I had another post asking what he was and had answers all the way from dragonscale to half moon... As long as he is healthy thats all that matters to me really.