Help with betta fin rot please??

[KhloeM]

SOMEONE PLEASE READ! hello everyone! i need help! so i have been struggling to figure out what happened to my betta, Zeus's, tail. it got worse over the past couple of days, and he currently resembles a crowntail betta! that's his tail currently i've always had luck with Bettafix in the past (please no opinions wether you believe it works, it has just always worked for me personally) so i bought a new bottle and started using it today. but i just can't seem to decide if it is fin rot, or if the filter got his tail stuck? (he is in a 5 gallon tank by himself) i've had the filter off only until yesterday because the water started getting cloudy.
the thing i don't understand is that i checked all of my water parameters and they were absolutely perfect! pH was a bit high, but i obviously resolved that and got it to 7.0 before putting him in. ammonia is at zero, and everything else is fine as well (nitrates between 0-10 i believe, and nitrites at zero) i just don't understand how he got fin rot.
another possibility is that he had already had fin rot (if this is possible) from being in the small tank, which probably did not have good parameters at all. but maybe he just never showed signs of it? maybe it was just the stress of moving him to a new big tank? ugh i don't know! i've used dissolved salt, but it hasn't helped since his tail is even worse today. it's never looked like this! please help if you have any idea what i could do.
*the good thing is, he's not lethargic or anything, still swimming around like normal!

pleeease help me if you know what to do! i don't want the fin rot to get really bad

 

[KhloeM]

here is another picture of his tail

 

[bunnytheartist]

there isn't a lot of discoloration on the tips, so watch him closely to make sure he isn't nipping his tail. sometimes the ones with bigger fins will "trim" themselves to make it easier to swim. keep his water tidy, and i'd recommend quarantining him with dissolved aquarium salt water (once you're certain it's fin rot).

 

[KhloeM]

there isn't a lot of discoloration on the tips, so watch him closely to make sure he isn't nipping his tail. sometimes the ones with bigger fins will "trim" themselves to make it easier to swim. keep his water tidy, and i'd recommend quarantining him with dissolved aquarium salt water (once you're certain it's fin rot).

thanks for the reply honestly, i'm starting to think it's tail biting. people say it could be boredom, because i dont believe he's uncomfortable since the parameters are fine. i'm getting advice from people answering my questions about this on another forum, and they're saying to put things in that will amuse him. i've also read that plenty of times.
i honestly just redid his entire tank, and i added more silk plants and a little log to swim through. so far all he cares about is the new filter, which frustrates me a bit. i have the old one still running, but i put in a special type of bacteria (don't know the name of it, i got it from a friend free of charge) that automatically cycles the tank. it actually works too! i tested everything with my API Master Test Kit and all is good. i'm just super frustrated. i just wish he would stop! i've never seen him do it, so he has to be doing it at night. i will soon add some live plants if possible (i've never tried any plants so i'm a bit nervous) but i will definitely add a mass ball. and i might add a few ghost shrimp to his tank, which might distract him from tail biting.
i'm wondering if it's because i only see him once i get home from school because he's in my bedroom? but my other betta, Apollo, has no problems whatsoever! i feel guilty but even though i've had Zeus for way longer, i'm starting to favor Apollo, which saddens me. it's only because he is not having any problems, but i don't want to favor one over the other. that's why i'm so stressed, i just want him back to normal!!!

EDIT: his tail is even worse today, it looks like a crowntail's! ugh

 

[bunnytheartist]

i'm glad to hear fin rot is starting to sound less like the culprit.
as for the boredom, a clean ping-pong ball makes a great toy for a betta, just like the moss balls you mentioned. you could also try giving him live brine shrimp two or three times a week. just use a turkey baster to put them in the water, and zues can chase them down and "hunt" a bit!
your ghost shrimp idea sounded like a good idea too. my betta is always really interested in what my frogs are doing, so i know they'd be curious about one of those creepy little things floating around!
oh, also - and i know this sounds weird, but stay with me - try playing music for him. i'm assuming they can feel the vibrations in the water, and many fish love it, and can even develop preferences!

 

[bunnytheartist]

is the zues we're talking about and the fish in your display picture the same little guy??

 

[Autumnsky]

Are you using test strips or liquid test kit (is it expired)? Often the strips are unreliable. I had a big bottle and had double tested them and found that keeping it tightly sealed always spot on. Then ran out, waited quite a while to buy more since EVERYONE says unreliable even though I had good experience, old kind not made any longer bought other kind. Then nearly killed some fish due to a bad reading!!! Not even close to the real reading found with a (API master) test kit.

 

[KhloeM]

i'm glad to hear fin rot is starting to sound less like the culprit.
as for the boredom, a clean ping-pong ball makes a great toy for a betta, just like the moss balls you mentioned. you could also try giving him live brine shrimp two or three times a week. just use a turkey baster to put them in the water, and zues can chase them down and "hunt" a bit!
your ghost shrimp idea sounded like a good idea too. my betta is always really interested in what my frogs are doing, so i know they'd be curious about one of those creepy little things floating around!
oh, also - and i know this sounds weird, but stay with me - try playing music for him. i'm assuming they can feel the vibrations in the water, and many fish love it, and can even develop preferences!

thank you!! yea, i'll definitely try the ping pong ball! and i'll also ask to go to my lfs today and get live brine shrimp from them because it's super cheap but Zeus loves it!
whoa that's totally awesome!!! my radio is right next to his tank, well technically right in front of it, and i play music every night. i'll try to play it a bit louder during the day because i usually have it pretty low thanks very much!

EDIT: yes, that's Zeus!

 

[KhloeM]

Are you using test strips or liquid test kit (is it expired)? Often the strips are unreliable. I had a big bottle and had double tested them and found that keeping it tightly sealed always spot on. Then ran out, waited quite a while to buy more since EVERYONE says unreliable even though I had good experience, old kind not made any longer bought other kind. Then nearly killed some fish due to a bad reading!!! Not even close to the real reading found with a (API master) test kit.

no, i just got it like last week. it's an API Freshwater Master Test Kit as you mentioned.