fin tearing, rotting, or nipping? How do I know?

I have a cycled 5gal planted tank with one super delta blue betta (Meatloaf), three Amano shrimp, and one mystery snail. We have a whole house water softener, so to increase GH I've been adding hard water from an outdoor tap and just bought Replenish (to add with the next water change). Meatloaf originally had 4 feeder guppies for tankmates, but they were nipping his tail so they were removed immediately. His tail fully recovered and has been looking great. Original aquarium setup was in March, we made a few changes to the tankmates, and our last inhabitants (2 amanos) were added 4/20. Everything was going fine. In the last week I've noticed some tan/brown growth on the walls, presumably diatoms. Last water change was approximately 30% on 5/3/16.

Water quality/parameters:
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 5ppm
pH - 8.2, steady
GH - (6 drops to change color)
KH - (14 drops to change color)

Over the last week or two I have noticed the Meatloaf's dorsal fin and analfin had some very slight recession between rays. There were no dark edges on the damaged areas, so I've just been watching to see what happens. I thought maybe he had snagged it on something (I have a few hornwort plants tied with a zip tie, which may be a sharp edge, and I have a cut water bottle baffle over the filter output). Then, at one feeding I noticed him twist/fold over to reach some food and a tiny piece of fin floated away. I figured he must be nipping himself, either accidentally or on purpose. His tail is in perfect condition.

Seemingly overnight (I'm pretty sure I checked his fins yesterday) he has massive amounts of missing dorsal fin and very long stringy pieces, as well as some "holes." I can't imagine the shrimp are doing it, and our snail has been boxed up for a day, unmoving (I checked to make sure he's alive this morning).

How do I tell if he's doing this to himself or if this is fin rot? I'm going to remove the water baffle, just in case, today when I change the water again (probably 30% change). I've attached some photos for help. There are photos from 5/1 and again from 5/10, though there was not much change from 5/1 to 5/9...I didn't even notice any transparent regrowth over the last week. Sorry the last two are rotated. I wasn't aware the the forum hosting wouldn't keep them vertical.

May 1, 2016:



May 1, 2016:



May 10, 2016:



May 10, 2016:



May 10, 2016:

 

Update: Today 5/11/16, the analfin has a long tear in it that is different than how it looked yesterday. Does fin rot look like tears, or does it just appear to be receding? I can't figure out if he's doing this to himself or if it's bacterial. Could this be related to our inactive (possibly dying) snail? These fins have gotten much worse the last 3 days, and our snail has been unmoving and barely responsive for 2-3 days.

Are major water changes the best route here? I changed 30% on regular schedule yesterday, but I'm prepared to change 50% today as well.

 

I'd personally try water changes first unless you have anything else in the tank he could be ripping them on.
What decor is in the tank?

 

A molded resin rock formation/cave, and live plants are all. I noticed today that it may have a sharp point on one of the cave exits, so at my next water change I'll pull it out and file it off, as well as checking the rest of the surfaces. That's a bummer since yesterday was the first time I actually pulled it out in 6 weeks, and I didn't have plans to do so again for a while...because it's such a pain to get it set right again without messing up plants. I'm starting to worry that I'm stressing the shrimp though. I haven't seen them since today's water change. Two 50% water changes in a row might be a bit much for the little guys.

Everything is a little fuller now (this photo is about 4 weeks old), and there is currently a Pothos fine dangling in the water as well.
removed

 

Yeah, as much as I love the look of the rock caves, they can have sharp edges. Good on checking for that. I've also never really understood how to avoid any sharp edges when using the bottle for a baffle. Anything on that that could be sharp?

What type of shrimp do you have with him? Ghosts? And if so, are you sure they're ghosts?

 

Bithimala The shrimp are amanos. I removed the water bottle part, because I wondered if it was too sharp. I'm not convinced that was is, but it's out anyhow. He did like to swim up in there and get tumbled around in the bottle, go figure.

 

maramarrie, I have that same composite "cave" in both of my 10G betta tanks. I've never noticed that it caused damage to my betta's fins, but that being said, one of my bettas has been spending more time inside the cave than usual, and some of his fins appear to be torn of late. But the same cave is in my other tank, and that betta's fins are perfect. I'm suspecting in my case since it's the analfin that is most damaged that is might be from spending more time against the rock/sand substrate. But his dorsal fin isn't so perfect anymore either, and it's possible that is because he might be brushing it against part of the cave when he exits. I'm very interested in this thread because we have the same cave in our tanks. One of my fish is fine, the other is not exactly....and the 'not exactly' fish is the one that spends the most time in the cave. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with his fins or not, as both tanks have shrimps in them but the one that does not have damaged fins also has increasingly more 'disappearing shrimps' so she might just be more interested in hunting and eating them. Circle of life and all that. The one of mine that has some fin damage is male, therefore slower-moving and not as interested in expending the energy as often to hunt for foods. His finnage is so much greater than my female's. Please let me know if you believe something about how the cave is constructed has caused the issue you are seeing. I will be doing a water change tomorrow, and very well might consider just removing the cave in both although my male will be well peeved by my doing so....

 

As a possibility. My previous betta, Andy, loooooved to drape himself around the filter intake. It took me forever to catch him, but that was the culprit.

 

@Bithimala The shrimp are amanos. I removed the water bottle part, because I wondered if it was too sharp. I'm not convinced that was is, but it's out anyhow. He did like to swim up in there and get tumbled around in the bottle, go figure.

Ok, good. Amanos are usually peaceful. I was thinking maybe if you had whiskers by accident, they may have been attacking him. Is he doing ok with the stronger flow?

 

He seems to be ok. I draped some Pothos over the filter output and he seems a little more comfortable than he was with nothing. Even with nothing there, however, he found his dark, quiet place (near the heater on the other side of the filter), and that's still where he's sleeping at night, not resting on anything.

 

As a possibility. My previous betta, Andy, loooooved to drape himself around the filter intake. It took me forever to catch him, but that was the culprit.

I have seen mine do this once or twice. The first time was when he was definitely weak, right after I first got him and he was lethargic and cold. I haven't seen it recently, and I have had a piece of pantyhose covering the intake for weeks (though the second time I saw him suctioned to it was after the pantyhose was attached...and he pulled himself free that time). Crazy bettas.

 

I have a sponge over mine, he'll just hang out against it...

 

I have seen mine do this once or twice. The first time was when he was definitely weak, right after I first got him and he was lethargic and cold. I haven't seen it recently, and I have had a piece of pantyhose covering the intake for weeks (though the second time I saw him suctioned to it was after the pantyhose was attached...and he pulled himself free that time). Crazy bettas.

Yeah, I caught on when I heard a crazy sound, went over and found him caught against the intake. I immediately turned off the filter and carefully removed him. I covered the intake with a sponge, but couldn't stay on top of removing debris,so it would restrict my filter flow.

Now I've defaulted to a sponge filter. So much easier, such a relief.

They are crazy. Andy kept leaning against it even afterwards.

 

Annie424 I took out the rock today and the spot that looked like a point when I looked through the tank didn't turn out to be too sharp. However, I did notice that there were a handful of places that weren't super smooth, and if he felt compelled to rub against them I can see how they would scratch. I took a piece of sandpaper to all the openings along the inside and outside edges until they all felt really smooth. It does take a bit of the paint off, but the rock has that "distressed" look so it's not noticeable to anyone but me. There were a couple spots on the rock (not near the opening) that could definitely have snagged him if he leaned against it as he swam by. Overall I'm glad I sanded it down, but I'm not convinced it's what caused our problems. Next time you change your water you could pull them out and feel for rough spots to see if that settles your fin issues too.

On a side note, an update on our tankmates: Little Scooter now sleeps with the fishes. I was able to find all three Amanos safe and well, though it was difficult to find them even after removing the rock. One little twin had been seen during the last few days, but I had lost Big Daddy and the other twin. I really started to think I may have inadvertently tossed them out with a water change (if they got through the siphon hose). When I pulled the rock out and still only found one twin I started brushing plants to see if anyone would come out. I ended up finding Big Daddy inside the filter. He startled me when I pulled the filter media out and found him in a corner underneath. The other little guy must have been in a plant somewhere because I didn't find him for several more minutes. I was checking out the snail when I looked in and found three shrimp finally looking at me through the glass. Lol.