Betta Dying(?) in a Hex 5

Question
Hi there -
    I have had my Betta freddie for about 3 months.  When I first purchased
him, I had him in one of those $10 betta plastic home kits.  However, I
maintained excellent care of him, changing the water very frequently.  The
pet store I bought him from wasn't the greatest (some independent tropical
fish store), so once I brought him home, I began my research and noticed he
had fin rot.  Well 3 months later, and his fins are looking BEAUTIFUL and he's
doing great, and so for Christmas I asked for a nice fish tank for him.  I
received a Hex 5, and gravel and a sunken ship decoration.  So, I set it all up
according to everything I could read about.  Washed gravel and decorations,
added Bio-Safe and Bio-Coat, and let the tank run for 8 hours.  I then
acclimated Freddie to the the new water and set him free.  At first I think he
was startled by the new environment.  The decor has some fake plants which
I placed near the biowheel's water recycling, so as to lessen the current.  After
some adjustment he appeared to LOVE it...I've never seen him look so happy.  
He spent the night there, and then the next morning I fed him like normal.  
Another night passes, and I wake up and the water was CLOUDY (like non-fat
milk was poured in, but not a lot).  More research - okay, my tank is cycling
and it should be fine in the morning.  I woke up again and the water is still
slightly cloudy but much better.  I noticed that his fins however, are not.  
Almost HALF of his main back fin looks like it has eroded away.  I held up a
mirror to the tank to see how he was emotionally and assess the fin damage,
and he just looked at himself.  No response...not at all like his usual self.  
What should I do? If I take him out, will his tank still cycle? Should I take him
out?  And if I do, what's the best way to get him out?

PS I leave the light off at nights so I know he has proper resting time, and I
know he sometimes likes hiding inside the ship - I bet there is hardly any
water movement inside.  
I took a picture of my tank for you, which can be viewed here:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/VisuallyBlessed/Photo85.jpg

Thank you SO much for any help

Answer
Hi Justin
Nice looking tank :)  I'm glad you were able to get a bigger tank for him.  I'm not a fan of anything less then 2 gal for bettas, I know they live in puddles in Asia.  Most people don't take care of them properly; change the water every 2 or 3 weeks...Plus, it's so much easier with a filter on the tank!  And not to bash fish stores, but you're right there too, a lot don't take good care of them either.  

As you've found out, your tank is cycling.  Cloudy water is a bacterial bloom, usually lasts a few days or so.  Cycling takes a bit longer though usually a month or so, and bettas usually aren't a good fish to cycle a tank with.  Sounds like he either injured his fins on the decoration, or more likely it's the fin rot coming back-because the tank is cycling the water conditions are too poor for him.

First, you could try leaving him in the 5 gal.  Don't use the Bio Safe or Bio Coat.  I'd recommend using this product by Seachem called Prime-and only that, no stress coat or anything.  You use it at water changes.  It's kinda expensive(large bottle is about 10.), but a bottle lasts a long long time.  It's supposed to detoxify the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates to safe levels, without removing them so the tank will still cycle, and removes chlorine and chloramines from tap water.  They just won't be harmful to the fish.  A lot of the "pro" fish hobbyists are using this stuff-so it comes highly recommended.  Also, pick up some MelaFix for the fin/tail rot.  It's a natural fish remedy that won't affect the water or cycle.  There's also something called BettaFix, same thing just geared towards bettas in smaller bowls.  Doing this, you could leave him in the tank, and just monitor him to make sure he's doing ok.

Or, you could remove him back to his old home till the tank cycles.  I'd still recommend getting that MelaFix or BettaFix too & the Prime.  It may still cycle, not sure how far along it is.  You could either get a small cocktail or salad shrimp and drop that in the tank for a few days.  It'll eventually put out ammonia for the cycle to continue.  If you can't do that, I've heard of people just putting some fish food and leaving it in the tank.  Uneaten food will also start to break down into ammonia.  

I think both will probably stress the poor guy regardless, but I'm kinda leaning towards doing it this second way to be on the safe side.  Just be sure to use 1/2 of the water he's in now and 1/2 of fresh water that's very close to the same temperature when/if you move him(the fresh water will also help to dilute the cycling tank water, and that way the ph won't be too different either).  Then change it again in a day or two, and stay on top of changing the water to help clear up the fin rot again, like you did before. As for removing him, I'd try using a cup.  That's probably the least stressful for him.  

Do a search on about.com for articles on cycling a tank and doing a fishless cycle.  They have some good ones on there.  Another thing to add to your collection, pick up a water test kit that will test for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.  That'll help tell you when the tank is finished cycling.  Ammonia should always be 0ppm, nitrites 0 ppm, and nitrates under 20 ppm.  Once the first 2 are showing 0, and there's some nitrates showing up-it's cycled.

One last thing I just thought of, if you have a friend or family with an established fish tank(and disease free), you could get some of their filter media, or gravel, and put it in your tank.  Depending on how much-that'll really speed up the cycling-almost instantly.  You could try a pet store as well-they may give you some, but a lot of people don't like to do that because most stores have lots of diseases in their fish tanks.

Hope this helps!  Good luck, and let me know if I can help anymore!

Christy