Who Gives A Fish Forums

I've had bettas before, but this one's got me stumped - his tail isn't looking as great as when I first brought him home. My 10-gallon Fluval Flex is a well-established tank, about 4 years old now, with a bunch of thriving plants. I've recently added some new ones, and all the parameters are good, with 50% water changes every week. I even swapped out the pump for one with a lower flow rate, thinking the old one might've been too strong.

He's a pretty shy guy, always hiding, so it's hard to tell if the damage is from swimming around the wood or if it's something like rot or another disease. He's all white, so it's tough to see, but to me, it looks like he's snapped his dorsal fin. What do you guys think? Got any suggestions?

I don't have another tank set up, and he seems healthy and happy otherwise, so I don't want to stress him out with a complete re-scape. If I did, I'd just take the wood out to be sure. He's got a tiny assassin snail as a tankmate, but that's about it.

I'm worried that fin damage might be a precursor to something more serious, like fin rot, so it's worth keeping an eye on that. The hornwort and wood in the tank could potentially be causing him some discomfort, maybe it's not just the strong flow rate that's the issue.

I'm not seeing any signs of fin rot, I think it's more likely he's just damaged his tail somehow, possibly from biting or catching it on something.