So after a course of Esha Exit all his velvet has gone, most of them overnight on the first day, amazing stuff!!

Nitrates in the tank have been creeping up, I suspect due to the shrimp massacre, bound to have been a few casualties I missed, Ammonia and Nitrite at 0 still. With an impending water change in mind I tested the tapwater pH, straight out and 24hrs old and it's going from 7.4 in the tap to 8.2 overnight. It seems there are 50 lots of roadworks in my immediate area at the moment!! Tested the tank and it's also 8.2, so, I am hoping it will go back down to 7.4 soon, or I will have to rehome Betta soon. Either way, have run a bucket of water tonight for tomorrows water change now the Exit has run it's course. Is this the right thing to do short term?

For the immediate future, I'm going to test the tap pH every other day so I know what's going on and do small water changes rather than the 10% change more frequently, does that make sense? would a 1 litre change on 30 litres of water be a gradual enough adjustment in terms of pH when it does drop if I did it once every three days not to shock the fish?

On a positive note he is a different fish, his poor split raggedy fins are all regrowing beautifully and he comes straight to the front of the tank when I come into the room. He swims around like a loon, eats well, I rarely see the surviving shrimp anymore. Thanks to everyone for the advice, you've made us both very happy!

Ooh, might as well add to this gargantuan post that I had a response from the store today asking me to give them a ring to discuss my dead shrimp and the Betta which I shall do tomorrow. Am pleased they've got back to me, fingers crossed they might actually listen :-/

Excellent

JON