Worried about my Gibbicep

[DGalt]

I've had this guy for about 3 months now and all has been well until about 2 weeks ago.

Until this past Saturday I had him in a 6 gallon tank with a betta and a handful of neons. I have been planning on upgrading him to a 15 gallon tank (I know he's going to get a lot bigger, this is just temporary - he's still a little guy) and when I cracked my 6 gallon it just made the need for a new tank that much more urgent. However, because it was so sudden I was unable to cycle the new tank like I wanted to. The tank consists of 15 pounds of natural colored gravel, 2 large pieces of driftwood, and 2 silk plants. I am using an AquaClear 50 power filter.

Parameters in my old tank were fine, but I ran out of my test equipment and the local pet store (the only pet store near me) is out - I have it on order, hoping it'll be in this week (fingers crossed).

So on to the problem. About 2 weeks ago I noticed a large abscess in the top of his dorsal fin. I figured it was from something stupid like him rubbing into the filter or something (I've never seen any aggression from the betta so I don't think it's that), so I got a water conditioner that was supposed to promote healing (it's called Stress Coat by API) and facilitate the slime coat. The hole is slowly healing (as you can see in the pictures below), although much slower than other people have claimed their pl*co's fins have healed.
My real concern is something I've only noticed since moving him into the new tank. This white film keeps appearing and disappearing on his scales. The other day I think I saw it fall off him...almost like he was shedding. The pictures below show a little bit of it, but at times it's much whiter than that...and other times it's not there at all.
I'm really at a loss. Could this just be from water conditions due to the new tank not being cycled? Or is this possibly some type of bacterial or fungal infection that I need to treat? Any suggestions at all will be greatly appreciated.

[drpleco]

your fish is stressed, nothing more. When your water parameters are back to normal and the fish is comfortable, it'll settle in and assume its normal coloration. Don't panic, just change some water every day until the tank cycles and the fish should be OK.

And you're right about needing an upgrade - these fish get very large (but they're very beautiful when they do).

[DGalt]

really? oh that's such a relief.

yea I know he's going to get big...kinda excited about it actually

Is there any way I can get my tank to quicken its cycling process? I had to replace the filtration system completely, so I lost any of the established biological filtration from the last tank. 1/3 of the gravel in the new tank, along with 1 of the pieces of driftwood and 1 of the plants is from the old tank, but besides that everything is new because of the upgrade.

[drpleco]

squeeze established media from another tank near the filter inlet on the new tank. Or buy biospira, which is made of nitrifying bacteria and is kept refrigerated. It's not commonly stocked and is expensive, however.

Best bet is to try the squeeze method, and do frequent small water changes to dilute the ammonia that's coming. Just dont mess with the filters or gravel and give the bacteria a chance to get seeded.