Betta Fish: Am I doing a good job?

This is Courage, I got him this year on September 14th. I have a blackwater tank and it Is 5 in a half gallons big.. The third picture is the day I first got him, and the first two were just a few weeks ago, and the video (edit: I cant see it for some reason? Maybe didn't let me post the video…) . Also none of the photos are edited in any way, some are brighter because of the direct sun. When I got him I couldn't tell if he was bleaching or not, he looked a little pale.. and I can't tell if I see early signs of finrot. And That pH test was just today 🙁 it's been quite a while, slowly I've been adding almond leaves to possibly help lower the pH. They're small thumb sized leaves, I know not to lower it rapidly, but should I do more? Is he looking happy and healthy? Usually when the almond leaves need refurbished I add only 3 more. I setted up his tank weeks in advance before I got him.. I only have little stones as substrate.. I have java ferns, Amazon sword, and anubias, and a fishtank friendly driftwood he loves hiding under. I also used river stones to make a little hut under the log.. I should mentioned I did cleaned the wood too by boiling it and soaking/straining other debris

I like to use natural light for his tank and so the plants can photosynthesize too, the tank gets about 3hrs of direct (winter) sunlight. I don't mind cleaning excess algae it causes

I give him black soldier fly larva. since the flakes are super big I break just only one up to be his meal for the day, sometimes I give him buffet flakes for fat, and sometimes more often freeze dried mysis too for amino acid. And I also have emergency daphnia but sometimes feed him it since it's good for their stomach (fiber).. I just created my first reddit account for this, I really care about him. I clean Courages tank every 2-3 weeks.. he never hides, always in my way when I'm cleaning (lighthearted I love him) I give him brine shrimp as a prize after I do the partial water changes, I allow some algae to grow, but remove if there's too much, I also allow some debris to stay if they're near the plant roots so they get nutrients since I know I don't have the traditional substrate.. does he look happy and healthy? He is very social.. I wanted to know if I taught myself well

I also check his pH every few weeks, but I see no improvement 🙁 I know it should be near 6.5 not over 7.6 it really worries me.. do I keep doing what I'm doing by adding the little amount of almond leaves at a time?

And I'm sorry if I'm have anything formatted inorrect I've never used Reddit before

Edit: I should've mentioned his tank is always kept at 80⁰F too