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Last Night: I just noticed that poor Mr. Moto's belly is distended to the point that he's having some difficulty swimming. Here's hoping that it's just constipation. I'm going to fast him for the next few days, and see if it goes down. If not, I'll be looking into care for swim bladder disorder. I hope to hell its not that.... crying

Update: This morning, when I came in to check on him I noticed that he's completely on his side. It looks like during the night that he swelled to the point that it looks like he might have a small lesion under his belly. I did a half-water change, rinsed the filters do to the algae just in case, and treated with some Betta revive. I hope it helps.

I then noticed that Sonoka has some white spots on him. It's not ick, because I've dealt with that before. I have no idea what it could be... I'm gonna do some research and keep fasting Mr. Moto for now. I'm beginning to wonder if the white spot on his head that's been slowly spreading might have anything to do with it. I thought it was just his color changing, but now I'm not so sure. Any ideas?

Update: Yup, I'm pretty sure it's Columnaris..... crying It explains not only the slow growing white spot on his head, but the redness he'd get from time to time on it. That's what made me start to wonder whether or not it was just his color. crying

Update 4/7/2011: Mr. Moto is doing a lot better today it seems. Swimming around the tank like nothings going on. The white spot on his head has faded, replaced with a bright red appearance as if it's trying to start to heal. I'm going to do a full water change later on tonight because of the white flakes and film that was previously stuck to some things is floating around on his side of the tank. I've only been feeding him a piece of thawed pea once a day to help his digestion. With the salt it seems to be helping. He eats it like a pig. It looks as though the some of the white stuff came off of his head to begin with. If so, that does point towards an infection all along. This thought creeps me out just to think of the dream I had a few months back as well. The one I talked about when I got him. Refer to it here. That dream is why I was skeptical of fin rot when I first got him.

Sonoka on the other hand is still not looking good. He somehow nipped a piece of fin off earlier today on something in his tank, or it fell off. He refuses to eat and keeps hiding in his castle to sleep. I'm thinking about taking him off the meds for a day in a separate tank to see if he perks up. This could tell me whether or not it is just his sensitivity to the meds or not. If so, I'll only dose him with really water-downed meds like when he had fin rot due to the white abrasions on his head. I'll due this later on tonight, once I get outta work at midnight.

Update 4/8/2011: Mr.Moto looking a lot better tonight. He's insisting on eating more food then just the one pellet I've been feeding him a day due to his belly still being swollen. I'm continuing treatment for a bacterial infection which is helping. If his wounds heal up and he still has the expanded tummy afterward, I'll look into the possibility of possible swim bladder disorder and how to treat for it/take care of him with it possibly. After I feed him it seems his belly swells a little bit more, making it slightly hard for him to swim. It's not to bad though. Any Ideas?

Sonoka on the other-hand is not improving to well at all. I took him out of the five gallon to watch hi more closely. I've been keeping his temp tank for the past day very clean with 100% water changes twice a day, using water from Rohoe's established tank. I didn't see improvement, but a decline when I tried no meds for a day so he's back on them as of this morning. This morning before the meds he refused to eat. Tonight he only wished for one pellet and ate it hesitantly. As long as he still has the will to try to eat or run away from me when I go to change his water, I'm going to do everything in my power to help him. If he passes he'll pass on his own, because I believe at that point is when he's said he's had too much. It would be different if I knew 100% he wouldn't survive. It seems the salt may possibly be helping. Thank-you Vanilla eXee.

Update 4/13/2011:

As you know, Sonoka unfortunately passed a few nights ago. Thank you so much for your help though. I believe that if it wasn't for this forum both of them probably wouldn't have had a fighting chance. The last thing I thought about when I first noticed that Mr. Moto was sick was using the salt I have for their tank.

Anyways, Mr. Moto seems to be doing a lot better and is acting normal now, aside from the swim bladder problem he still seems to have. I've noticed that his poop is turning from the original white he had to a brownish-white color now. This means that he's still not out of the woods yet, but could point to possible improvement. Due to this and his problem swimming and tiring himself out easily in his now full 5 gallon tank, I decided to put him back into his 1 gallon. It'll be easier for me to manage his treatment, and watch him more closely. Plus, it'll provide less stress on his body until he heals. Right now it only contains his 3i filter, thermometer, and a plant/ no gravel. The days are warm enough here now that I don't need to worry about a heater until next winter. Once he's healthy again, if his swim bladder doesn't improve, this will be his temporary home until I get him a 2.5 gallon of his own.

I'm going to be taking down the 5 gallon and boiling everything, before setting it back up. Still debating on whether to give it to Rohoe or not. He's pretty content with his tank. If I don't do that, I'll divide it again and eventually have two more betta after quarantine faze. I'm never going to have Mr. Moto in a divided tank again though with his swimming condition. I'll keep you up to date on what's going on though.

Thank you..... I increased the salt by twice as much as I usually use for water changes. Tonight, he looks like he's swimming and acting just a bit better then this morning, but he's still not out of the woods. Even though Sonoka doesn't physically look to bad at all, he keeps hiding and sleeping so I know he's not feeling good. I'll keep you posted. Thank you.... crying

Aww sorry to hear the little guy's not feeling well =( Not sure what there is to do about Columnaris... Keep him clean, and warm, maybe use some Stress Coat. Good luck with him.

Thank you.... Usually I only use meds as a last resort. The only reason why I'm using them off the bat this time is that if I'm correct that it is a Columnaris infection, it could potentially kill a tank off in a day or slowly over time. It all depends on the fish, plus it's highly contagious. My fear is that if Mr. Moto dies during the night that Sonoka will have a better chance of getting worse due to the stage the infection was at with Mr.Moto.

Yah... True true. Tonight he looks a lot better than yesterday. He acting quite happy in his tank tonight since I started dossing with the meds. Sonokas looks ok, just still really sleepy. If Sonoka keeps acting like that in a day or two I might set up a temp tank for him for a lower dosage rate because I don't want to jeopardize either of their lives. 50% Water change still due for tonight along with the salt and med treatment. I'll post an update later.

What do you feed them? If it's pellets, soak the pellet first then give it to him. That way it won't expand in his little tummy. Sounds like it's not columnaris which is good news. He'll probably pull through.

Try breaking them up then and only feed a little bit.

Yes. Newly hatched Brine shrimp is very nutritious 9if it's older than that it needs to be enriched) and bettas love it. Daphnia is another good choice, especially for bloating because it acts as kind of a natural laxitive. I had good luck even with pfrozen thawed daphnia when I rescued a little betta girl and she wasn't eating. If all else fails, fish are supposed to love the taste of garlic. Grind up a clove and soak the pellets in the juice then feed the pellet.