Fat guppy?

ella777 · Feb 4, 2023

I have a very healthy 200l tank with a variety of fish who are all doing well.
I've noticed that one of the ten guppies is very fat and I'm very concerned.
I've had him for almost a year.
I originally thought the guppies were female but it turns out they're all male, so he definitely isn't pregnant.
They are fed high quality fish flakes, pellets, granules and bloodworms everyday.
I've read he might be bloated because of too much protein, I only feed them bloodworms as I have a half-banded spiny eel who is living in the same tank.
I also have no idea what to do if hes constipated.
He is still eating.
I have some clove oil just in case!
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10-25
Does anyone know why he's suddenly so fat?

Kyanite14 · Feb 4, 2023

Do you have a photo? Some guppies are just on the larger side, like the one in my pfp. But if he’s severely bloated that is a cause for concern.

ella777 · Feb 4, 2023

Kyanite14 said:
Do you have a photo? Some guppies are just on the larger side, like the one in my pfp. But if he’s severely bloated that is a cause for concern.

Hes never been like this before.

Kyanite14 · Feb 4, 2023

I edited because I misread your original post.

How much are you feeding him? Some guppies are more aggressive eaters and will steal food from the smaller fish.

He’s probably bloated from the excess protein. I would suggest fasting the tank for 2 days and then feeding peas for a day or 2 to see if that clears him out. You also don’t want to over feed. Fish stomaches are only the size of their eyes, so a couple of pellets or 1-2 worms are enough for one feeding. Adding some plant matter is good since guppies are omnivorous. I drop an algae wafer in the tank and all my fish crowd around it for an hour!

ella777 · Feb 4, 2023

Kyanite14 said:
I edited because I misread your original post.

How much are you feeding him? Some guppies are more aggressive eaters and will steal food from the smaller fish.

He’s probably bloated from the excess protein. I would suggest fasting the tank for 2 days and then feeding peas for a day or 2 to see if that clears him out. You also don’t want to over feed. Fish stomachs are only the size of their eyes, so a couple of pellets or 1-2 worms are enough for one feeding. Adding some plant matter is good since guppies are omnivorous. I drop an algae wafer in the tank and all my fish crowd around it for an hour!

I do feed them quite a lot, but that's because 35 fish are living in there. None of the other fish are bloated at all and are acting very normal. He usually isn't a very aggressive eater unlike the others.
I have tried feeding them peas in the past but they completely ignore them and the snails get to them first.
Should I maybe separate him from the others? I know it can be stressful for them so I'm not sure

emeraldking · Feb 4, 2023

Probably just overfed...

ella777 · Feb 4, 2023

Kyanite14 said:
I edited because I misread your original post.

How much are you feeding him? Some guppies are more aggressive eaters and will steal food from the smaller fish.

He’s probably bloated from the excess protein. I would suggest fasting the tank for 2 days and then feeding peas for a day or 2 to see if that clears him out. You also don’t want to over feed. Fish stomaches are only the size of their eyes, so a couple of pellets or 1-2 worms are enough for one feeding. Adding some plant matter is good since guppies are omnivorous. I drop an algae wafer in the tank and all my fish crowd around it for an hour!

Could he possibly be normal in the morning? I've only noticed him like this today. I don't really understand how the issue could be too much protein as they have been fed this diet for months with no problems, and all the other fish are fine.

ella777 · Feb 4, 2023

emeraldking said:
Probably just overfed...

He isn't a very aggressive eater though. The other guppies are much more confident with food so I'm not sure this is it. They are usually quite fat after eating but it goes down after an hour or so.
He's been like this all day.

Kyanite14 · Feb 4, 2023

ella777 said:
I do feed them quite a lot, but that's because 35 fish are living in there. None of the other fish are bloated at all and are acting very normal. He usually isn't a very aggressive eater unlike the others.
I have tried feeding them peas in the past but they completely ignore them and the snails get to them first.
Should I maybe separate him from the others? I know it can be stressful for them so I'm not sure

If this is seemingly out of nowhere then I would at least put in a breeder net to separate them until you can figure out the problem. Then you can feed the rest normally.

Other possibilities could be dropsy or swim bladder disease. Does he have a pinecone scale pattern or is he having trouble swimming?

ella777 · Feb 4, 2023

Kyanite14 said:
If this is seemingly out of nowhere then I would at least put in a breeder net to separate them until you can figure out the problem. Then you can feed the rest normally.

Other possibilities could be dropsy or swim bladder disease. Does he have a pinecone scale pattern or is he having trouble swimming?

He's swimming, acting and eating normally. His scales look completely fine too. They're all resting now and won't wake up for a while. Should I separate him tomorrow or now? I don't want to stress him out in any way.

emeraldking · Feb 4, 2023

From the photos, I don't really see the fatness you're talking about. A good guppy male may show a ferm shaped chest.

Kyanite14 · Feb 4, 2023

ella777 said:
He's swimming, acting and eating normally. His scales look completely fine too. They're all resting now and won't wake up for a while. Should I separate him tomorrow or now? I don't want to stress him out in any way.

Later, I would closely monitor him and see if anyone else has any ideas. My guppies also are like this, for all I know, it’s just normal. Yours looks much fatter than mine though, and you said it was sudden?

ella777 · Feb 4, 2023

emeraldking said:
From the photos, I don't really see the fatness you're talking about. A good guppy male may show a ferm shaped chest.

The first photo is the fatter one, the second is a normal size.

ella777 · Feb 4, 2023

Kyanite14 said:
Later, I would closely monitor him and see if anyone else has any ideas. My guppies also are like this, for all I know, it’s just normal. Yours looks much fatter than mine though, and you said it was sudden?

I'll definitely keep an eye on him. It was very sudden as it only happened today.

ella777 · Feb 5, 2023

Kyanite14 said:
Later, I would closely monitor him and see if anyone else has any ideas. My guppies also are like this, for all I know, it’s just normal. Yours looks much fatter than mine though, and you said it was sudden?

I've now put him in a breeder net thing and given him some peas. He's already taken a few bites of the peas and I've fed the others normally. He hasn't lost any weight so I think he probably has constipation.
I feed my eel everyday, he still seems hungry on some days so I feed him a little more. Is this too much? He comes up to anyone as soon as they go near the tank.

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