Male guppies, bloated or normal?

[arodd525]

Hi everyone, I have two male guppies for about 4 months now and they both seem pretty happy, playing with each other and scavenging for food during most of the day. However, they both seem to have a large belly. I have attached a couple of pictures. This could be from overfeeding, as I had to leave for a week-long vacation last month and used an automated feeder that was not well calibrated. However, they had always had a somewhat large belly before that. Currently, I am treating the tank with PraziPro to eliminate any internal parasites they might have and started to do epsom salt bath since last night. Things haven't really changed. I've also been feeding them less (3-4 times per week with blanched peas and once per week with frozen brine shrimp). My water parameters are below.

I am hoping to get extra pairs of eyes with more experience to tell me whether my guppies are normal or bloated. If this does not go away with PraziPro and epsom salt treatment under limited feeding, should I treat them for dropsy?

29 gallon. Ammonium 0, nitrite 0, nitrate ~5ppm. pH = 7.5-7.8. Temperature = 79-80.
It is a reasonably well planted tank with s. repens, java ferns, moss balls, and some other tall plants.
Tank has 2 nerites and 7 amano shrimp, all have been living together with the guppies for about 2 months with no problem.

The first two pictures are from today; the third one is from a few months ago.

 

[FishBearer9845]

My guppies turned out to have worms at this point. I just thought it was getting a proper chubblet on. Treated second dose this week but don’t think it’s working fully yet. I think they have live and babies/eggs inside. That said the guppy in question has pretty much lost his belly. Although it might not be worms. Someone more experienced will come in and advise better than I.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Hopefully @emeraldking can advise you

 

[arodd525]

My guppies turned out to have worms at this point. I just thought it was getting a proper chubblet on. Treated second dose this week but don’t think it’s working fully yet. I think they have live and babies/eggs inside. That said the guppy in question has pretty much lost his belly. Although it might not be worms. Someone more experienced will come in and advise better than I.

Thank you for answering. Do your guppies show any other symptoms? What are you treating them with?

 

[FishBearer9845]

Mine started doing stringy white poo. Currently treating with an dewormer that’s flubendazole based. You might want to get more experienced voices on this one though before treatment

 

[Stefan3289]

Feed them normally and see if there poop is white and stringy

 

[arodd525]

Feed them normally and see if there poop is white and stringy

There was one time last week when one of the guppies pooped a long white string, which got me concerned. But neither of them have done so since then. Both poop regular dark thicker pieces (although sometimes it takes them quite long, like 10-15 min, to finish pooping)

 

[Stefan3289]

Could you possibly be over feeding them? What is your feeding schedule?

 

[arodd525]

I feed them 1-2 times a day (recently it's been once a day or less). A couple of weeks ago when I was on vacation, I believe I overfed them because I used an automated feeder. After that, I saw one of them with a bigger belly. I reduced feeding but their bellies have not seemed to get smaller in the past two weeks.

 

[Stefan3289]

Not sure how guppy feeding is since I haven’t kept them in a while, but I know for my cichlids I feed them every other day and not a lot. Is bloating the only thing that seems off?

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I think it might partly be their build, I have a yellow snakeskin male who is definitely built thicker than my normal mutt males, and mine have all been thoroughly de-wormed recently. But, I'm no expert, which is why I tagged in @emeraldking , because he certainly is

Having said that, most livebearers in stores have been raised in fish farms abroad, and are notorious for being loaded with both round and flatworms. They can also carry worms for months sometimes without showing much in the way of symptoms, until they do. Bloating can be a symptom, but so can skinniness and lethargy, since the worms end up consuming most of the food the fish takes in.

Now, I'll be medicating any livebearers I bring in for worms as a matter of course. But, I'm not suggesting you throw meds at them based on this, wait until someone who knows guppies well, like emeraldking, has weighed in before doing anything.

 

[arodd525]

Thank you! I will wait till emeraldking or another expert to respond. Just for curiosity, what would you recommend as a dewormer? I also have nerites and amanos in the same tank but I have a quarantine tank I could use too if the meds are too harsh for inverts.

 

[arodd525]

Not sure how guppy feeding is since I haven’t kept them in a while, but I know for my cichlids I feed them every other day and not a lot. Is bloating the only thing that seems off?

Yes, it seems like the only thing that is off. I heard guppies are 1-2 meals a day but lately I've been doing no more than 1. I have another smaller male guppy (a different kind) that does not have much of a belly and a female that has a large belly, so it is kind of hard to directly compare them.

 

[arodd525]

Update: today, it pooped a long string (see image below). It came out normal but took him forever to finish, and toward the end it was a think string with light color. So it probably does have worms.

I am currently doing a dose of PraziPro and can do a second dose in a few days. Any other recommended treatment/dewormer? Thanks!

 

[emeraldking]

Well, could be worms but if the waste looks like in the last picture, they probably are almost done having worms.
But from the first 3 pics, they do not look too fat to label them as being bloated. They even have a beautiful ferm build as they suppose to be. Most malse with a ferm chest are strong guppies. Not every guppy defecates in the same speed.
I wouldn't worry too much about this.