Overfed Guppy?

[Phaedra]

Hi everyone! I have some new concerns with my guppy, Leroy. He's always had a little round belly on him, but lately I've noticed some behavior changes, and I'm not sure if I should be worried or not.
Long story short, lately he has been acting as if he's afraid of me. Used to, when I prepare to give him one of his two daily feedings, he would swim eagerly up to the top and wait while I sprinkled his food in. I crush the flakes up a little so he can get them in his little guppy mouth. Usually I crush up the equivalent of one or two medium sized flakes per feeding. But lately he outright ignores his food until I step away, and then eats, or swims away in what seems to be a sort of panicked state. To my knowledge, I've never hurt him and I try to keep his tank pretty quiet (although he is in my kitchen, on a shelf between the kitchen itself and the dining room) and serene.

Gave him a bit of a water change today and he seems to have perked up a little, but I'm still a bit concerned about his girth. He almost looks pregnant. I'm fasting him today in hopes that it will make a difference...
Anyway, just thought I'd post to see if anyone has some ideas.

 

[afishdude]

if hes fat then it could be bloating and constipation, try a de-shelled pea.

 

[Phaedra]

if hes fat then it could be bloating and constipation, try a de-shelled pea.

Thanks for the reply dude. Luckily I've got peas on hand. Do you think I should let him fast for the rest of the day and give him the pea tomorrow, or should I go ahead and give it to him now?

 

[bubblej17]

i would fast him for 2 days then give him a frozen de-shelled cooked pea, that what i do just so they WILL eat the pea as they are hungry!!

 

[Phaedra]

Oooh, two days? Really? This is going to take an effort of will on my part.
When you cook your peas, do you just microwave them for 30 seconds or so? Or do you put them in water and boil?
I can't see boiling a single pea though...

 

[theotheragentm]

Fish can go a while without food. I regularly skip a day during a week. For people that do tank blackouts to help with algae, 3-5 days is done without food. It's probably more realistic to have food like that for the fish as they probably don't eat regularly in the wild. I feed once a day and skip one day every other week normally.

 

[Phaedra]

Wow, even with guppies? I regularly fast my Betta once a week, but I never imagined that I should be doing the same thing with Leroy!
This has been most informative. Thank you everyone!