Swollen Guppy - Help!

[stuart_p]

Hi All,

I setup my first tank about 12 weeks ago (just a small 20 litre tank) and have had 2 male guppies in there for around 8 weeks. They've been fine and appear to be very healthy and happy.

9 days ago I decided to add another couple of guppies, and at first all seemed well. I had a look in the tank this morning, and one of my "new" guppies appears very swollen when compared to the other. It's not moving around much, preferring to hang around at the bottom of the tank in amongst the plants.

Does anybody know what could be wrong? The other 3 fish all seem fine, and my water tests are showing 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and nitrate < 5ppm

I've been doing around a 25% water change on a weekly basis.

I'm a complete novice - does anybody know what could be wrong with my fish? Don't really want to lose it!

I'll try and post a pic...

Many thanks.

 

[stuart_p]

http://lh5.ggpht.com/__Txj5bPQwDs/TEX52BrzmTI/AAAAAAAAAA4/p_gH1_i3hZY/s800/swell.jpg

Hello again! Hope the link works.... the fish on the right is the one that's swollen. Started off looking the same shape as the one you can see in the right of the picture

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to our forum Stuart P.
Let me help with the link. It is here.
Now for a bit of magic, maybe I can make it visible right here.

I am having a hard time distinguishing features on that heavier guppy. Is it really a male? I am thinking a colorful female but the picture is just not clear enough for me to be sure.

 

[Mark Z.]

I have seen this in male guppies and am interested to see what others have to say. From my experience, it has only happened with males.

 

[Katlee]

i had a very similar looking one to the one on the right. Im thinking male....

 

[stuart_p]

Hi again, thanks for your responses so far!
As far as I know they're both males (at least, they were sold to me as males!)

Looking at the fish tonight I'd say it's a bit more swollen now than it was when the pic was taken (last night). Having looked about some of the other threads on the forum I'm working on the basis that if it's not female (and pregnant) then it could be constipated? I've fed them some crushed up cooked & shelled peas this morning and will again tomorrow. Is this the best thing to do?

I'll try and get a clearer picture if I can, but he/she's taken to hiding in the cave this evening.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[Mark Z.]

Hi again, thanks for your responses so far!
As far as I know they're both males (at least, they were sold to me as males!)

Looking at the fish tonight I'd say it's a bit more swollen now than it was when the pic was taken (last night). Having looked about some of the other threads on the forum I'm working on the basis that if it's not female (and pregnant) then it could be constipated? I've fed them some crushed up cooked & shelled peas this morning and will again tomorrow. Is this the best thing to do?

I'll try and get a clearer picture if I can, but he/she's taken to hiding in the cave this evening.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[stuart_p]

He came to the front of the tank, so here's a slightly better pic.

 

[GavinB]

a bloated midrift can be the signs of a bacterial infection in the fish if male. What exactly im unsure but im sure somebody here will be able to suggest a treatment.

 

[OldMan47]

That last picture is definitely a male Stuart P. He is well fed and is not at all in any kind of distress. He may be a bit less forward than he might be if there were no other guppies present.

 

[omega59]

Boil tease till they are soft crush them down and feed it to them. I hope that's not droopsy good luck m8 and welcome

 

[stuart_p]

Great - thanks for all your suggestions guys. I've got them on the boiled peas diet at the moment so I'll keep an eye on him and hope the swelling goes down a bit over the next couple of days.

 

[hughessomefish]

Yes If you see pine coning of the scales like displaced scales pop-ing out then it would be dropsey.I think you are good though could it be just a bit overfed?Other than that the tank looks very clean!