# Male guppy looks pregnant



## HUMAN1ESS

So I adopted this guppy (along with another male guppy, a dalmatian molly, and a chinese algae eater) from a very unhealthy tank. There was no filter running on the tank, the fish hadn't been fed in a month and you couldn't see the fish when I came across the pore things. He eats fine, and swims and plays with the other 5 guppys in the tank. Now he looks...well...pregnant. Here is a picture. Can anyone tell me what is wrong with him?

P.S. The scales dont seem to be "pineconed" like they are described when describing dropsey. I have him isolated in a 10 gallon established quarantine tank until things seem to clear up.


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## chris oe

I am worried about parasites, in particular callamanus worms or flukes. I've seen male guppies actually rupture their abdomen from callamanus because of the pressure. (actually lost most of my fish room to this particular parasite last year) I'd look into antiparasitics asap. Fish pharm (no commercial interest) has been very helpful to me in the past. You may want to forward them this picture as well as your description and see what they think as well.


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## HUMAN1ESS

Thank you. The fish has been in the same tank with about 20 other fish for around 2 months. The rest of the fish look, and act fine (this fish actualy acts fine also).


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## jrman83

Your lfs store should have a parasite med made by Tetra that worked for me. Comes in the form of tabs. Jungle labs makes a product called parasite clear that many people swear by. Seems to work for me pretty well so far. If it is parasites, anyway.


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## Amie

You said they had not been fed in forever?? Could that be the problem maybe?? I've heard that people who do on hunger strikes and the like develop bellies due to their bodies going into 'starvation mode'. Have you seen him poop yet?


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## chris oe

The other fish may well be infected, too, but because they have more room in their abdomen they won't have the pressure problem. The only fish I have ever seen pop from callamanus are male guppies, female guppies often look completely normal, partly because they're built to expand. Other things to look for in callamanus are odd feces, and bits of the worms protruding from the anus. 

Other parasites, like flukes, may be responsible, too, although I've never seen a male guppy under this much pressure from flukes. Again, the things to look for in this fish and others if there are flukes will be thready or oddly colored feces.


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## HUMAN1ESS

Looking at the bottom of my 60, i am noticing white poop. And i did see the guppy poop right before i moved him to the QT tank. Should i treat the entire 60 with a parasite med?


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## HUMAN1ESS

Here is an example of the fish poop at the bottom of my 60 gallon...








Sorry for the blurry pic, my iphone doesn't take that good of pictures zoomed and through glass.


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## HUMAN1ESS

There are also no worms hanging out of any of the fish. Tomorrow i will go to my LFS and get the Jungle Labs meds. Im hoping i didn't wait too long for this little guy.


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## jrman83

My local store had jungle labs anti-parasite food, which takes a while to take effect and they didn't have JL tabs. They should however, have the tabs by tetra. I think it may be called parasite guard.


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## chris oe

I think antiparasitic food is an excellent idea. So long as there is life there is hope. It has been awhile since I read up on my callamanus and so on, I'll see if I can find any other things you can do to improve your chances. If you notice symptoms or anything, let us know.


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## Amie

That looks ugly!! I'll cross my fingers for you that we are all wrong and that this is just all from the little fish being nearly starved to death but I hope it works out for you. I think at this point I would treat the big tank too-just to be on the safe side. But keep in mind that these fish are already weak from the stuff they have been through so they might not make it through the treatment either.


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## HUMAN1ESS

Amie said:


> That looks ugly!! I'll cross my fingers for you that we are all wrong and that this is just all from the little fish being nearly starved to death but I hope it works out for you. I think at this point I would treat the big tank too-just to be on the safe side. But keep in mind that these fish are already weak from the stuff they have been through so they might not make it through the treatment either.


I adopted the fish from the dirty tank about 6 weeks ago. I kept them in a QT tank for a few days and fed them and they seemed to get a lot stronger in just a few days. Since they have all seemed strong and they all school with the rest of the guppy's fine. In fact you wouldn't really know anything is wrong with this guy if he weren't bloated like a grape!


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## HUMAN1ESS

I am going to start treatment on both tanks tonight, I will keep everyone updated. Thank you guys for the help.


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## jrman83

What meds did you get?


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## HUMAN1ESS

Just got home, I got Seachem Metronidazole. I was looking for the 2 meds you guys recommended but this is all the local store carried. The owner said this will clear it up fine, but he seemed to think it was silly that i was trying to medicate some tropical fish. He asked what i had and i told him and he said "you want to medicate some guppys?" LoL, i have more than just guppys but that was his statement. Oh well, hopefully this works.


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## jrman83

If it is a parasite that your fish have, then this likely won't work. This med is an antibiotic. Probably better off ordering the correct stuff online and treat when you get it.


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## chris oe

Wikipedia says Metronidazole is an antibiotic, amebicide, antiprotozoal - looks like it is an ingredient in a couple of the commercially available antiparasitic preparations. Have you had problems with it in the past?


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## jrman83

I had to go read wiki also when he first posted about it, so no, never used it before. Just by reading it, it didn't sound like it was for anything internal.


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## chris oe

When I did some general trolling around there are a few different places it shows up in combination with other things used as an antiparasitic. The fact that it is on wikipedia as an antiprotozoal is promising, but I don't think it would do any harm to keep looking, especially with the attitude the LFS guy took.


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## HUMAN1ESS

I'm just going to order some parasite clear and hope everything turns out ok until it comes in.


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## jrman83

You may want to try and feed it some peas and see if it will relieve it some. They act as a natural laxative. Search on the internet on how to prepare.


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## chris oe

Peas? Oh I've done that before for goldfish with swim bladder trouble. You just take the skin off (has to be fresh/thawed frozen peas with skins removed) and smash them. With guppies I'd be tempted to run them through something to get them into tiny pieces. 

This guppy with the huge gut, it is swimming normally?


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## HUMAN1ESS

chris oe said:


> Peas? Oh I've done that before for goldfish with swim bladder trouble. You just take the skin off (has to be fresh/thawed frozen peas with skins removed) and smash them. With guppies I'd be tempted to run them through something to get them into tiny pieces.
> 
> This guppy with the huge gut, it is swimming normally?


Yea it swims completely normal. You wouldn't even know it is sick except for it's giant gut. I have been attempting to feed it peas for a few days now but to no avail. I picked up some tetra parasite clear today so hopefully this thing will be cleared up in a few days. I feel so bad it has been like this for so long, and before this it was swimming around in basicly mud.


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## chris oe

Peas usually work best for swim bladder trouble, but swim bladder trouble usually makes fish unable to control their bouancy (spelling) and they end up bobbing all over the place. If this fish is swimming normally it isn't swim bladder, but it is worth it to try the peas anyway. I think you'll have your best luck when you find a good antiparasitic. Where are you located, anyway? I have some stuff that's effective but hard to use. Really tempted to send you a little in a baggie (its a powder, you have to mix it with gel food or knox and food and try to get the fish to eat it, but it works) Hopefully you'll find something easier to use locally.


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## jrman83

I used the Tetra parasite clear and it saved a couple of my fish. Jungle Labs sells a 100-tablet box that I ended up getting. The Tetra pack goes pretty quick if you're treating a whole tank. I went through 5 packages for the first treatment. Now I only treat in my hospital tank.


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## HUMAN1ESS

jrman83 said:


> I used the Tetra parasite clear and it saved a couple of my fish. Jungle Labs sells a 100-tablet box that I ended up getting. The Tetra pack goes pretty quick if you're treating a whole tank. I went through 5 packages for the first treatment. Now I only treat in my hospital tank.


Yea I noticed it will go pretty fast. The first box is gone already because I treated my 60 gallon (6 tabs). From now on I am only going to treat my QT tank.


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## HUMAN1ESS

chris oe said:


> Peas usually work best for swim bladder trouble, but swim bladder trouble usually makes fish unable to control their bouancy (spelling) and they end up bobbing all over the place. If this fish is swimming normally it isn't swim bladder, but it is worth it to try the peas anyway. I think you'll have your best luck when you find a good antiparasitic. Where are you located, anyway? I have some stuff that's effective but hard to use. Really tempted to send you a little in a baggie (its a powder, you have to mix it with gel food or knox and food and try to get the fish to eat it, but it works) Hopefully you'll find something easier to use locally.


I got the tetra parasite clear yesterday, but thanks for the offer. I will keep this thread updated on a regular basis until the fish is back to ok health. Thanks you guys for all the help.


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## jrman83

I noticed a difference in my fish within 24hrs. Don't assume that one treatment will do it though. I am treating a fish now that I thought I'd cured. This time she is getting a double dose. I think all you need to do is wait 48hrs and do a 25% water change.


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## HUMAN1ESS

jrman83 said:


> I noticed a difference in my fish within 24hrs. Don't assume that one treatment will do it though. I am treating a fish now that I thought I'd cured. This time she is getting a double dose. I think all you need to do is wait 48hrs and do a 25% water change.


I have medicated him 2x now. The first night I did a 50% water change (it's a really small tank) then dropped the meds in. The next day I did another 50% water change. The 3rd day I did a 50% water change and medicated again. The meds are definitely working now. He has pooped brown 2x now that I can see. I have a feeling he will be better in a week or 2. I have also been feeding him peas instead of fish food. It took him a while to notice they were food, but he loves them now.


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## chris oe

Excellent! Would love to see an after picture after all of this is done. : )


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## HUMAN1ESS

chris oe said:


> Excellent! Would love to see an after picture after all of this is done. : )


I definitely will. Right now he still looks the same but he is actually pooping!


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## jrman83

That's good to hear.


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## HUMAN1ESS

jrman83 said:


> That's good to hear.


Yea my wife thinks i'm crazy because i pay so much attention to 1 $1 fish. But I cant help but feel guilty because my brother neglected this fish so bad it was probably just about dead. I think of the fish like I would think about my dogs, and if my dogs were swollen to 2x their normal size they would be at the vet ER!


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## HUMAN1ESS

Here are a few picture updates, he doesn't really look any different.


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## HUMAN1ESS

Although he does have some colors coming out in his tail. He has a yellow stripe coming in!


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## jrman83

Wow.


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## chris oe

Has he done the full course on his antiparasitics?


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## jrman83

Can he swim to any depth at all?


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## HUMAN1ESS

Yea he is finished the meds. I actualy did 3 dosings instead of 2. He swims all over the tank, he does just fine. I just hope it isn't too much longer before the swelling goes down. I do daily water changes, figure clean healthy water won't hurt the condition.


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## Amie

Could it be a tumor?? Guppy Troubleshooter

Or, Malawi Bloat?? Fish Fecal Disorders

Those websites explain some more about those two things. No cure for tumor bu there is a treatment for the Malawi Bloat, I'm not sure if that is the same stuff that you used or not.


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## chris oe

Well, the peas should have taken care of any compacted fecal matter, and the antiparasitics should have taken care of most parasites. Have you seen any indications of thready wormlike things poking out of his anus (I know, gross, but I had to ask) it is possible that the remedy we tried just didn't get them (some of these guys are tough) but yeah, I guess we can't rule out that this is a tumor and he's just going to be like this. As long as he's acting healthy and not wasting (not losing muscle or fat) I just don't know.


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## HUMAN1ESS

The thing that makes me feel like there is a parasite is the other fish in my 60 all had white poop, and that was cleared up with Tetra Parasite Clear. He was not pooping from what I could see, and now he does. There is nothing at all coming from his body (like a worm). I just don't know what to do with this guy. I don't want to add it to my large tank and risk harming the school, and I feel really bad about this condition not clearing up. As much as I hate to say this, he may have to be euthanized.


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## Amie

Is he happy and otherwise okay. If he is then I would leave him alone and let him be. At least for now and it if starts to bother him later then you might have to do something.


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## HUMAN1ESS

Amie said:


> Is he happy and otherwise okay. If he is then I would leave him alone and let him be. At least for now and it if starts to bother him later then you might have to do something.


I wouldn't say he looks happy, but he is definitely surviving. The more i pay attention to him the more i realize he stays at the top of the tank 99% of the day. The rest of my guppies are all over the tank, even when they're not playing with each other. I just wish things would clear up.


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## jrman83

Treat again with the anti-parasite. I've needed multiple treatments on some of my fish.


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## HUMAN1ESS

Today the fish passed away. It was a tough fight, but eventually the sickness won.


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