What is wrong with my poor guppy?

Please can someone help, my guppy is around three months old. He was born to one of my female guppies so I had him since birth. These last few days I noticed he was staying by himself and not interacting with the other fish. I also noticed he has a swollen belly so I wondered if he was constipated or something. He hasn’t eaten these last few days either. But today I looked at him and OMG. I was so shocked to see his poor belly bursting through his skin. It appears to gave little white bits hanging off. I can’t tell if it’s a sore, a parasite, bacteria, a tumour or what. Maybe I acted too hastily, but I’ve put him in a separate tank now with anti internal bacteria treatment. I hope I did the right thing. Does anyone have a guess as to what has happening to my poor boy? He looks in terrible shape and I’ll be surprised if he pulls through. He’s currently just hovering near the top of the tank.

 

Welcome to Fishlore.

Please use the emergency template. Just copy and paste it here and fill it out. It will help find clues as to why this has happened.

This makes me quite curious about how much food this specific guppy was eating. Guppies are one of the most prone fish to overeating problems and some literally explode like this or prolapse if they eat too much. Greedy little guys. Happens to them more than any other fish. Could be something else.

Until there’s a clear diagnosis, hold back the antibacterial treatment and other meds. Meds are only safe to use when a guaranteed diagnosis is made.

Sorry to say it, but this looks too far gone to be cured.

 

Welcome to Fishlore.

Please use the emergency template. Just copy and paste it here and fill it out. It will help find clues as to why this has happened.

This makes me quite curious about how much food this specific guppy was eating. Guppies are one of the most prone fish to overeating problems and some literally explode like this or prolapse if they eat too much. Greedy little guys. Happens to them more than any other fish. Could be something else.

Until there’s a clear diagnosis, hold back the antibacterial treatment and other meds. Meds are only safe to use when a guaranteed diagnosis is made.

Sorry to say it, but this looks too far gone to be cured.

Thank you for your reply. I shall fill out the template now.

Well usually I feed my guppies normal flakes, and frozen blood worms twice a week. Yes I must say I have noticed that Guppies don’t mind guzzling down a lot of food. Perhaps it was due to overeating, then. It’s weird because he was absolutely fine, then within days he just got like this. I did euthanise him in the end because I felt so bad for the poor fella. I’m going to be mindful of how much I feed my guppies from now on!

 

It’s best to feed them once daily, with enough food to eat within two minutes. If they beg for food during other times of the day, know that fish are opportunistic feeders that will happily consume food even if they’re not hungry. It’s a survival instinct.

 

Here is the emergency template I have filled in.

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 50 Litres
How long has the tank been running? 7 months
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 27 C
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) 6 Guppies, Pink Ramshorn snails (Couldn’t possibly count them all, more than 20)

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Every 2 weeks
How much of the water do you change? About 20%-30%
What do you use to treat your water? Fluval Water Conditioner, eSHa Optima.
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? I vacuum both the substrate and water.

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? I cycled my tank with only Ramshorn snails in there.
What do you use to test the water? Liquid test kit.
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 180

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Everyday.
How much do you feed your fish? Once every day.
What brand of food do you feed your fish? King British Tropical Fish Flakes.
Do you feed frozen? Yes, only bloodworms.
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? No

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 3 months since birth.
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 3 days ago
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Extremely bloated, stomach tears, fatigued, loss of appetite
Have you started any treatment for the illness? Anti Internal bacteria treatment
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Lethargic, dull colouring compared to before, not interacting with other dish

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
(Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)

Fish appeared to be bloated a few days ago and I noticed it was staying alone, not interacting with other fish. I also noticed it was not eating, and the colouring on it was a bit less vibrant than days before. I wondered if it was perhaps constipated. Fast forward to yesterday and the skin of stomach has torn open, exposing inner part of stomach. It looks much like an open sore. Looks very tender, and very large affected area. Since this I have euthanised the fish as it looked to be suffering very badly. I would still very much appreciate any ideas you think as to what could have caused this. Thank you.

 

Thank you.

First, what is meant by pH 180? The pH scale goes from 1-14 (7 being neutral, lower than this is more acidic and higher than this is more alkaline).

Make 20-30% weekly into 50% weekly. Although this very likely isn’t the culprit for the death, it’s better to change out at least 50% as it dilutes nitrate and other dissolved organic compounds down more effectively, keeping the water cleaner.

Also, don’t vacuum the substrate constantly. Mulm buildup is your friend.

Bloodworm is a fatty food. It shouldn’t be fed often, rather on occasion, but brine shrimp and daphnia are better alternatives for frozen foods. The latter has even helped with constipation in fish before.

Nothing really for me to suggest this fish wasn’t overeating.