my guppy is bloated

Question
We just inherited some guppies from my daughter's classroom and one of them looks pregnant. The whole fish is sort of transparent (my daughter says that means it's female?) and it's still really small, like maybe 3/4 of an inch. Could it be pregnant or is it still too young? What do I do if it is? If it's not pregnant, then what is it?

Answer
Most livebearer females are impregnated once they reach maturity.  If she has been in a tank with males, she will be pregnant and drop fry every 4 weeks for almost a year (even if the male is no longer present).  If she is pregnant and you want to keep all the fry, buy a breeding net that hangs in your tank.  When the female starts to look square in the back by her anal fin, move her into the net.  She will drop her fry , which takes about 12-24 hours, and then you can move her back to the main part of the tank.  Leave the fry in the net until they are big enough that they won't be eaten.  If you are not fussy about how many fry you will have, or don't have a large tank to raise the fry (10g or more), then I suggest leaving the female where she is.  Add low plants (live or fake), rocks and ornaments where the fry can hide.  You will have maybe 6 fry survive if you female has 100 fry, but it will be less stressful for all your fish.