Bloated female guppy

Question
QUESTION: Hello! My name is Tiffany, and I have a female guppy whose stomach looks terribly wrong! It is abnormally big and mishaped: One side larger than the other. I have seen her pregnant before: having a dark spot in her belly.

However, I do not think she is pregnant anymore, because she does not have a dark spot, instead, her stomach almost looks see through and translucent. She is still pretty active: What should I do?

My parents told me to stop feeding the fish, but she still looks the same, and I do not like the idea of starving the fish, as they may eat the babies.

ANSWER: Hi Tiffany,
Unfortunately I've personally seen female guppies get this way and I too don't think its related to pregnancy. Instead I think its kidney malfunction and therefore fluid buildup. If her scales stick out from her sides it could be progressing stages of dropsy or intestinal disease

This can be a hard condition to treat and please know that what I suggest I cannot guarantee it will work.

The best thing I can recommend is to move her to a hospital tank if possible and treat with epsom salt. About 1/8th teaspoon per 5 gallons. If you have a small container a recommended dosage is roughly 1/8 teaspoon divided into 5 equal parts, add one part per gallon.

Epsom salt has been known to help draw fluids from the fish and can help bloated cases.

Good water quality is always important and make sure ammonia is not allowed to build up in her hospital tank. Use a water conditioner that neutralizes ammonia if possible and make frequent water changes. Re-dosing the epsom salt according to however much water you took out.

I hope this helps and best of luck!
Karen~

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much!
Unfortunately, I only have one tank. What can I do for while other fish still live in the tank? Can I still put espom salt it?

ANSWER: The epsom salt won't hurt the other fish and apparently it looks like your best option here. ;)

Best of luck!
Karen~

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I did what you said, and got some aquarium salt: They did not have espom salt.

Unfortunately, her stomach has popped, and I don't know what to do now.
She is acting weaker. What do I do?

Answer
Hi there,
Unfortunately aquarium salt will not have to same effects as Epsom salt. You should be able to find epsom salt at most grocery stores. But I suppose that doesn't matter now.

I'm so sad to hear she has "popped".... poor little fish. I certainly think either she had a tumor/cyst growth or a kidney mal-function. There is not much you could have done and she may have been beyond treatment when you first wrote to me.

There's not much I can tell you to do now but keep her as comfortable as possible. And please know she may not survive. She's been through a lot. If she's had a lot of babies in the past she may be additionally weak by the stress of that. Some mother fish die after having a brood of babies because of the stress of it.

Know you tried your best and there probably wasn't too much you could have done to help her.

Best wishes Tiffany,
Karen~