fat fish

[MagicAfra]

My guppy is pretty fat, not obscenely so but enough to make him look quite unhealthy. Just behind the gills is where he is widest. I am not sure what the cause might be. Earlier today I was thinking that perhaps I overfed him or that he was constipated so I tried thawed sweet peas. While the other guppies ate it he did not seem interested. While the female has already thinned down to the point that I was looking for babies in the tank just now, he is still quite large. His scales seem to be somewhat stretched and not quite healthy. He is not very active.
Before

Now

 

[emerald76]

Caused by too much fat in the diet. It happens to lots of male guppies.

 

[MagicAfra]

I pretty much just feed them flakes, can this cause him to get fat? How can I amend that?

I noticed a few days ago that the temperature was actually really high in that tank, about 88 I think, I've turned it down but can that have affected him in this way? Increased metabolism means increased need for fat to sustain himself?

He was lying down when I left and was dead when I got home. I hate seeing them on the ground dying because I feel so helpless and I know they probably won't get back up.

Do fish just die from getting fat, or might it have been a disease caused by weakened immune system from fat? or is it just a coincidence?

What could I have done? What should I have done to prevent it?

 

[emerald76]

I pretty much just feed them flakes, can this cause him to get fat? How can I amend that?

I noticed a few days ago that the temperature was actually really high in that tank, about 88 I think, I've turned it down but can that have affected him in this way? Increased metabolism means increased need for fat to sustain himself?

He was lying down when I left and was dead when I got home. I hate seeing them on the ground dying because I feel so helpless and I know they probably won't get back up.

Do fish just die from getting fat, or might it have been a disease caused by weakened immune system from fat? or is it just a coincidence?

What could I have done? What should I have done to prevent it?

It may have been the tempatures suddenly going down. The chestiness can be caused by flakes. I feed my guppies Omega One flakes and one male is very chesty looking. It may be just a coincidence that he died, or age. Chestiness/fat is often seen in older males.

 

[BBradbury]

Feeding Fish

Hello Magic...

You may know some of this information. A fish's stomach is roughly the size of one of its eyes. Not very large, so it doesn't take much to fill it.

Aquarium fish in their natual living places are fortunate if they eat once a week. If you have fry in your fish tank, then you need to feed a little more often than once a week.

I feed my "Livebearers" a variety of frozen and just what will be eaten in a minute or two. I feed them twice a week. If you do this, then the fish are constantly swimming around looking for a leftover. They get their exercise and you have a much cleaner tank.

If you feed more than the fish can eat, then the dissolved food creates algae problems. If you have snails in the tank, then you have a population problem.

Feed a little and avoid the fish foods with a long list of ingredients. Those ingredients aren't necessarily healthy.

Just a couple of thoughts.

B

 

[alLexX]

its probably not dropsy,but are his scales sticking out?sort of like a pinecone?

 

[MagicAfra]

Thank you guys for all the info on the fish feeding. I will definitely be decreasing the amount I feed them, although there are some fry in the tank so not too much.

its probably not dropsy,but are his scales sticking out?sort of like a pinecone?

His scales were pointing out like a pine cone. I said that they were "stretched" but that was an inaccurate description. His scales were really small but they seemed rough as though they were sticking out, like a pine cone. What do you know about dropsy?