My guppy is about to explode!

[FishNewbie82912]

Help! He’s been bloated a few days but now his belly has these weird dark spots which were never part of his normal color and he’s about to literally pop!

He’s in a 10 gallon. With a gourami, glo tetra and dwarf African frog.

Water parameters are all normal.

 

[Essjay]

In the photo, it looks as though his scales are sticking out like a pine cone? If they are, he has dropsy. This is not a disease itself but a symptom of another underlying disease, which could be bacterial, viral or parasitic. The problem is identifying this underlying disease.
You could try an antibacterial medication, but this is not guaranteed to work. In so many cases, the underlying disease has progressed so far that the fish has kidney failure and there is nothing that can be done.

 

[Naughts]

Oh wow, have you used de-worming medication? Levamisole or praziquantel or both?
@Colin_T is this worms???

 

[Colin_T]

No it's not intestinal worms.
Intestinal worms normally cause the fish to lose weight over time and do a stringy white poop. In cases where fish are really heavily infested with intestinal worms, they can get fat but it occurs over a period of time (a few months).

If the fish got fat rapidly overnight or over a couple of days, stopped eating, and its scales are sticking out, then it has dropsy (as mentioned by Essjay). If it has dropsy, there isn't anything you can do for it.

On a side note, frogs are best kept in a tank of their own. If fish get sick and need treating, the medications usually kill the frog.

 

[FishNewbie82912]

No it's not intestinal worms.
Intestinal worms normally cause the fish to lose weight over time and do a stringy white poop. In cases where fish are really heavily infested with intestinal worms, they can get fat but it occurs over a period of time (a few months).

If the fish got fat rapidly overnight or over a couple of days, stopped eating, and its scales are sticking out, then it has dropsy (as mentioned by Essjay). If it has dropsy, there isn't anything you can do for it.

On a side note, frogs are best kept in a tank of their own. If fish get sick and need treating, the medications usually kill the frog.

Oh geez. Poor guy. Thanks for the info on the frog. Upon further inspection he is pine-conning. What should I do with him?

 

[Colin_T]

euthanise it.

wrap it in a couple of tissues or paper towels and squash its head. It sounds gross and is but if you hit the fish on the body it will pop and gross stuff will go everywhere.

 

[FishNewbie82912]

euthanise it.

wrap it in a couple of tissues or paper towels and squash its head. It sounds gross and is but if you hit the fish on the body it will pop and gross stuff will go everywhere.

Oh my gosh I can’t do that! I’ll have to get my husband to take the reigns on this one. I can’t just flush him down the toilet? Won’t the force of the flushing just take care of it?

 

[Colin_T]

Flushing a fish down the toilet is bad for the environment and does not kill the fish. If that fish has a disease, then it can get into local waterways and kill the native fish. And the fish usually live in the sewer for a few more hours (or longer) and they suffer during that time. Get hubby to wrap it in a couple of paper towels and squash it to put it out of its misery.