Bloated Body, Chesty

Guppies require digestible protein in a range of 35-47%. If you look at the list of ingredients of most fish foods, you will see that the protein level in the food is much higher (50 - 60% or higher). Some enthusiastic hobbyists also tend to food very rich food.

I used to feed female guppies on at least two brine shrimp feedings a day, plus one dry food feeding. What I noticed is that the females grew very "chesty" and bloated looking. Some of them died. Other hobbyists report guppies literally going belly up...then recovering.

These are symptons of constipation...a blockage in the intestine that can affect the swim bladder by putting pressure on it.

The long term treatment is to reduce the amount of protein fed the guppies. A short term solution is to feed your guppies a laxative. Peas are supposed to act as a laxative, presumably ground up before being fed.

I usually feed juvenile and adult guppies only one brine shrimp feeding a day and no other live food and two feedings of a high quality pellet food, ground up.