Small Fish Stuck At Bigger Fish's Mouth. What Should i Do?

[joopsg]

Oto vs adoketa.


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[RonWill]

Then not too bad since oto's body not as armored as a cory's. Just don't leave it in there for too long.

[joopsg]

Okay.. hope he will survive tonight.

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[marle]

My suggestion is to get it done asap.

1) Hold the fish tight between 2 Wet towels *It will shake violently, your hand must be firm*

2) Squeeze the cheeks slightly to open the fish's mouth. (IMPORTANT STEP before u proceed to 3).)

3) Put the pincers/tweezers in and remove the remaining half of the body. (The body may be stuck from the top, you need to use the pincers to hold the dead body firmly, push it IN, DOWN, Then OUT.)

[BRy]

My suggestion is to get it done asap.

1) Hold the fish tight between 2 Wet towels *It will shake violently, your hand must be firm*

2) Squeeze the cheeks slightly to open the fish's mouth. (IMPORTANT STEP before u proceed to 3).)

3) Put the pincers/tweezers in and remove the remaining half of the body. (The body may be stuck from the top, you need to use the pincers to hold the dead body firmly, push it IN, DOWN, Then OUT.)

Hey Marle. Thank you for being a solid source of knowledge! I stumbled upon this blog while researching the same issue with my comet gold and oto. I'm confident with the instructions that you have provided, though I have a question regarding the procedure... the oto cat appears to be 3/4 of the way back into the comets 'digestion. How far back is it safe to use scissors and tweezers? Is it possible that the comet will finish consuming the Oto? I have tried the procedure a couple of times without much success, though when I first found the situation the Oto cats tail was out of the comets mouth and now it is much further back. Will the comet finish?

Thanks again for your support!

[stormhawk]

Your goldfish may have a hard time ingesting and digesting the entire Otocinclus, due to the armor plates and the stiff pectoral spines of the Otocinclus, if it has already been swallowed. If you can still see the Oto with part of it still sticking out of the Comet's mouth, then it is likely stuck along the throat of the goldfish. You have to attempt manual removal as mentioned by marle, as soon as possible because this may end up with the death of your goldfish if you are too slow to react.

[BRy]

Thank you Storm! I can see the oto in the comets mouth but it appears that most of it has already passed into the throat area. It appears that it may already be past the point of no return... Do you think it is possible for it to devour the rest of the oto?

[BRy]

A lesson learned that I want to share with others... do your research personally when adding and mixing fish. I have had a few incidents, including mixing oto with comets, where the advice of those working in the fish department at pet smart has been detrimental to my aquarium life. It seems that just because they work in the fish department at pet smart doesn't mean their knowledge extends past their ability to scoop the fish into a plastic bag... do your research!

[BRy]

success! thank you!

[stormhawk]

Congratulations dude. Now make sure you let the Comet recover. Some staff at pet stores etc do not necessarily have the right knowledge, and there are those who will invariably give you the wrong guidance. TBH, goldfish are cold water species that tend to prefer alkaline conditions, whereas Otocinclus are tropical species that prefer slightly acidic conditions. If you need an algae eater for a goldfish tank, you don't need one to be honest. The goldfish themselves are adept algae eaters from time to time, but nothing a handy magnet can't handle if they're on the glass etc. A balanced diet, maintenance regime and good filtration will go a long way to having healthy goldfish.

[AquaLady]

Congrats on saving your fish guys. I hope to have to never go thru this but its a learning experience.

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