Fish With Gravel Stone Caught In Mouth

[someguy]

I think I might have something of a problem. I am housesitting for my sister, and one of her tropical fish (I'm not sure of the type, but it's about 5cm long) seems to have a peice of gravel caught in it's mouth. I'd post a picture but my camera is at home. There are a few unnatural (they weren't there before) red specs visible around where the stone is, and the fish doesn't look too comfortable.

What should I do?

 

[black angel]

For a fish that small it might be difficult to shift.
You could try catching it which might be enough to dislodge it as the fright might get it to spit up. Another way is to catch it and then gently open the fishes mouth by pressing under its chin and then using a forward stroke see if that will bring it forward. Hold the fish head down over the tank and try it this way to see if gravity will help. If not then you will need a small pair of tweezers to actually get in and grab the stone. The fish will be okay out of water for about 30 seconds before you will need to let him recover and trying again. This is quite a dangerous way to get it out as on a small fish it is easy to get it wrong but i dont see what else you can do.

 

[*Lucifer*]

hey welcome to the forum,

with a fish that small it'll prob be quite hard to get it our without harming it, id say the same as above jus be careful not to damage the fish or keep it out of the water too long!!! good luck

keep us posted!!

Lucifer

 

[Marcos]

If there's an aquatic centre nearby can you put it in a suitable bag or container (with some tank water) and take it there? They may stand a better chance of getting it out.

 

[WILDER]

Did you manage to save the fish.

 

[someguy]

Did you manage to save the fish.

No, but it did save itself . After a couple of unsucsessful attempts to remove it last night I decided to take it to the aquarium after work today. Went I went off to work this morning it was still stuck there, but I've just gotten home and he has managed to get it out somehow. I'm more than a little relieved.

Thanks for your help everyone!

 

[TammyLiz]

Glad to hear your sisters fish is doing better.

 

[WILDER]

I'm glad to a happy endings thank goodness.

 

[someguy]

hi, its the sister here, the fish is alive and completely recovered form its ordeal. its a horseface cichlid, [or eartheater] and one of our favourites so we were very relieved that it recovered. Thanks for the advice, my brother was a bit panicky, and we were too far away to ruch home [which we might've!]

 

[SamUK]

glad ya fish is ok



i was nearly faced with a similar situation with one of my yellow labs.

scary.