HELP!!! 6" comet tried to eat an otto, STUCK

[nguyendetecting]

your best chance was when the tail was visible, and even if you could reach it with a toothpick tweezers might have worked. Now though I don't know. If you have any other otos in there I'd move them out. Don't you have like 6 goldfish in there? I think it was only a matter of time before they tried it, goldfish are hungry hippos. Sorry to hear

 

[caitylee]

Yeah we couldn't find the tweezers, we moved a few weeks ago and that is one thing that hasn't been recovered yet. Yeah we have 6 goldfish, he is the second biggest, most of the others are too small to even consider it.

Not much we can do now huh? Now that he is all the way in, his lips are still extended because the otto is just beyond the rim of them.

 

[Star_Rider]

the problem you probably discovered is the oto's defense mechanism.. near the gill plate there are spines that will stick out

http://www.auburn.edu/academic/science_math/res_area/loricariid/fish_key/Lasian/caucanus.jpg

otocinclus have very similar defense mechanism


this will make it very difficult to pull the oto out or move it forward if this has been activated.

it can be done very carefully (I did it when my angel got one stuck)

 

[Sploke]

Get a pair of hemostats or forceps that will fit in the fish's mouth. The oto is proably dead, I would reach in with the forceps and crush up the oto, maybe twist it a bit to dislodge the spine and pull it out.

 

[DooSPX]

the oto is still in there. I can see his tail. i dont have anything that will fit....

 

[J double R]

yeah.. manual removal is pretty much the only option you have....


and hey.. while we're on the topic.. otos are tropical and goldfish are not. keeping these fish in separate tanks with proper water specs for each will prevent this problem in the future.

 

[DooSPX]

I know, we put them in temporally to cleanup some algea issues.

 

[nguyendetecting]

I had two otto's in our goldfish tank forever, now our 6" comet tried to eat an otto. the tail is still sticking out of his mouth. I think its stuck. his gills are getting red, and otto's have spines!!!

is the goldfish still choking?

 

[DooSPX]

he is still alive after 12 hours. swimming around. you can see the oto in his throat and mouth though. I wish I can get the thing out. any other suggestions?

 

[Sploke]

In the fishing section at Walmart they sell some thin forceps for reaching into a fish's mouth/gullet and grabbing fishhooks to unhook them - they might be narrow enough to get into your fish's mouth and grab the oto.