Fish Swallowed Stone

[Villy Valley]

It looks to me as if the black moor has hoovered up a small stone from the bottom of the tank and it is now stuck in his mouth. I can see something pink in his mouth when he opens it up widely. He is opening and closing his mouth rather frantically and swimming backward shaking his head. What can I do.

Villy

 

[debiasir]

can you take him out of the water in a cloth soaked in tank water and gentle rub him to release the stone. I have seen this done before and it is nerve wrecking. good luck

 

[Villy Valley]

The stone is too far in for me to do it. I can only see it when he is frantically opening up his mouth wide and I can see a pink thing in there. I have grey and pink stones in the bottom of the tank. If it was caught in the lips of his mouth I would chance some tweezers on him but it is inside his mouth

Villy

 

[WILDER]

Not the writer of this information
Rockitis (a.k.a. Rock In The Mouth)



Symptoms:

Fish will yawn and appear to be imbalanced in the water, with their head significantly lower than their tail (as if they were standing on their head).



Cause:

The fish has ingested a rock or gravel and is unable to spit it back out.



Treatment:

You need to remove the gravel from the fish's mouth or else it will eventually die of starvation. To do this, net the fish and as you bring it to the surface, it will open its mouth. If not, gently open its mouth with a fingernail or tweezers. At this point, grasp the rock with long, round-tipped tweezers and pull it out. If it does not come out easily, you can try turning the rock inside the fish's mouth to loosen it and then pull. To prevent this from reoccuring, you might consider replacing your gravel with gravel that is too large to fit in your fish's mouth.

Note: Only handle fish with wet hands and hold them gently. Never keep them out of water for more than 2 minutes, although this should only take 30 seconds. If you are unable to remove the rock, keep trying. Return the fish to the water and try again after it has rested for a few minute


Sometimes just removing them from the tank in a wet tank water cloth is enough for them to get the stone out.

 

[WILDER]

Is the stone out yet.

 

[Villy Valley]

I have had him out 3 times now. He will not open his mouth. The last time I tried to open it with my finger nail but I cannot reach the stone. I put him back in the tank and thought he had died. He took a few moments to start swimming again. I have phoned a neighbour who works in the Fish shop and she has suggested I take it in tomorrow and someone will try and do it for me. Is he likely to last the night?

Villy

 

[WILDER]

There is a procedure you can do but forgotten it, like us you press on something, i think it's the tummy, i have another article somewhere i will find it for you.

Not the writer of this information below.
Open Mouth (cannot close mouth)- This is usually when fish have a rock or something foreign stuck in their mouths. If you are very gentle you can push it forward and out of their mouth through an accessway under the gill cover. The fish of course would do better if under some anesthesia. Oil of cloves can be recommended too. The other reasons for open mouth could be a sore or ulcer located on the roof of the mouth. This is usually treated by swabbing the area with hydrogen peroxide (be careful not to get any in the gills) and an injection of Baytril. More information on injections available at http/www.koivet.com. top

 

[Villy Valley]

I took Villy to the fish shop this morning. They have tried unsuccessful throughout the day to remove the stone. He is now poorly and so they have left him in some salted water until tomorrow when they are hoping he will be strong enough for them to try again. The stone appears to have slipped in much further and they are now not sure if they will be able to get it out. I will have to wait now until tomorrow afternoon to see if he has made it or not........ not holding out much hope. I hate waiting.

Villy Valley

 

[Animation]

This black moore dosen't seem to be a lucky fish you posted on him before about swimbladder or something if i can remmeber(Glad to see he must of got over it)
Never had this problem but yeh take it tot the fish shop however leave him for tonight- Fishes can get disease from stress for example whitespot is more like to hit when stressed

 

[WILDER]

Sorry, good luck.

 

[black angel]

To open the mouth you press under the chin. The fish must be held facing downward in a wet flannel and then use the tweezers grab the stone. Sometimes using a forward stroking motion from under the chin where the stone is can sometimes bring it forward. If it keeps going backwards then you are going to lose the fish as it will get stuck in the gut.
For goldfish you should get either really small pieces of gravel or large rocks. To avoid it completely some people keep goldies with nothing on the bottom of the tank.
Hope you get it to come out.

 

[debiasir]

good luck hope the fish pulls through

 

[WILDER]

Did the fish make it.

 

[lostcrow]

Very sad. Sorry. My mom's big goldfish sucked up a stone and we had to take him out and extract it with forceps...but it wasn't that far down. Hope he makes it through ok...