sticky situation

[mahimahi]

a stem from a piece of lettuce in my tank is stuck in the throat of my dusky jawfish. its about 1 inch long and is peaking out from her mouth, its been stuck for about 45 minutes. shes acting normal and doesnt seem to be struggling. what should i do? should i wait a night or try to get it with some twezzers?

 

[rolo65]

she'll spit it out if its truly bothering her....youd know if it was.....cause shed probably be trying to carpet surf...

 

[jennm]

Other than the unforeseen choking hazard, lettuce isn't a very good food for fish. They wouldn't encounter it in the wild, and they can't digest the cellulose, so it pretty much just goes right through them.

Freezing it first will burst the cell walls, but it's still not very nutritious for them compared to some of the foods available that more mimic their natural diets, or are formulated to meet their needs.

Hope she manages to either spit it out or swallow it down.

Jenn

 

[mahimahi]

The lettuce was meant for the sea hare but I guess she thought it was food

 

[jennm]

Nori is better for the sea hare. Lettuce won't keep anything nourished. It's mostly water and mostly indigestible for marine life. That was my point. Even algae wafers will give more nutrition to whatever creature(s) they're intended for.

Jenn