# One Fish Stopped Eating - Somthing Stuck In Throat?



## Opulent (Jan 20, 2012)

I've got a 55g all male setup with Haps & Peacocks, and my Lethrinops 'Red Cap' Itugni has suddenly stopped eating. This is the 5th day he hasn't eaten and has no visible signs of illness. He is active, and is certainly not subject to bullying, and has never been really. He is very young at only about 3.5 inches, and has 3 other fish around the same size or smaller than he is. The larger fish ignore him totally, and he's always pretty much left to himself.

I have noticed in the past couple of days that when it comes to feeding, he does show signs of excitement, but shakes his head vigorously and 'coughs' as is trying to clear something in his throat. Is is possible he has swallowed something which is now lodged in his gills or throat, and this is stopping him from eating?

Some bullet points to help with diagnosis:

- 55g tank
- Ammonia = 0
- Nitrite = 0
- Nitrate = less than 40ppm
- pH = 8.6
- Water temp = 26 C / 79 F
- Tank has been established for about 12 years and has never been unstable with water parameters
- 40 to 50% Weekly water changes performed each week
- All other fish are healthy and eating well
- Lethrinops has been in the tank about a month and is well settled and estabilshed
- Lethrinops had previously been eating very well (one of the greedier fish)
- Other tankmates are:
* Nimbochromis Venustus (6") [I know, he's going to get too big for the tank! I have upgrade plans]
* Sciaenochromis Fryeri (6")
* Placidochromis Electra (6")
* Protomelas Steveni Taiwan Reef (3.5")
* Aulonocara Hansbaenschi (3.5")
* Aulonocara Stuartgranti Blue Neon (2")
- Feeding NLS 1mm Cichlid pellets. Always have, and the Lethrinops has eaten this without problem, even on day one I bough him
- I have silica sand (same as PFS) for substrate, but the Lethrinops has stopped sand-sifting, which he always used to do
- No flashing from the Lethrinops.
- No laboured breathing from the Lethrinops, and he does swim around the tank (although less so than before he stopped eating)
- I have noticed yesterday there was a white poo from the Lethrinops, but it was as thick as normal poo - not stringy. The white poo is not there today, so that might
have been remnants of anything left in his gut. This came out at feeding time, so my guess is that his bowles were working at the smell of food.
- Started treatment for internal bacteria with Interpet Anti Internal Bacteria medication. Second dose will be completed tomorrow.

I'm not sure what else to add at this point, but as far as I can see, there is no illness with this fish, and it does seem that something is preventing him from eating. The consistent head-shaking and 'coughing' behaviour at feeding time leads me to believe that he's tried to swallow something which has become stuck in his mouth, gills or stomach. I cannot see anything in his mouth...

Any help would be really appreciated, as I'd hate to lose this fish. Thanks very much in advance.


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## dreday (Oct 12, 2007)

was the lethrinops the last fish to go into the tank?

If something was stuck in its mouth you would see it, if it was stuck in its throat it would be dead. I have seen catfish choke to death trying to eat something to big for their mouths.

I am not familiar with the Interpet product. What are the ingredients in it?

It is hard to say what else may be the cause at this point but finish your treatment and do a few WC. If the fish is still not eating try to remove it and place in a hospital tank. A salt dip and some alone time may be in order.


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## Opulent (Jan 20, 2012)

Thanks for the reply. The Lethrinops was one of four fish, who were the last into the tank. Two of these four were females and had been removed about 2 weeks ago.

I'll check the ingredients of the Anti Bacterial meds, and post them here. I completed the last dose last night, and again at feeding time, I got the same reaction from the Lethrinops - shaking his head and 'coughing', no eating and not even picking up and spitting out. He's still not sand-sifting as he used to, and again at feeding time, I saw him excrete another white poo, quite thick but a bit more broken and stringy. This is not a hair-like whisp of stringy poo, so as I assumed before, it looks like his bowls are working at the anticipation of food.

He is still lively and active, but looks to be conserving energy (this is now the 6th day that he hasn't eaten). I'm due for my weekly water change this Sunday, so I'll keep an eye out for what happens between now and the, and what happens after the WC.

Any other thoughts or advice would really be appreciated!


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## dreday (Oct 12, 2007)

it sounds like it might be gill flukes. The only other big sign would be heavy breathing.

Does the fish only do it when you go to feed?

How coarse is your sand?


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## Opulent (Jan 20, 2012)

Well I'm not ruling out anything, although there is no laboured breathing. He does only do this head shaking and coughing when I go to feed them. I have shot a quick video of the Lethrinops to show you his current behaviour (this is not at feeding time), and you will see his is still relatively lively and no signs of heavy breathing - sorry about the quality, but it was quickly taken from my phone. Maybe I'll try and get another video as I'm about to feed to see if I can show you the head shaking and coughing.

http://s1165.beta.photobucket.com/user/ ... 9.mp4.html

The sand isn't very coarse as far as I can see and is just standard silica sand, which I understand to be the same grade and size as PFS.

I also got the ingredients of the meds - Bronopol, Formaldehyde and Benzalkonium Chloride.


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## Opulent (Jan 20, 2012)

OK, and update - he now appears to be breathing heavily. His pace of breathing is quite fast and you can see his mouth is opening quite widely with each breath.

He still hasn't eaten and he still does the head shaking and coughing at feeding time. I'll check his reaction is the same when I feed today.

Any ideas from anyone?


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## dreday (Oct 12, 2007)

The medicine you used should have treated parasites if there were any. I am not sure what else may be causing it.

Moving the fish to another tank with good aeration and do daily WC would be a good help. I dont have any other ideas for you...


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## AlphaWild (Apr 9, 2009)

How interesting to find this thread...I never look at this forum, and now that I did for a similar issue, maybe we can compare notes?....
I just lost a young female Paralabidochromis chromogynos that seems to have "choked" on PFS. About 3 weeks ago I went to strip her, as she had been "holding" for 14 days prior. Being her second time, I was not going to be surprised if I found infertile eggs like my others had the first couple times. But I was amazed when I removed a mouth full of sand instead. In addition, there appeared to be a single grain stuck to the side of her "cheek". Dunking in water did not dislodge it, and being a small fish, I couldn't get back in there without risk of harm, so I let her be. Her buccal cavity remained somewhat pronounced, and she would occasionally "cough". She did attempt to eat, though larger pieces would get spit, I think she was getting smaller bits of the gel food down. But she never regained weight, and seemed to weaken until I pulled her when she began having ballast issues. Within 24 hrs. she was dead. I felt a hard nodule deep in her throat from probing outside, made an incision and found what appeared to be a grain of sand mucoused over...like a pearl would grow?..that I presume was blocking off her throat. I would be satisfied with that answer, but now there's something else to consider, which I think I'll start in another thread, since it could be unrelated and I've hijacked this thread enough already. The new thread will be titled "Parasite concern?" for reference.


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## Opulent (Jan 20, 2012)

Thanks for your input throughout Dreday - I'll see how this pans out, but it does seem that things have made a turn for the worse, as he is not hiding at the top of the tank, still with laboured breathing and it looks like the left side of his belly is a little swolen. My guess is the stress of whatever is preventing him from eating is causing the onset of bloat :-(

Alpha, there's no hijacking as far as I can see - it's all good input and your experience is all good to share (sorry to hear about your loss; I have a feeling mine won't make it through either). I think your case of some sand lodged somewhere is possibly what I have with my fish. I have one other possible consideration, which occurred to me as I have been trying to go back through any events that may have any relevance - it may be that the Lethrinops has a tiny fragment of glass stuck in his throat. I say this, because I did have a glass thermometer which I noticed the other day had been cracked (due to one of the fish bashing it I guess), and some outer layers of the glass had come off. It's possible (in my mind) that the Lethrinops may have sucked up the glass fragment when sand-sifting and has subsequently got it lodged in his throat.

I'm not sure what else I can do at this point for this poor little fellow... :-(


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## Opulent (Jan 20, 2012)

So and update, and to conclude, he didn't make it through the night (found dead hidden amongst the rocks). I'm not sure what I can do to determine the cause of all this, but it was clear that something appears to have been preventing him from eating, rather than loss of appetite due to any illness. All the other fish are completely unaffected and were carrying on as if he wasn't there, so he wasn't subject to bullying or anything else - it was clearly stress that finished him off, as he got progressively worse in the past few days, going from 'normal' but not eating and head-shaking with coughing at feeding time, to stressed and breathing heavily, with little reaction to food in the past two days.

Very sad, as I'm sure he would have been an absolute stunner as an adult (already had blue face and orange showing on the top of his head). :-(

Tanks to all for your input - shame he didn't make it.


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## Ratdog94 (Nov 24, 2012)

I have a similar problem in my hap/peacock tank. I have lost two fish so far. Same symptoms as described above. Treated with general cure from API for 96 hours and multiple water changes. Lost a venustus the day after treatment ended (died suddenly) and now my Taiwan reef is being reclusive and not eating. Other fish that had a lack of appetite or were spitting there food out are now eating again. No white stringy poop or swollen abdomens. For that matter no outward appearance of any symptoms other than not eating/spitting food out, flashing occasionally, and reclusive behavior

I'm starting to think Clout may be the next step if fish keep dying.


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## dreday (Oct 12, 2007)

I have been fighting this now in one of my fish. He had a swollen bucual cavity like he was holding. I moved him and inspected his mouth, it seemed to be some kind of growth in his throat. I could see veins in the growth which means that it is probably a fatty tumor. I treated with salt for 5 days, then nitro for 5 more. The swelling went down with the salt and he ate a little.

Now he is not eating and the size is staying the same. It seems to block his throat but when i sedated him to inspect it i noticed it pulling back when i opened his mouth, it seems to be attached to one side of his throat.

I think the growth was partly my fault. He was in a show tank inside the house which became neglected. I was going on 5 weeks with no water change and notice the fish were starting to gasp. After a big water change i noticed this guy with the swollen throat. So another reminder to keep your water quality very high.

He does not look to thin yet but i siphon the little bit of food i put in there every day. He has been in the hospital tank for 3 weeks now. I think i am going to try some salt dips and see if that might help.


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