Need Help! will my Texas cichlid choke to death?

I have Texas that wont tolerate any fish his size or bigger. But he does fine with the Firemouths he has grown with that are smaller than him. So I added some HRP's that are the same size as the firemouth and they have been doing fine for a month. I have been wanting to add a little more color so I got some very small electric yellows to see what would happen. The Texas seemed to ignore them for the most part but I woke up the morning and he has one stuck halfway down his throat.

So do I try to clip it out with some scissors or pull it out with tweezers what do I do? How long do I wait for him to try and get it down before I intervene. He is my favorite so I really don't want him to die.

duanes said:

All cichlids have a second set of jaws in their throat that allows them to slowly bring large items down, over days if necessary, if the item is large enough.
These jaws, though not as pro-tractable, are similar to the ones in the movie "alien".
Cichlids also have spiny rays in their fins, so if the prey fish went down the gullet head first, its dorsal spines may be lodged in he up position, so trying to pull it out can do more damage the not.
google pharyngeal jaws for more info

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I was aware of the second set of jaws that is why I was of nervous to mess with him at all. I didn't know how long they would work at the fish in the mouth. So if it is a few days I should still not intervene correct? Yes the fish is in head first.

calichai said:

Just leave him be, my flowerhorn did the same thing. He finally got it down after a few days. His mouth was sorta stuck open for a bit but that corrected itself after a few more days. I definitely wouldn't fiddle with it. I was worried over nothing. Crazy info there Duane's FYI. Good luck.View attachment 1019139


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Thanks for reassuring me. Your FH got a pricey little meal.

To add to it my wife, who says she doesn't care about my tanks, expressed her disdain for my Texas cause he eats the colorful ones. There may be some truth to that lol. thinking I am just going to leave my tank as is. No more new fish.

So the fish hasn't gone down the Texas' throat at all. The tail of the prey fish is all tor up from him rubbing it against stuff. tempted to catch him this weekend and at least cut the tail off the fish so he can close his mouth. The will be a tough job cause I have some pretty good rock work set up and now that he has the fish stuck he hides when i get near the tank.