Chance for survival?

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R

RedDwarf

Gambusia
MFK Member
Sep 19, 2009
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Where the Sun is Warm
When I went to go look at my planted tank I noticed that one of my mono sebae had an otocinclus in it's mounth and was having a hard time breathing, the oto was still alive and kicking in the mono's mouth. After I netted the mono, I noticed that the oto was wedged with it's nose pushing against the mono's gills. Only thing I could do was to cut through the first gill on the left side and push the oto's nose out so it could be pushed clear of the mono. Now the question is, what do you think the chances, that the mono will pull through this surgery? It's has very labored breathing right now but it seems alert, it's eyes are following me around, but is still too weak to swim.:(
 
I'm not in the best position to advise but run as much air as you can in the tank. More dissolved oxygen will make it easier to ingest. Hope it pulls through for you
 
I've pulled Raphaels with triggered lateral fins out of catfish mouths and throats....

It will pull through, if it is acting normally.
 
RedDwarf, you need clove oil to sedate your mono sebae. Remember that a conscious fish becomes more terrified and severely stressed if you attempt to pry the fish off while conscious. You need to sacrifice either of the fish. I do not think one is likely to survive. There have been stories of goldfish and angelfish eating otos and corydoras. The prey had to be cut off in half (especially as they were dying/dead) to save the predator. Use forceps and sharp scissors to do this job. The clove oil will sedate both fish and the prey will simply die peacefully if you choose to save the predator.

When I sedate my own fish, 7.5 mL per liter of water is my appropriate dosage. You may need spare bottles of clove oil just in case the fish doesn't fall unconscious quickly. Get a soft towel to lay out the fish or a soft blanket. Once surgery or any operation is done, get another container of clean water and put the fish in there.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone, the sebae didn't make it, there was really no time to sedate the mono as it was gasping and taking a turn for the worse. The oto swam off relieved to be out of the mono's mouth.
 
RedDwarf;3504985; said:
Thanks for the replies everyone, the sebae didn't make it, there was really no time to sedate the mono as it was gasping and taking a turn for the worse. The oto swam off relieved to be out of the mono's mouth.
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It didn't survive because like you wrote, you cut the gill. Bad idea to do. And why didn't you just cut the otos fins and remove them with pliers, would have been much less costly...
 
There was no room to cut the oto's fins to get it out of the mono. To accomplish that I would have had to cut the mono open. The oto barely fit in the mono's mouth. I should have been more clear, I cut one of the gill arch, seeing that the mono had three gill arches on each side, I was hoping it would be able to pull through with one of the arches being severed. I don't view the life of my fish in a monetary sense, so costly doesn't come into play, when I'm trying to save their lives. But thank you for your response.
 
sorry dude . . . I once was able to successfully extricate a cory from the mouth of a GT, but no surgery was required.

I suppose in your situation I would have glady sacrificed the oto to save the sebae, but maybe you could only save one or lose both
 
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