did my rtc eat too much

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matty832012

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 14, 2013
139
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United States
hello i was feeding my fish this after noon a healthy salmon meal. the rtc came out and ate a huge piece that was intended for the 6 inch oscar it fell past. now the little three inch rtc is swimming but this evening he is twitching? it is not an ich even though the twitches are a slite bit similer but i cured that all a long time ago, also all other fish in the tank including smaller cats ate the same thing? all seem perfectly fine. i was hoping someone had witnessed this because im worried about my little buddy :cry:
 
Catfish often eat too much ....my guess is he will be fine(fingers crossed) keep an eye on him :popcorn:
 
ha ... you really have a point there! this one i have not had more then a week or so and i always keep an eye on him because he is smaller then the others i want to make sure that he gets food but not the huge piece he ate today! i bet he will be fine in the am and im hoping he is just trying to settle everything down to digest! i know i would be twitching too if i ate something in one swallow the size of my head!
 
Smaller RTC do that all the time. They think that just because they can fit something in their mouth it will go down. He's prob just twitching and using his throat muscles to break up the food so he can digest it. And then they will lay on their fat bellies for a day looking like their 9 months pregnant. Just try not to feed it again until its tummy is flat.


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What anchovie is describing is called staged digestion. Only so much food can fit in the stomach. The rest stays in the throat until the stomach has space. when he feels the pressure on his stomach go lax a bit, he twitches to push the food further in. he should be ok just make sure he has it all down by tomorow night. after that you may risk the food rotting a bit in the tank and crumbing up WQ. Enjoy your baby while he's small. soon enough a salmon filet will be a snack haha!
 
Staged digestion is a good explanation. Also, cold-water salmon may be too fatty a food for the tropical RTC. It needs lean foods.
 
My RTC would do that all the time when trying to eat something thats too big to be eaten. He once tried to eat a florida gar, but was unable to get it down and I had to pull it out of his mouth when I found it happening


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thanks all, it has been a few days now and the rtc is great. i understand what you are talking about with the staged digestion you mentioned sound very similar to what had happened to him. thanks a lot for the info and i will be looking to you folks for more info in the as needed in the future. ps he did eat last night so it was almost 24 hrs before he was digested and the little pig ate more.
 
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