Gulper help please???

[thebiggerthebetter]

My gulpers do it too. I don't know what it is other than they do it sometimes. It's almost as if they are stretching and rinsing their stomachs with water. They blow up like that and then it comes down to the norm within hours or a day and none of this has anything to do with feeding, not directly at least.

 

[Matteus]

My gulpers do it too. I don't know what it is other than they do it sometimes. It's almost as if they are stretching and rinsing their stomachs with water. They blow up like that and then it comes down to the norm within hours or a day and none of this has anything to do with feeding, not directly at least.

Wow. That is incredibly interesting. Great to know in advance.

 

[blackbullhead]

I've actually just encountered more or less the same problem as the OP, the smaller of my two gulpers (7") just ingested two 4" bluegills and is now floating at the surface.
I'm very curious as to whether I should just A) leave him be and hope for the best, or B) try to disgorge the meal.
Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

That's terrible. Sorry to hear. Bluegills are porcupines with fins. One would be enough, let alone two. The only time one of my gulpers ate a tank mate, a 9" four-line pim catfish, it didn't change its swimming habits. So I fear unless you can get the gulper to spit them out, the outcome will be the same as with Miks' gulper. Either way, the chances are stacked up heavy against you as it would probably be impossible for the gulper to regurgitate such a spiny prickly prey.

 

[kno4te]

I've actually just encountered more or less the same problem as the OP, the smaller of my two gulpers (7") just ingested two 4" bluegills and is now floating at the surface.
I'm very curious as to whether I should just A) leave him be and hope for the best, or B) try to disgorge the meal.
Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Based on what happened with the prior op’s gulper. I would leave it and reduce the water level so it can stay upright a bit. Could always try to sedate with clove oil (.5ml per g in a 5g bucket) but not sure if spines are stuck and a mess to get out. Tough situation.

 

[blackbullhead]

Going into day three...Still alive, but still very much full and upside down.

 

[kno4te]

Going into day three...Still alive, but still very much full and upside down.

Are u lowering the water level? Able to get it upright?

 

[blackbullhead]

I haven't lowered the water level at all..It seems I'd have to bring the level down to just 4 inches or so in order for it to turn upright.

 

[blackbullhead]

Unfortunately, the chap croaked. Yesterday evening, noticing some red lesions forming around the fish's belly, I opted to sedate the fish and managed to extricate one of the digesting fish. After this the gulper no longer floated, so I returned him to the tank. This morning, he was floating again and had expired.
When I had pulled his meal out, I noticed the release of a lot of gas (and a really foul smell, of course), which leads me to believe that some sort of abnormal digestion was occurring. Potentially, a puncture of the stomach lining was causing gas to build up in the interstices where it couldn't escape...purely speculation.