i got a clown pleco with my first tank 6 years ago. my 5-6 inch oscar is choking him down and not puking it up anything i can do?
oscar swallowed pleco
- Thread starter brutonsbrew
- Start date
ummm try to pull it out? pretty much 1 of 3 things will happen, he will either spit it up, break it down into bite size pieces or choke and you lose both of them 
chances are the pleco's lateral fins locked and prevent the O from either spitting or swallowing.
I would quickly take the O out of the water and calmly try to release the pleco.
Do not yank it out. You need to be able to unlock the fins with your fingers, taking care not to force the O's mouth structure. One side at a time.
I would quickly take the O out of the water and calmly try to release the pleco.
Do not yank it out. You need to be able to unlock the fins with your fingers, taking care not to force the O's mouth structure. One side at a time.
brutonsbrew;4672774; said:
Do not rely on what "seems". Do it. You will probably lose the O if you don't. At least try.
If you want you can try another thing first. Chase the O around with a net or something. Stress it in order to induce the spitting out of the pleco.
I believe that you will see that he will not be able to manage without your help.
Who do you like more? The pleco or the Oscar? There are many potential scenarios here.
If the Oscar is breathing alright he might survive the ordeal. You could likely do nothing and the pleco will die and once he softens the Oscar should be able to dislodge him. Alternately, the dead pleco could infect the wounds he made in the Oscar's mouth and they both die.
Or, you could take a pair of scissors and cut the pleco in half lengthwise, or cut off his fins, to get him out of the Oscar's mouth.
Or, if the pleco is still alive and you would rather rescue him and kill the oscar, you can kill the oscar and cut his mouth open to rescue the pleco.
Or....the options are many.
If the Oscar is breathing alright he might survive the ordeal. You could likely do nothing and the pleco will die and once he softens the Oscar should be able to dislodge him. Alternately, the dead pleco could infect the wounds he made in the Oscar's mouth and they both die.
Or, you could take a pair of scissors and cut the pleco in half lengthwise, or cut off his fins, to get him out of the Oscar's mouth.
Or, if the pleco is still alive and you would rather rescue him and kill the oscar, you can kill the oscar and cut his mouth open to rescue the pleco.
Or....the options are many.