Has anyone force fed their fish?

[sugartooth]

Please describe your method. I feel this may be an option for a fish that has stopped eating for almost 5 days.
Thank you in advance.

[kevin2000]

Live Brine Shrimp is a good choice for getting fish to eat ... force feeding isn't something I have every heard of - probably not practical - and something that should be left to a professional (if they do it?)

[sugartooth]

Thanks Kevin, I have tried the following foods in various versions of soak (Selcon, garlic, beta glucan, prazi pro)

- Live brine
- Rod's food
- PE mysis
- Hikari mysis
- Arctic pods
- Red's Reef food
- Hikari mysis
- Live amphipods

The fish has stopped eating in the middle of praziquantel treatment so I stopped the treatment.

Today I saw some strange filmy substance coming from the anal vent, with a more opaque 'ball' towards the vent.

Since this fish is not eating, and has not eaten in 4-5 days...I would like to force some food down. I'm contemplating this because it seems like the other option is death if this fish won't eat soon.

[kevin2000]

Why were you treating with praziquantel and how were you administering it? As I recall thats a med used for treating intestinal/internal parasites.

[sugartooth]

Yes, I suspect it had flukes and or worms. I treated w/ Prazi pro soaked food and praziquantel in the water.

[kevin2000]

Tough decision.

When I de-worm my fish I use a different med but similar process and their appetite always seems to deminish during the process. Probably the by-product of meds. The fish I keep are pretty small and I would never consider trying to capture or force feed them.

You should consider sending a PM to Billsreef or perhaps Oama who are two people who may have some commercial experience with raising fish and are likely to have some experience with force feeding fish.

Good luck.

[Spracklcat]

You can tube-feed a fish. You make a slurry of the food, fill a syringe, put a catheter tip on (long skinny rubber tube with a hole at the end, likely not something the average hobbyist has available). Then you catch the fish, hold it down, shove the tube down its throat, depress the plunger, and the food goes directly to the stomach.

For me, I wouldn't recommend it for this--if the fish is weak already, the stress of being caught and fighting you could be worse. Try tempting the fish with brine, like they said above. You can add a bit of garlic too as it seems to be attractive tasting to the fish. Also, most important, add some Vitamin B-12 which seems to be an appetite stimulant for fish. I've had good luck with it.

[sugartooth]

Thank you both again.

I do have the materials to tube feed (syringes and catheters). I have them in my fish first aid kit along with a meds on hand.

In my gut, I believe this fish is weakening. I feel if she does not take food, she will be too weak to recover at all.
She does have outward signs of parasites. She hasn't eaten in 5 days.

The other reason I want to take this measure is because the other female did the same thing and died. She never ate again after she stopped. I figure at this point the other option is death if I don't intervene.

Thanks again for the suggestions. It's very much appreciated. I will do this today.

[Spracklcat]

Let us know how it goes please--

[sugartooth]

UPDATE::

I never got a chance to force feed. She was found dead while getting ready to force feed.

My thinking is that it is important to be very worried if the fish doesn't eat for more than 2 days. From the time I saw behavior and body changes, it was 2 more days until death. It was 5 days total since she stopped eating.

I want to share this experience in case it may help someone identify problems down the road.

I cut her open to see what I was up against, since the male just started eating again, but now has some discoloration along the lateral line. When I looked at her before cutting, I noticed the vent still had some whitish substance in the vent itself.


I cut her open and saw some white long strands. I'm assuming this is not normal fish anatomy (my guess is their organs are either pink, red, or brownish?). They reminded me of dog tapeworms, without the segments.
They were also very long compared to the fish and I didn't investigate further as I was not having fun cutting into my fish.

My guess is that it is a nematode infestation that caused a blockage and needed to be passed in order to get the fish healthy again. I've never dealt with this, it is only my guess.

So now that the male is eating again, I'm planning on spiking the food with some Paricide X (a broad spectrum external/internal parasite and dewormer) that also boasts it has laxative effects. If he is looking good, I want to treat the water with antibiotics as well.

If someone has experience, or sees a better solution, please feel free to post. I'm open to any suggestions.

[sugartooth]

One more item I noticed while I was glancing over the body. The eyes were slightly sunken in as well, but the body did not look that skinny.

[oama]

Sorry to get to this thread late and the lose of your fish.

Was The fish WC and did it ever feed?

Also, the "long White Strands" are most likely the Pyloric Cecum wh/ is a fat depository in fishes and also aids in digestion. You would usually find these over/around the liver.

[sugartooth]

Hello oama, thank you for your input. Could the whitish excrement be the fat deposits then? What are the circumstances that the feces be slimy/whitish?

I'm guessing the fish is wild caught, it is Genicanthus Watanabei. Only the male of the trio is left. The first female did not eat much at all, only arctic pods. She then stopped eating and died in 3 days later.

Then, the second female stopped eating (same with the male) and then starting increasing respiration, hanging out at the bottom, etc. She never started eating again while the male did....slowly.

What are your thoughts on this? If you think I should be doing something different I welcome your suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

[sugartooth]

I forgot to add, the second female and the male were both eating boldly for a week before this happened. They both stopped eating on day 3 of praziquantel treatment.