HELP!!! Goldfish choking on a goldfish pellet!!!

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DooSPX

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Mar 24, 2008
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I think my one comet is choking!!! he keeps flaring his gills and mouth and swimming funny!!!
what can I do????????

HELP!!!!!!!!
 

DooSPX

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Mar 24, 2008
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Well we caught him and looked down his throat and couldn't see the pellet in there. He is having a hard time swimming against the current and is just hanging around at the bottom of thank. He is only about 2.5inches. Do you think we fed pellets to soon? I just wanted to give them a more varied diet, I would feel terrible if he died.
 

DooSPX

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The pellets are small, less that 1/8" in diameter.
 

THE V

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Nov 25, 2007
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It is probably not the pellet. If is he is gasping it is probably something else. What are the water parameters? How big is the tank? How many and what species of fish? Are there any other signs of distress or illness?
 

DooSPX

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The tank is a 65g with 6 common goldfish all 2.5" or less. We did a water change yesterday and the water parameters are 0ammonia 0nitrite and >20ppm nitrate. All the other fish seem happy with no signs of illness. I just checked on him and he seems to be acting more like himself ...

he is pooping out a dark strand the color of the pellet
 

Flaringshutter

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Oct 17, 2006
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I rather doubt that he was choking. If you just started feeding pellets after switching from flakes, you might be seeing the simple difference in "chewing". Since goldfish don't have teeth or a stomach to soften food, they grind up food against bony plates in their jaw before it passes into their gut. Pellets cause much more vigorous grinding and you'll probably see big gill swishing and mouth movement.

If the pellets are smaller than the black part of his eye, they should be the right size. If in doubt, buy a smaller pellet.

As long as you're seeing evidence of the pellets in his poo, don't worry too much about it. :)
 

DooSPX

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Thank you, I think he is okay and we were just over reacting ... Next time I will soften the food just to be on the safe side.
 
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