Can a fish choke?

[MSU Fan]

I'm not too worried about it drowning or anything, but I have apparently an exceedingly stupid madagascar rainbow. I tossed an algae wafer in for the otos/corys/loaches, and he managed to grab it on the way down...and then stuffed the whole thing in his mouth. what a moron! anyway, his mouth got stuck open, and his gills were still going, and he was flying around the tank (and twitching), so my wife tried catching him (she was trying to save him...). finally, he spit it out...so he could eat it again!

so back to my original question: can a fish choke?

 

[Guest]

Yes, I believe they can? You may want to break them in half in the future.

 

[An t-iasg]

I have read that rainbowfish have small, narrow throats, so making the food small enough for them is a good idea (since they aren't smart enough to resist a big piece of food!)

 

[Andos99]

Rainbows have narrow throats and can indeed choke but not in the literal sense. If the wafer became lodged in his throat, he would essentially starve to death because he couldn't eat anything until the obstruction was removed. Generally fish can work down whatever they have "lodged" in their mouths. My rainbows used to eat large ghost shrimp that would sometimes take them several hours to "choke" down.

 

[toddnbecka]

Most commercial pellets or wafers will break up sooner or later after they soak long enough. I did have a bumblebee catfish that died trying to swallow a bumblebee goby, apparently the goby's fins locked, and the catfish wasn't able to swallow the goby, or get water through its mouth, and suffocated.
I have seen Oscars eat a fish too large to swallow. They swim around with the tail hanging out of their mouth until part is digested, and then swallow the rest.

 

[MSU Fan]

The algae wafer was in half! maybe quarters?

 

[Andos99]

Just leave the wafer whole so he can't even come close to swallowing it and your bottom feeders can eat it.

 

[DepotFish]

Yes they can, its a common cause of death for goldies in gravel bottom tanks.

 

[Guest]

Just leave the wafer whole so he can't even come close to swallowing it and your bottom feeders can eat it.

May be a good idea.

 

[guppy12]

NO OFFENSE BUT WHAT A STUPID FISH!!
8O What would he be like if he was a human????

i don't want to know