Fish with Hair Stuck in his Mouth...Should I do anything?

[WhiteCloud]

One of my new Dwarf Neon Rainbow Fish has somehow found a hair in my tank to eat...and about an inch is sticking out of his mouth,

Has this ever happened to anyone?

I will never be able to catch him and pull it out...and I have no idea how long the hair is ...and pulling it out could cause more damage.

I am thinking about just leaving him alone. I would think that enzymes would eventually breakdown the hair...but I just want to make sure that is the right course of action.

Thanks!

 

[Meredith]

pretty sure hair is not digestible. My fish sometimes try and eat hair but they spit it right out. Can you tell if its human or pet hair?

 

[Rocket2001]

Hair will not break down...are you sure its hair and not bactieral fibers..i had a Danio that i thought had a couple of hair fibers in it mouth and It died of mouth fungus a few days later
...just a thought

 

[WhiteCloud]

Looks like human hair...about my length...must have fell in when I was setting up the tank.

The hair seems to be passing through him...as now he has 1 and 1/2 inches trailing him now.

Should be almost passed though.

I guess it is NOT digestible!

Thanks!

 

[novafishy]

so u're saying that it ATE the hair and now its passing through as "waste"?
:?

 

[WhiteCloud]

Yup....

He ate the hair....and it passed through him as waste. It is gone now...and the fish looks none the worse from the event.

 

[Menagerie]

WHEW!!

FWIW~hair is able to be broken down, but I don't know how you would give papaya enzyme to your fish

 

[fearlessfisch]

LOL! This is a hilarious post! I'm glad your fishy is okay. Maybe it cleaned him out...sorta like a snake in a drain.

 

[revhtree]

Maybe it cleaned him out...sorta like a snake in a drain

ROFL

You Freshies are Hilarious!!