How to tube feed a fish

[Humblefish]

Video below - credit for this technique goes to alprazo. More info below the video.

You want a medium sedation - I use 25 ppm of Finquel aka MS-222 or tricaine. I will create a post for fish sedation one of these days. In short it is based on dose, temp, duration in the bath, and thickness of the gill membranes. Smaller fish tend to respond faster, but 25 ppm is about right for this procedure. My water temp was 70F.

Once fish it out, insert tube and inject food, meds, whatever. It took around 18s in the video. I have been using pulverized shad roe. I've also tried soaked flakes with the same results.

Place fish into clean water and create movement over gills.

Then fish goes back to tank.

More info on Tricaine/Finquel (MS-222): http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/11/fish

Where to buy: https://pentairaes.com/tricainer-s-topical-anesthetics-ms-222.html

 

[ecam]

Looks very stressful on a fish. For more sensitive fish like regals and copperband. Wouldn't the stress of this kill them. Or for tang wouldn't it bring on ich ?

 

[Humblefish]

Looks very stressful on a fish. For more sensitive fish like regals and copperband. Wouldn't the stress of this kill them. Or for tang wouldn't it bring on ich ?

It is more a measure of last resort kinda thing. Say a fish has refused to eat for a couple of weeks, for example.

 

[cowboy]

That's actually pretty cool I know I have had a few in the past that could have used this. Never thought tube feeding was a viable option.

 

[ecam]

It is more a measure of last resort kinda thing. Say a fish has refused to eat for a couple of weeks, for example.

Great point. I will definitely add this to my tool box for those stubborn fish. It's so helpless watching a dying fish swim past food!!!

 

[blueface]

Would love to know more specifics. I have an angel that hasn't really eaten in forever.

 

[Humblefish]

Would love to know more specifics. I have an angel that hasn't really eaten in forever.

I posted what alprazo wrote below the video.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I tube fed a seahorse for over a month until a hole in their snout healed.

 

[reefwiser]

This works great for a fish that just doesn't eat. Many times fish get so stressed out they just totally will not eat. I have saved many expensive fish like Fairy wrasses and Regal angelfish using tube feeding.

 

[revhtree]

Very beneficial info!

 

[Tjohnson8057]

Very good to know

 

[Humblefish]

More info posted at the top.

 

[TheRealDmorty217]

Alprazo also taught me how to do this and sent me the angiocath that I use. want to try and force feed a ornate or Meyers into eating prepared foods

 

[Russ265]

It is more a measure of last resort kinda thing. Say a fish has refused to eat for a couple of weeks, for example.

pretty sure this would have saved my tang loss.
or at the very least bought some time.

even if you are healthy and dont eat for a few days, you will be weak.

thanks for sharing

 

[beastium]

Can you give a few tips on how to shove a 'tube' down a fishs throat? what to use? How to know you aren't injuring it?

 

[Humblefish]

I haven't had to tube feed a fish in many years. Sounds like @TheRealDmorty217 has more recent "hands on" experience with this.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

You size up where the stomach should be and then lay the catheter on the outside of the fish, to get an idea of how much you should advance/leave sticking out. The cath is a little rigid, so you have to worry more about scratching on the way in, verses puncturing anything. The tissues of the fish are pretty hard to go through. Use the biggest cath you can, as they are gentlier and won't poke the same.

I started using cut off feeding tubes. The materials are just so much softer than a cath. Caths are also getting cheaper and cheaper and don't advance as easily as they once did.

 

[Lninwa]

It is more a measure of last resort kinda thing. Say a fish has refused to eat for a couple of weeks, for example.

I have had very bad luck with fox face in that they starved from not wanting to eat. I tried many different nori and other vegetables to no avail.

 

[spartanman22]

What is the purpose of sedation? Is this for fish that are so totally weak yet that they may flop around or resist? What if you have a specimen that is very lethargic and weak already? Is sedation still necessary?

I've got a Dwarf Golden Angel that was feeding like a champ through QT and then in my old setup, but after transferring to a new tank he became extremely reclusive and refused eating for 2 weeks. I found him today, still alive, but barely moving and just kind of being pushed around by flow. He was fine yesterday. His belly looks pinched and he looks much skinnier. I'm wondering if this may be a good option. His breathing is a bit labored but not rapid, and he's currently just laying on his side in QT.

Would this procedure work? I don't have the necessary medicine to sedate which is why I'm asking the intended purpose on it.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

It's for decreased resistance and for stress. I stopped sedating with one of mine after a while, because I was having to do it every day. It seemed he had a harder and harder time "waking up". Usually one doesn't have to do it to a single specimen as long as I had to.

You don't have to sedate with Ms-222, you can also use clove oil. With yours being as ill as it sounds, I probably wouldn't use anything. If it were a painful procedure, I could think differently. If he's that ill, the stress of the procedure itself could kill him, I'm afraid. It sounds like he's dying anyways, so this might be an option.