Borbonius choking?

[sophelia76]

My borbonius accidentally got a hold of an overly large piece of chopped shrimp during a feeding a couple of hours ago. Since then, he's been hiding behind the rocks and his mouth is still clearly packed with the piece of shrimp. He looks miserable with his gills "panting." Anyone with any experience with fish who bite off more than they can chew? Will it eventually go down?

 

[namxas]

I doubt it will spit it out. Our trio takes great pleasure in stealing chunks of food off the feeding stick that are meant for other fish. In fact, one of them had a chunk it wouldn't give up PM before last. IME, they'll typically work on the food until they can swallow it.

The suckers are like little barracuda...

 

[seahorsedreams]

Aw man, I hope he rectifies that really quick! I think we'll be a tad more careful with our trio from now on!

 

[sophelia76]

Thanks all- it took about 4 hours, but he eventually got the piece down. The funny part was that although he ate mysis today, he wouldn't touch even small pieces of chopped shrimp (which is typically his favorite). Guess he learned his lesson!