[holiday]

I bought a tank from someone else three weeks ago and it came with some fish already. One of them was a Harlequin Bass. I put a skunk cleaner shrimp in the tank yesterday and he never touched it. Well - my bad I guess I should have read more about him before adding the shrimp.

I went outside today to do yard work and came inside for lunch and the Harlequin Bass already had lunch - my new shrimp!! He had 5 of the antenna sticking out of his mouth and was gasping for air. It was too big for him to swallow. We caught him and tried to pull the shrimp out with tweezers. We broke off 2 small pieces but he is miserable. He hasn't moved at all from his hiding spot and is still breathing heavily. I think he will suffocate. I tried to help him. Any ideas?

Thanks.

[Lowej82]

I think when fish breath rapid or heavy it means there stressed im not sure though or on what you could do

[e_baer]

hmmmm......hard to say what is wrong exactly, but make sure you have lots of air going into the tank via a skimmer.

[holiday]

He is still alive. So I guess he passed the shrimp down into his stomach successfully. I will still keep an eye on him for a few days.