Oscar RE:

Question
Hello again i have phoned around and no vets are willing to operate on my Oscar infact on vet told me it was only a fish and they were cheap to buy and said i will just have to wait and see what happens.
this object is not coming out naturally so i have no choice but to do it myself i know you would not advise this but i cant just let him go this easy.
can you advise me on any type of anesthetic of pain relief for when i make the incision and type of line to perform the stitches as i will need to open the stomach to retrieve the foreign body.i know this sounds gruesome but i am willing to do anything to sort him out as he will certainly die if i do nothing.

Answer
Hi Chay,
  The best anaesthetic for fish is called MS-222 but this is a cancer-causing substance and you probably cannot get it.  What a lot of biologists use in the field is soda water.  Soda water if used at the right dose will put a fish out for a few minutes.  There is no magical formula. This will take some experimenting.  Basically, you take a 5 gallon pail.  Fill it about 2/3 full of water.  Add your fish.  Add some soda water (maybe a cup or so).  Watch the fish for a few minutes. There is a "sweet spot".  Once you hit that amount the fish will have trouble staying upright and will start to fall over.  The trick is that the effect does not occur instantly so you have to add some soda water, then wait a bit (few minutes) then add a little more, etc.  

 This is risky.  If you use too much, the fish will not recover.  

 To bring the fish out of anaesthesia, put it in lots of clean water with lots of air.  

 To sew him up, a lot of people use crazy glue.   

 Let me know how it goes.  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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