Koi has an oto stuck in his mouth!!

[csdude55]

I'm pretty sure it's all dislodged... his mouth is closed, although I saw him snap at the bubble wall thing (something I've never seen him do) that instantly brought to mind the micro seizures I've seen in other fish in the past.

And the carcass of the oto seemed mostly intact, although I can't be sure that there's not some fin lodged in the koi's mouth somewhere.

Your fish looks like a koi from the pictures you posted . If you've had it for several years, it's very small. Koi grow quickly and need more then 36 gallons of water.....have you considered a pond?

I've thought the same thing about his size, which is another reason why I suspected that he could be a modified goldfish. Or maybe a hybrid? His barbels seem very short, too.

I have a 1,000 gallon pond outside, and my original plan was to keep him in the tank until he outgrew it, then put him in the pond. But honestly, after all these years of him being inside, I'm a little protective! I worry that I'll put him in the pond and he'll go in to shock, or maybe the other pond goldfish will pick on him and kill him. I've also seen a bullfrog sniffing around out there

 

[csdude55]

Just an update... so far so good! I did a hefty water change last night and cleaned the filters and pump, then changed out some of the decor and moved things around so that my other oto will have somewhere to hide. Then I turned off the lights for a few hours to let everything sorta chill.

At feeding time, my koi came right up to the top and ate normally, so yay! And today when I went downstairs to turn on his light, he bounced around like a puppy when he saw me (like he always does). So everything seems back to normal now

 

[MitchM]

Great to hear that the oto is out.
The koi will probably be recovering for a bit from the injury.
I wouldn't worry about moving the koi outside, it will certainly benefit from a more diverse food supply and more room to grow.
If you want some advice for how to move the koi outdoors with minimal stress, let us know.