My fish accidentally ate some of my gravel!!!?

He was going for a cube of brine shrimp and picked up a rock instead and swallowed it. Is he going to be okay?

Hes an African Leaf Fish... well that's what Petsmart said, but it's really a Leopard Bush Fish. Hes about 3 1/2 inches so I was wondering if maybe hes big enough he could ingest it or something?!?!

Are you sure he didn't spit it back out? I always see my fish picking up pieces of gravel but they spit them back out when they realize it is not food.

sometimes fish swallow rocks to help with digestion. i think he will be ok.

fish owner of 13 years

Well the gravel can't fit in its stomach then it'll throw it back out.

Usually fish spit out gravel if they swallow it, however not always. Sometimes they're able to pass the piece of gravel through. If it gets stuck, unfortunately there's not much you can do. Keep an eye on his bowel movements, if he keeps pooping normally for the next week he's fine and there's no obstruction.

Best thing to do now is to change your gravel to a larger size to make sure this doesn't happen again. Gravel in a tank should be large enough for a fish to not fit it in their mouth. Just make sure you rinse the gravel thoroughly before putting it in the tank.

Best of luck!

fish won't eat gravel, if they do it's small pieces that will pass though..

me