Fish ate soft plastic lure.

Ethansaquarium

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I have about a 5 inch bluegill in a tank full of African cichlids and one of my dumb friends accidently feed it a soft plastic lure and it swallowed it. I'm not sure what to do. Is my fish going to die? Is there a way for me the help it or is it going to be fine? This is one of my favorite fish because of how aggressive it is. I really don't want to lose it.
 
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tlindsey

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I have about a 5 inch bluegill in a tank full of African cichlids and one of my dumb friends accidently feed it a soft plastic lure and it swallowed it. I'm not sure what to do. Is my fish going to die? Is there a way for me the help it or is it going to be fine? This is one of my favorite fish because of how aggressive it is. I really don't want to lose it.
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jjohnwm

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Well...your buddy is an idiot.

But if he insists upon "accidentally" feeding artificial objects to your fish, then soft plastic lures are probably about the least dangerous choice. I'd bet it will either be regurgitated or will pass harmlessly through the digestive system and out the other end. I've seen way worse things pop out of fish in both of those directions. I wouldn't feed much until it shows up; earthworms seem to be one of better "laxative" foods, and bluegills love 'em.

Now, what I wanna know is...@tlindsey, why did you figure I would know anything about this? Does this sound like the sort of stupid stunt I may have pulled in the past? :)
 

Midwater

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I have never heard of 'Trout Worms' so I looked them on the search engine. First thing that came up was, "There is nothing really scientific about plastic trout worms but they are deadly on trout."

You may want to throw the remaining pack away.
 
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jjohnwm

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Wow...that pack of Creme worms looks like it is about 40 years old or more! Or at least it's been about that long since I've seen a package that looked like that...:)
 
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jjohnwm

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Seriously I know you have experience with fishing lures.
Lol, over 5 decades of fishkeeping...over 6 decades of angling...and somehow I have never had the two things intersect this way.

What am I doing wrong? :)
 
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