Cardinal fish with a tail sticking out of its mouth

I just got home from work a little bit ago and looked in my tank to find my bangaii cardinal swimming around with the tail of one of my firefish sticking out of its mouth. I don't know if the firefish was already dead or not, but will my cardinal slowly digest his meal or should I try to remove it from its mouth. The thing that worries me with removing the firefish are the fins sticking out and doing more harm to the cardinal while pulling it out. Any input will be greatly appreciated.

 

Whoa following and a preemptive bump.

 

Are you sure it was the fire fish and not baby Cardinals? Regardless I would just leave it be.

 

Without a doubt it's a firefish. There is about 3/4 of an inch of red tail sticking out and I only have one cardinal. Has anyone heard of a cardinal eating tank mates?

 

nature happens, but doubt ya could pull the fish out without tearing up the other fish. Sorry bro. I lost a huge lion fish to overeating and then a YT as a dessert. Fish died as the YT was still flapping.

 

no lol this is a first for me.

 

Thats what I figured

Well, now I guess you can say you have

 

i would not try and remove it, have you ever noticed when birds eat fish they eat them head first? why? because the spikes on the back fins would wedge in their throats otherwise, i fear if you tried to remove it the same thing would happen but the other way around. but thats just me and my 2 cents

 

Absolutely. Same with predatory fish.

Leave him alone. He'll be fine. IMOPE, he will digest what's in his belly, then finish swallowing the rest.