New Florida Gar

[richard4878]

Hi all, I have got alot of great information from this site so far and am looking for some experts opinions on my new Florida Gars behavior.

I have a 125 gallon tank with 1 7 inch florida gar and 1 5 inch silver arowanna. This is going to be the growout tank for the 400 gallon I will be purchasing around thanksgiving. The Arowanna is very active and readily takes live crickets right out of my hand. The gar on the other hand lays at the bottom all the time, his gills are flaring like he is breathing heavy. I tested my water PH is 7.0 Ammonia and Nitrite are 0 and Nitrate is 15PPM. The temp is between 80-81. I do 2 20% water changes a week. He does eat feeders, but doesnt seem very intrested in them unless the feeders basically swim into his bill. I do not notice any visible lesions or growths on him.

I have had him for 21 days. At the LFS I watched him twice a week for 4 weeks before I purchased him and he always hung out at the top of the tank eating aggressivly. The 125 is filtered with 2 Aquaclear 110's and 1 HOT cannister with internal biofilter..

Is there anything else I can test or try? Or do you guys think he is still in the "break in" period.

The only thing I can think of that I did wrong was overfeeding, as they are so cool to watch eat and the novelty got the best of me. I probably fed him 5 or 6 feeders a day for the first 2 weeks.

Thanks for any help you can give!

Rick

[demjor19]

when he swims is it normal...do all of his fins function properly, is his back straight or arched...

does he surface for air? if so, how often does he do this?

does the arowana bully him at all?

how long have you had him?

his diet does not seem the best, but i don't feel that is the problem. could you get some pics or a video of him? that may help.

good luck

[demjor19]

nevermind question 4. i overlooked it the first time i read your post.
sorry

[richard4878]

Thank you for taking time to reply. I dont think he has any back injurys, he seems to swim fine when he does swim. he comes to the top an avaerage of once every 90 minutes or so. Here is some pictures I just took. This is his "normal" position.

[richard4878]

I forgot to add, the arowana could not care less that this fish is in the tank. They completely ignore each other.

[richard4878]

Bump......Anyone?

[Bsixxx]

looks like he might have bumped his head, that is an abnormal arch he has but i do not see that being the big problem, but it could be

ill let someone a little more experienced chime in here

[E_americanus]

will comment on this more later when i have more time, but yes, the gar has an unusual arch in its 'neck' which causes its head to point up...if this is a recent injury (due to i being spooked, most likely) this would have affected its feeding/behavior. does the fish look exactly like it did when you first purchased it? also, did this behavior start sometime after the arow was added?--
--solomon

[richard4878]

That is what he looked like at the LFS. The gar was added after the arrowana.

[demjor19]

is this how the gar has acted since you've had him or is this new behavior? i know one of my floridas were very lethargic and had very eratic feeding behaviors when i first got him. if i remember correctly it took him quite some time (5-6 months) to start acting "normal". he may be fine, but just settling in still. keep an eye on him and try regulating his diet a little more.

[richard4878]

This is how he acted since he has been in this tank, but different then they way he was acting at the LFS. I have never had a fish take more than a week to acclimate to a tank so I think I am just overreacting a bit.

Thanks I do appreciate the replies. I think he is ok as well, was just looking for a little reassurance. The last thing I want to do is to make one of these beautiful creatures suffer.

[vinson lim]

hi richard, did u say yr gar breath once every 90 minutes in average ?

[demjor19]

hi richard, did u say yr gar breath once every 90 minutes in average ?

if it is just laying around it wouldnt breath as often as a gar that is cruising the surface.

[DownUnder]

i might not haf any expert opinions on gars but i hope adding tis might help... i'd say mebbe uR fella's adjusting 2 the change of water? mebbe... i've had flower horns in the past tat took bout 2 months 2 adjust to the water when i 1st brought it back b4 it started feeding normally... at the beginning it only ate when hungry and tat'd be like once a week or something... but after acclimating 2 the water her aggression starting rising and tat's when i had 2 provide more food... LoL... so yea mebbe it's the change of environment... but keep a close eye on him at the same time though... btw nice set-up u haf there... cheers...

[ESJBond007]

richard where did u find that sweet skull at? how much did it cost?

[E_americanus]

unfortunately gars that have this upwards pointing snout disorder (seen a lot in the trade these days) don't last very long. there is something about it that causes problems, whether its internal and mechanical, or if it's some sort of reaction to an infection they develop or are more susceptible to. i would say keep the gar in usual high water quality, feed it sparingly only what it will eat, and raise up the temp to around 82F if it isn't already there...at least that should get him more active.

keep us posted and best of luck--
--solomon