Air Gulping
- Thread starter benzjamin13
- Start date
yeah it is
it can be often or seldom. just depends on what the gar is doing and other such factors. if it isnt doing it then there is a issue
it can be often or seldom. just depends on what the gar is doing and other such factors. if it isnt doing it then there is a issue
They are air breathing fish..Obligatory under certain circumstances.. They have a modified airbladder that allows for this. Temp (presumably photoperiod as well) has much to do with when and how often they surface. It is also behavioral and may be a social aspect with groups of them..benzjamin13;2877646; said:
Your modding this forum and do not know Gars breath air?
Anne Help....
It's was doing it about every 10-15 minutesBsixxx;2877666; said:
Thanks for the helpPolypterus;2877857; said:
And...I help mod this section I mod the Knife Fish section. 
as richard said, this is normal and depends on a variety of factors. this has been well documented in the literature, and for all intents and purposes, with the amount of information available these days any gar keeper should be familiar with this before taking on the fish. it's integral to keeping them in aquaria, and if not allowed for, the fish will effectively drown.
here are a couple quick points that will affect gars' air-breathing in captivity (with some transferable to the wild as well) :
- temperature is likely the biggest factor. water holds more oxygen at lower temperatures as opposed to warmer temps...this is basic chemistry or understanding of Dissolved Oxygen (DO). since most of you are keeping your gars at tropical conditions, they will gulp air more often than if they were kept at temperate conditions or as they are in the wild.
- activity (also generally tied with temperature) - if a gar is more active, it will need more O2, therefore it will gulp air more often. at colder temps fish are less active (generally speaking) and therefore won't need as much O2 and won't gulp air as much.
- synchronized respiration - if you keep several gars you may notice that if one goes up for air, another gar nearby will often go up, followed by another, followed by another. this has been documented in the wild and observed in captivity. this may have an evolutionary significance tied with survival...if it's safe for one gar to get a gulp now, chances are it's safe for another one to do so as well.
- it was at one time thought that gar gills were not as efficient as other fish gills, but some studies have shown this not to be the case. it may just be that gars can get more O2 for their activities from their modified (and highly vascularized) gas bladders than their gills when certain activities or conditions come into play.
For a lot more info on gar air-breathing and many other fishes (including many other primitive fishes) check out "Air-breathing Fishes" by Jeff Graham*.--
--solomon
*no idea why the book is so expensive now, unless it's now out of print (it was expensive when i bought it many years back, but not THAT expensive! get it from your library) --
here are a couple quick points that will affect gars' air-breathing in captivity (with some transferable to the wild as well) :
- temperature is likely the biggest factor. water holds more oxygen at lower temperatures as opposed to warmer temps...this is basic chemistry or understanding of Dissolved Oxygen (DO). since most of you are keeping your gars at tropical conditions, they will gulp air more often than if they were kept at temperate conditions or as they are in the wild.
- activity (also generally tied with temperature) - if a gar is more active, it will need more O2, therefore it will gulp air more often. at colder temps fish are less active (generally speaking) and therefore won't need as much O2 and won't gulp air as much.
- synchronized respiration - if you keep several gars you may notice that if one goes up for air, another gar nearby will often go up, followed by another, followed by another. this has been documented in the wild and observed in captivity. this may have an evolutionary significance tied with survival...if it's safe for one gar to get a gulp now, chances are it's safe for another one to do so as well.
- it was at one time thought that gar gills were not as efficient as other fish gills, but some studies have shown this not to be the case. it may just be that gars can get more O2 for their activities from their modified (and highly vascularized) gas bladders than their gills when certain activities or conditions come into play.
For a lot more info on gar air-breathing and many other fishes (including many other primitive fishes) check out "Air-breathing Fishes" by Jeff Graham*.--
--solomon
*no idea why the book is so expensive now, unless it's now out of print (it was expensive when i bought it many years back, but not THAT expensive! get it from your library
) --
Thanks Solomon Considering they're Ancient Fish, I had a feeling they might gulp air, but I always see them at lfs just hovering there and not doing this while over at my friend's house, I see it do it often, but he just also got it about a week ago.
Considering they're Ancient Fish, I had a feeling they might gulp air, but I always see them at lfs just hovering there and not doing this while over at my friend's house, I see it do it often, but he just also got it about a week ago.
