thinking about a gator gar

89must

Feeder Fish
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Jan 13, 2009
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hi i have 1 jd 1 severum and 1 giant gourami would i be able to put a gator gar in with them thank for your advice
 

E_americanus

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gator gar gets too large and is too aggressive for those fishes (especially the severums and jd; those fish will be eventually dwarfed and likely killed and/or eaten). the growth sizes and rates of all those fishes are very different, making them generally incompatible.

gars are not recommended with any cichlids, although you MIGHT be able to make the combination work with the giant gourami (temporarily) with a smaller gar species such as a Florida gar or tropical gar.

in general i would not advise adding a gar to your present combination--
--solomon
 

Hao

The Ancient
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Oct 17, 2008
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yea gets 5 ft or bigger and grws fast and is agressive
 

madfishdude

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Mar 19, 2009
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gator gar grows to 3 ft in the first year. and could get up to 14 ft. (365 lbs.) in length in the wild. info courtesy of river monsters on animal planet.
 

xander

Manjuari
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Sep 6, 2007
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madfishdude;3038065; said:
gator gar grows to 3 ft in the first year. and could get up to 14 ft. (365 lbs.) in length in the wild. info courtesy of river monsters on animal planet.
that's not true when it comes to captive specimens.
 

perfect_prefect

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Jul 17, 2008
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wild doesnt even grow to 3 feet in the first year. you misheard what he said on the show. should get about 18" in the first year, captive would be just behind that. max on captive would probably be somewhere around 8 feet, but that is hard to tell alot has to do with water quality feeding schedule and tank size (for muscle building swims, staying stationary its whole life wont build much muscle)
 

E_americanus

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there was some misinfo in the river monsters show, gators can easily beat 18" in their first year in the wild, but may not frequently do so based on location/population. they also doubtfully get up to 14'...that was just a fisherman's account/estimate, which was likely an exaggeration. the largest specimen on record was right around 10'. not saying it's impossible, just very unlikely--
--solomon
 

kj01fl@live.com

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Mar 17, 2009
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I have a gator gar, its only 7 inches yet. But it honestly gets along with my 2 african and 2 electric yellow cichlids i used to cycle my tank. However, i did put a arrowana in my tank and the gar ate it. Its up to you really. Dont listen to people about how big they can get. Yeah they grow 2inches a month, but I love the fish, its an awesome fish to watch.
 

E_americanus

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kj01fl@live.com;3039252; said:
I have a gator gar, its only 7 inches yet. But it honestly gets along with my 2 african and 2 electric yellow cichlids i used to cycle my tank. However, i did put a arrowana in my tank and the gar ate it. Its up to you really. Dont listen to people about how big they can get. Yeah they grow 2inches a month, but I love the fish, its an awesome fish to watch.
in several cases i would agree with you, but we actually have people here who know a thing or two about how big they realistically get in captivity. the fact that yours is only 7" indicates it's merely a young of the year (YOY) fish, and is nowhere near slowing down in growth. just because it's cool to watch doesn't mean it will get along long term with the suggested tankmates, etc etc...that and you've only had it short term anyway--
--solomon
 
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