Do I have to Worry- need advice

Garmama;3838826; said:

I figured that Jaws and Kaida were male and female, and From what i have been seeing (considering their in my room in a 210 gallon tank so I see them 24/7 lol. ) These two have been awfully uh "touchy" as far as gars go..lol He follows her EVERYWHERE they rest next to and on top of each other, they swim literally fin to fin.. (Hubby says-"Too much PDA" )

Kaida also getting a wee bit chunky- its all the good food (im hoping..lol) The tank a balmy 79-81 degrees. i have plently of floating plants and stuff for them.. lol

Quote the Hubby: "I guess if these 2 end up making Gar babies, im sure some MFK members would Love some for their Monster tanks"

Im hoping other members have Gars like mine- someone please tell me thats "normal " or do i need to set up that 55 gal for the Eventual splish splash of little fins..

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you will not be able to externally tell between sexes for gar as of now..the "touchy" behaviour is a dominance display, nothing to be worried about as long as you don't notice any gar getting extremely stressed out. the gars also look far too small to be mature, how old are they?

nice gars eitherways, any idea why they're so washed out?

the touching behavior is sometimes a dominance display and other times just a non-aggressive social interaction. gars can be social fish at times and will rest on the bottom next to each other...at the same time, they will also chase each other, with the one chasing being more persistent if the other actually swims away (kind of like when a dog is more likely to run after you if you actually run).

these fish are YOY (young of the year) or yearling fish at best (most likely), so they will not be mating anytime soon. it takes around 2-3 years for FL gar males to mature, and 3-5 for females. there is no way to externally sex the fish, so they could very easily be both male, both female, or one of each. gar spawning naturally in captivity is also extremely rare, and we don't know all the triggers (or the right timing/combination of them) yet, so it's also unlikely they will spawn in a small tank...when it's been done, it has been done in large tanks...250+ gallons, indoor ponds, outdoor ponds, or public aquaria.

in a nutshell, you won't have anything to worry about for a long time--
--solomon

Garmama;3839865; said:

Retarded camera .. (yep stupid camera is on auto and doesn't realize there is enough lighting hahahaha)

as for age I have no clue- Jaws is at 9 inches and Kaida is on 6 inches, so im guessing their still young.

As for stress, I dont see any changes, their colors are normal, their both eating very well, there isint any chasing, just slowl swimming... Lol I guess its a good thing that their very social together. here is a better shot with my good camera.

ps: Being a New Monster Parent is interesting and wierd. you learn something new everyday. Thanks for the help.

Kaida in mid swim:

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That is one very chunky little Platyrhincus.. That is a little excessive for a 6 inch fish. May want to scale back the feeding a bit..( a lot of a bit) I know it is hard as they tend to beg often.. But you also do not want that much fat buildup in the fish at that young of an age and at that size and temp.

nice gar!! i second what perun said.

and the washed out most likly is because of the substrate. mine look very similar. thats why i added the plants to try and darken them up a bit

btw does anyone know where online i can buy Silversides.[/QUOTE]

As for the silversides...there is a wholesaler in NJ called JEHMCO...www.jehmco.com

They sell 2.5lb blocks for $15.00 and since you live in NY the shipping should be minimal. They only charge what the "actual" shipping costs are and not a flat rate like most suppliers. My last order was a monster order of frozen food, bulk filter media, pumps etc. and the shipping was only $16.75. I live in NJ.

My only warning is that the silversides come in actual blocks not frozen sheets. I thaw them once received and immediately refreeze them in ziplocs laid flat for easy thawing/feeding. I have been doing this for quite a while now and have saved a lot of money.

Nice gars, mine hates silversides but loves raw shrimp.
Are they in the 210 right now? Cause in the pictures the tank looks no where near wide enough to be a 210