Gar is a gonner soon

TankBuster

" I feel violated "
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Feb 19, 2006
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I have had my Tropical Gar for over a year now and for the past 3 months he has not eaten on a regular basis and it is getting worse. He used to try to take down huge chunks of shrimp aggressivly. He went from eatiing 2-3 shrimp tails or scallops and feeders 3 times a week down to one shrimp tail a week and has to be fed with plastic tongs wiggled in his face. No he tries to swim and it looks like he is being electrocuted. Very disturbing. Now he has not ate for 10 days and cannot even swim to the top for air. He just sits on the bottom like a bag of mud. The nitrates are kept at around 40ppm (all other params are perfect) with alot of big water changes.
Someone at an lfs told e it is possible that he suffered a stroke. They say this can happen to any living creature. Hmmm... His breathing is very very slow also. Looks like this is the end for him. Very disturbing because there is no seeable reason why this would happen. The TSN in there with him is not bothering him and the Gar has plenty of places to sleep hide or just relax. Someone else on here had the same issue but not to this extent and his is recovered aslo. Very strange situation and sad.
 

ethnics

Piranha
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Aug 18, 2006
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im sure he's fine. gars dont need to eat daily. sometimes mine dont eat for a week or 2. the guy i bought them from said he only fed them once every 2 weeks.. n mine love hanging around at the bottom. less work, jus chillaxin.
 

DeLgAdO

Feeder Fish
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Jun 1, 2005
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TankBuster;662645; said:
I have had my Tropical Gar for over a year now and for the past 3 months he has not eaten on a regular basis and it is getting worse. He used to try to take down huge chunks of shrimp aggressivly. He went from eatiing 2-3 shrimp tails or scallops and feeders 3 times a week down to one shrimp tail a week and has to be fed with plastic tongs wiggled in his face. No he tries to swim and it looks like he is being electrocuted. Very disturbing. Now he has not ate for 10 days and cannot even swim to the top for air. He just sits on the bottom like a bag of mud. The nitrates are kept at around 40ppm (all other params are perfect) with alot of big water changes.
Someone at an lfs told e it is possible that he suffered a stroke. They say this can happen to any living creature. Hmmm... His breathing is very very slow also. Looks like this is the end for him. Very disturbing because there is no seeable reason why this would happen. The TSN in there with him is not bothering him and the Gar has plenty of places to sleep hide or just relax. Someone else on here had the same issue but not to this extent and his is recovered aslo. Very strange situation and sad.
i suspect a nutrition defiency, dont quote me on that though.

start adding a suppliment such as vitamchem to his diet. and see what happens in the next few weeks.

he can only benifit from this.
 

TankBuster

" I feel violated "
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Feb 19, 2006
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That was a thought I had also, I add vitamin c and zoe with zoecon but I think he is just doomed, the way he tries to swim is just sad, cant even glide gracefully.
 

E_americanus

Penguin Lover
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Aug 14, 2004
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hello,

very sorry to hear about your gar...unfortunately i have dealt with this before as well. are the gars eyes cloudy at all? does it look like it is losing weight (i.e. kind of skinny around the stomach/head looks a little larger than the part of the body immediately behind)? if you could post a pic that would help as well in terms of coming up with a potential treatment and hopefully saving the fish--
--solomon
 

TankBuster

" I feel violated "
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Feb 19, 2006
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Hi, thanks, unfortunately I have no recent pics but his eyes are perfect and I have been wastching for clooudiness and his weight looks the same, not getting skinny. I know that look because I have seen it in other fish. There is no visual issues with him at all. He looks perfectly healthy.
 

Polypterus

Fire Eel
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Aug 17, 2005
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When you say :"he tries to swim and it looks like he is being electrocuted." What exactly do you mean by this ???....I wonder if this is an issue that has arisen from damage due to compression of the Backbone and it has caused damage to the spinal cord. If not this I would look for anything that may have poisoned the fish as the behavior and description of the fishes actions sounds much like it has been subjected to something very toxic to it.
 

fishingaddict

Fire Eel
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Jul 25, 2006
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when i first got my gar he would swim eradictly from time to time like he was being electrocuted then just dive into the gravel.. but he ate fine and everythin.. but i havent seen him do that since months ago. hope the gar is ok
 

demjor19

Fire Eel
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Dec 17, 2006
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Polypterus;664545; said:
When you say :"he tries to swim and it looks like he is being electrocuted." What exactly do you mean by this ???....I wonder if this is an issue that has arisen from damage due to compression of the Backbone and it has caused damage to the spinal cord. If not this I would look for anything that may have poisoned the fish as the behavior and description of the fishes actions sounds much like it has been subjected to something very toxic to it.
sounds like a back problem to me too. has he ever freaked out and swam into the glass hard? gars are known to do that.
 
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