Spotted Gar care?

**RTCatz** · 01-26-2007, 6:06 PM

i'm thinking about buy a gar to put in my 125 but can someone tell me their experience in owning this fish?

1. Are they hardy?
2. What is their behavior like??? active? aggressive? thanks!!

**ospy** · 01-26-2007, 7:38 PM

I've had Florida gars for years. I assume that thats what your actually going to get as they are nearly impossible to tell the differance from spotted gars. That coupled with the fact that in the tropical fish industry, Florida gars are primarily whats available. They are a very mild manered fish that gets quite large over a long period of time. They can be trained to eat just about anything including pellets. However, they are a predetor so they will also eat fish. That means if your gar can not tell the differance between his tank mates and lunch, it will become the ladder. It is also important to keep food in his belly if there are tank mates that are of the size where they are close to being snack size. They can be trained to be hand fed and once in a while I will, though you've got to be carefull, as they have very sharp teeth. If he gets you..... lets just say "ouch, and then blood". Cool fish to own. I highly recomend them.

**275ti03** · 01-28-2007, 10:53 PM

I agree... Gars are real cool fish to keep... I've got 2 spotted gars... they get along real well with each other and their tankmates... fairly doscile and will eat just about anything that can fit in their mouth or I should say anything they can catch and fit in their mouth...

**demjor19** · 01-29-2007, 9:53 PM

Originally Posted by ospy;670454;

I've had Florida gars for years. I assume that thats what your actually going to get as they are nearly impossible to tell the differance from spotted gars. That coupled with the fact that in the tropical fish industry, Florida gars are primarily whats available. They are a very mild manered fish that gets quite large over a long period of time. They can be trained to eat just about anything including pellets. However, they are a predetor so they will also eat fish. That means if your gar can not tell the differance between his tank mates and lunch, it will become the ladder. It is also important to keep food in his belly if there are tank mates that are of the size where they are close to being snack size. They can be trained to be hand fed and once in a while I will, though you've got to be carefull, as they have very sharp teeth. If he gets you..... lets just say "ouch, and then blood". Cool fish to own. I highly recomend them.

I couldn't have said it better myself!!

**killerg305** · 06-30-2009, 11:29 PM

Originally Posted by demjor19;674708

I couldn't have said it better myself!!

i've had my florida gar for about a week now..he's not usually very active during the day but swims a lot at night. nd he gets along great with my oscar and pacu.he never chases fish and actually waits till their near his mouth so he can catch them i just want to know how do i train him to feed from my hand when he refuses to cum to the top..

**Gar keeper** · 07-01-2009, 1:56 AM

Originally Posted by ospy;670454;

I've had Florida gars for years. I assume that thats what your actually going to get as they are nearly impossible to tell the differance from spotted gars. That coupled with the fact that in the tropical fish industry, Florida gars are primarily whats available. They are a very mild manered fish that gets quite large over a long period of time. They can be trained to eat just about anything including pellets. However, they are a predetor so they will also eat fish. That means if your gar can not tell the differance between his tank mates and lunch, it will become the ladder. It is also important to keep food in his belly if there are tank mates that are of the size where they are close to being snack size. They can be trained to be hand fed and once in a while I will, though you've got to be carefull, as they have very sharp teeth. If he gets you..... lets just say "ouch, and then blood". Cool fish to own. I highly recomend them.

Very well stated, you will learn to love your Gar as you will see they are a pretty smart fish.

OSPY... For you I recommend spell checker... It's not hard when the words are underlined in red

**Gr8KarmaSF** · 07-01-2009, 2:15 AM

In addition to what everybody said, I would be very careful to make it comfortable so that it does not scare and break its back, a very common issue with gar keepers....

**Noddy** · 07-01-2009, 2:19 AM

My gar eats out of my hand ,is 2 months old and has grown 2".
Comes for seconds now and eat 2 fish a day.
He's still abit spooked by my oscar but snapped his tail twice,and now the oscar leaves him alone.
He just keeps his distance from my plecos.

**killerg305** · 07-01-2009, 10:21 PM

how do i get my spotted gar to eat out of my hand because he rarely comes to the and never chases his food he just waits till their near.. any ideas ??

**Gar-Savy :D** · 07-22-2009, 8:23 PM

Ok so this may have nothing to do with the post but i just got a Florida Gar and i was wondering if a 125 gallon tank would be ok for it ..with a couple of oscers and some other semi large fish .?