First Gar

dledinger

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 10, 2013
78
0
0
North Carolina
Picked up our first gar over the weekend. Very exciting. It's a Florida, about 10"-12" long. I have him in a 75 now, with a pair of bluegills. Appetite is good, and he seems quite active. Fins are a little tattered, which made me hesitant to buy him. Hopefully he'll do better in my setup than he was doing in a 10 gallon with another gar and two 6" channel cats at the pet store!
 

johnnytaboo

Fire Eel
MFK Member
May 4, 2005
1,123
26
68
MD, DC, VA
Nice grab! I really like my FL. Gar too. My guys fins weren't too torn up when I got him, but regardless they're perfect now. I'd love to see some pics of this guy with his tank mates.
 

MonsterMinis

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 28, 2009
6,048
9
0
Wisconsin
Just keep an eye the bluegill don't nip his fins or harass him to much.. they can be as sassy as cichlids sometimes. But welcome to the GARmy! you will become addicted! may want to start looking for that 180 soon ;)
 

dledinger

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 10, 2013
78
0
0
North Carolina
The bluegill, so far, seem preoccupied with beating the tar out of each other. The gar is kind of transparent to them. They checked him out on the first day, clamped their fins and backed right up. Maybe they saw his teeth, lol. I can't figure the two of them out either. I've only kept them for about 6 weeks. One minute they seem to be courting, and the next the bigger of the two is chasing the smaller for hours or pinning him under a rock. Reminds me a lot of my convict pair. I guess I should read about sexing them.

The gar is on live foods...but only because that is what he was eating at the store. The owner recommended goldfish, and that's what I used at first, but they seemed a tad big. Tried rosey reds....and realized goldfish might be better as the bluegills don't mess with them, but gobble up the roseys. The gar still gets his share though.

Eventually, I want to get him off feeders entirely, and get him on either freeze dried foods or pellets.

Thanks for the comments!
 

MonsterMinis

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 28, 2009
6,048
9
0
Wisconsin
I found my gar would take pellets when they where ready... start tossing a few in each night ( or whenever you plan on your daily feedings) this will In the meantime feed the feeders in the tank and once the gar tried them they usually take to them pretty easy, or if the bluegills are eating them ect the gar is going to see this and investigate. Most pellets designed for cichlids are good for gars my gars favorite are the NLS floating pellets, I started with smaller pellets as they are a lot harder then other pellets like hikkari but my gar like them more ( the exception being massivore which is a sinking pellet but would also be a good choice) I just found floating pellets worked best at first. Just a couple and make sure the feeders eat it all after an hour or 2 if they aren't cut back or try every other day if the gar bluegills aren't.

You can also try starving it for a few days to get it to take pellets but imho I think this is one of the most routine methods used that should not be used on fish already stressed, thus the immune system is stressed/suppressed ='s health issues ect... even some fish that refuse to take prepared foods at all and starve to death has happened.

I don't have a single gar in my care that won't take pellets and live fish.. and my floridas actually prefer the pellets... being lazy as they are lol. And I did not starve a single one to accomplish it... just abit of patience and consistency in offering other foods. frozen and FD krill also work great if you need/want to get it offa live sooner rather then later, as do most types of frozen/grocery fish. in NC you prolly have access to fresh seafoods/catches so take advantage of it if you can =) I follow the rule if Its nice enough I'de eat it it's good for my fish.

I'm pretty sure most if not all of this is somewhere in the Gar stickies.. lol.
 
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