So I have a 180 that I will be putting my Florida in, any tips in introducing him? I will have the water at 74 his favorite temperature, should I be worried about biological water qualities, or just throw him right in? water has a lot of hardness.
how to introduce a gar
- Thread starter ekaj
- Start date
Uhhh I don't think you should just throw him in. I don't really understand hardness and I haven't tested my freshwater water quality in all the time I've had my gar tank.
Probably do some research on what water parameters they like to be exact.
Probably do some research on what water parameters they like to be exact.
Often gars love really nasty water so just dump a bunch of rancid algae in the tank, up the turbidity so that you would not know a fish was in there and then let it evaporate to 12 inches. After that slowly acclimatize the fish by floating the bag to reach temp and then add a bit of tank water for next next half hour to let the fish adjust. Let it go in the tank and you should have no problem. Big question is will your other fish tolerate the Gars preference for rancid and smelly water, and if they do will they tolerate the gar.
Yes there is some wisdom and sarcasm in the above...
Yes there is some wisdom and sarcasm in the above...
Wow really to that extent? I did a little acclimation but I really just dumped them inOften gars love really nasty water so just dump a bunch of rancid algae in the tank, up the turbidity so that you would not know a fish was in there and then let it evaporate to 12 inches. After that slowly acclimatize the fish by floating the bag to reach temp and then add a bit of tank water for next next half hour to let the fish adjust. Let it go in the tank and you should have no problem. Big question is will your other fish tolerate the Gars preference for rancid and smelly water, and if they do will they tolerate the gar.
Yes there is some wisdom and sarcasm in the above...
All Florida gars need for acclimation is equalization of temp and maybe a 15 to 20 minute acclimation to your water conditions. Some of the other species of gar such as Cuban are a bit more sensitive to water conditions. Juveniles will be more sensitive than adults.
Throw it in, gars are the toughest fish in the world- you can throw it in your toilet and it will be fine. I had one jump out during the night and found it the next morning bone dry and breathing- I threw it back in the tank and it lived.
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Sure you could but it does not mean that it is what is best for the fish..Throw it in, gars are the toughest fish in the world- you can throw it in your toilet and it will be fine. I had one jump out during the night and found it the next morning bone dry and breathing- I threw it back in the tank and it lived.
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+1 you dont need to have nasty dirty water to live. my water is crystal clear and my two have no problems what so ever it it. i would get him n pellets as soon as you can as well if he isnt already. i had a few bad experinces with introducing some anchorworms into the tank that size, and was expensive to treat. these things are tough though back home, our river pretty much dryes up every summer and the only thing to survive the shallow hot stagnate pools that are left are the longnose gar.Throw it in, gars are the toughest fish in the world- you can throw it in your toilet and it will be fine. I had one jump out during the night and found it the next morning bone dry and breathing- I threw it back in the tank and it lived.
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floating the bag is never a bad idea for any fish. if there is somthing that you can do to reduce the shock and stress on your fish, do it. i will cut a few slits in the bottom of the bag as well after a few mins to do a lazy mans drip acclimation. down side to this is whatever was in that bag, is now in your tank. But overall, gars are not delicate fish. they have proved that by sticking around for millions of years.
+1+1 you dont need to have nasty dirty water to live. my water is crystal clear and my two have no problems what so ever it it. i would get him n pellets as soon as you can as well if he isnt already. i had a few bad experinces with introducing some anchorworms into the tank that size, and was expensive to treat. these things are tough though back home, our river pretty much dryes up every summer and the only thing to survive the shallow hot stagnate pools that are left are the longnose gar.
floating the bag is never a bad idea for any fish. if there is somthing that you can do to reduce the shock and stress on your fish, do it. i will cut a few slits in the bottom of the bag as well after a few mins to do a lazy mans drip acclimation. down side to this is whatever was in that bag, is now in your tank. But overall, gars are not delicate fish. they have proved that by sticking around for millions of years.
I left a gar and two stingrays in a 180 gallon with plenty of food for 2 months, I came back, everything was alive and well. No parasites, disease, nothing, even though the situation wasn't ideal in the time I have left I had to leave them in the tank.
