Snowy's gar questions

[Madding]

Okay thanks, but how big does a longnose have to be to eat a 6-7 inch smelt, a 3 inch piece of smelt, and a 2 inch piece of smelt I thought I would clear up just what kind of food i'm asking about.

It varies from gar to gar. You'd have to show us some pictures or something. Gar's throats and jaws don't stretch off their hinges like most fish, so you can't expect them to eat anything too big when they are small. For instance, my 8" Florida Gar could eat a 6" earthworm, but a fat 2" goldfish would have to be spit out.

For your question about smelt, it would depend on how thick the smelt pieces are and how big the gar is. There's no definitive answer to your question.

 

[snowy]

For your question about smelt, it would depend on how thick the smelt pieces are and how big the gar is. There's no definitive answer to your question.

In responce to your reply on it depending on the thickness of the smelt, it would be around 1/2 an inch thick and about 1 inch wide when layed on its side. As for it depending on the size of the gar, thats just what I'm asking. Basically i'm looking for an approximate size a longnose( and specificaly a longnose) has to be to eat a piece of smelt/whole smelt that is one or more of the sizes I have listed. In any replies I am preety much looking for somthing along the lines of "A longnose has to be X number of inches long to eat a piece of smelt/whole smelt that is X inches wide and X inches thick". I am preety sure there are some longnose keepers on here who feed frozen smelt, and if anyone fits that criteria, what size are the smelt/pieces and what size where the gars when you began feeding them.
As for it depending on the specific gar, I am just looking for approximates/averages as I dont have my gar yet.

Sorry for the long post and thanks!

 

[packer43064]

I don't think there's a actual size of fish or food that a gar will eat. EXPERIMENTING is key. Throw a piece of shrimp in there and if it eats it then you know. Throw a 3 incher fish in and see what he does. Just experiment, there's no set size of food a gar will eat.

 

[RedDwarf]

I'll take a stab at this longnose gar food issue. As long as the diameter of the food item is 3/4 the size of the gar, then it shouldn't have a problem eating said food item. The length of the said food item shouldn't be more than 1/2 the length of the gar. So if you could teach your gar to eat hot dog (don't feed your gar hot dogs) looking food items then it won't have a problem with them.

 

[xander]

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177468

 

[snowy]

Next question: How do you deal with the problem of waste after feeding
Okay, I know it sounds like a stupid question and all, but I have found several posts by E_americanus saying that it is a very bad idea to do a water change after feeding because it will cause the gars to regurgitate thier food and eventualy die, and because he is an expert, I trust his advice. So that brings me to my question again, how do you deal with waste after feeding I'm sure you cant just let it sit there till the next water change

Thanks!

P.S. can gar be kept with pikes/pickerals? I'm thinking chain pickeral since it cant eat the gars and the gars cant eat it.

 

[bahamaqt00]

Well I feed krill, tilapia, market shrimp. When they are done eating if there is any waste left over (which there usually isn't) I go in there with a net and fish the last couple pieces out. No need for a water change.

 

[snowy]

Still looking for answers to the last question, especially the pickeral part, but I have another question real quick: are hikari massivore delite pellets a good staple food for gars They seem to be for bottom feeders so im just wondering.

Thanks!

oh before I forget, are floating or sinking pellets better for gars especially longnose.

 

[packer43064]

Next question: How do you deal with the problem of waste after feeding
Okay, I know it sounds like a stupid question and all, but I have found several posts by E_americanus saying that it is a very bad idea to do a water change after feeding because it will cause the gars to regurgitate thier food and eventualy die, and because he is an expert, I trust his advice. So that brings me to my question again, how do you deal with waste after feeding I'm sure you cant just let it sit there till the next water change

Thanks!

P.S. can gar be kept with pikes/pickerals? I'm thinking chain pickeral since it cant eat the gars and the gars cant eat it.

Have you kept fish before? Use a net to pick out the waste if there's any and your not close to a WC.

The Florida's I had were as mellow as can be, as long as another fish wasn't significantly smaller I see no problem with any fish with them.

 

[packer43064]

Still looking for answers to the last question, especially the pickeral part, but I have another question real quick: are hikari massivore delite pellets a good staple food for gars They seem to be for bottom feeders so im just wondering.

Thanks!

oh before I forget, are floating or sinking pellets better for gars especially longnose.

Floating or sinking pellets are still pellets so as long as your gar wil eat it then it's fine. My larger gar ate pellets readily at the top or if he caught one sinking. While the smaller one would only eat shrimp.