the biggest gar

[guppy]

Silly question, given that size, do they eat people? I'm just imagining when people swim or fishing, suddenly this gar will jump out the water and snap like crocs...

I heard stories like that in some remote southeast asia that giant catfish does this to villagers when they go fetch water in rivers.

No, but I was told(grain of salt) about a motorized canoe flipping over when hitting one. Meanest fish in U.S. are baby blue gill, they try to pluck you.

 

[fire999]

Are Alligator Gars readily sold in fish shops in the States?

If so, what is the current market price for them?

They are definately some monsters I'll avoid swimming with...

 

[zeroneox]

Hi guys, I am from Singapore. Go check this out for gar lover... www.garfishing.com I got 2 gar.. keep them since they are 7-8" now it is almost 3 feet in my 5 feet tank. They eat alot so I go to the supermarket to get fish for them.. cheaper then small goldfish.

 

[Caveman]

I think the biggest Gar I have ever seen wasnt even over 12".

 

[E_americanus]

alligator gars, at least the juveniles, are seasonal in the US and should be showing up in the next couple months. most are collected in the wild, although aquaculture efforts are being started in some areas. the standard price for the juveniles (3-6") when they are available is around $50 USD. they get big faster than any other gar species, and are generally more aggressive than other gar species, even those with their own genus (Atractosteus, which contains the Cuban and tropical gars as well).--
--solomon

 

[rayman45]

at the cabela's in handberg(sp.) pa.
thay ha a 55,000 native tank
18+ inch blow fin
and 3+ foot gars

 

[Rui]

I have kept a 'true' alligator gar before. I have never kept any other gars before that, or after that, but if the other gars are anything like the alligator, no wonder you guys love 'em.

I knew full well that these guys get way too big. I TRIED to keep mine small. Kept him with a 9" tiger dat and some 7-10"inch Tall mono Sebaes. This thing can eat everything...

I started only feeding pellets, and he would eat tons of pellets. I switched to tiny pellets and hand-fed my Dat - he ate tons of small pellets. He would even skim the surface of the water eating the smallest little flecks of pellets..

People told me Oscars are the fastest growing fish. No, no...Snakeheads are...yep, beat the oscars..No, no...RTCs are...yep...way faster than the snakehead!...

Well, Alligator Gars are the FASTEST fish I have EVER witnessed getting big. From me 'holding back trying to stunt him', he grew to 15" in a 90 gallon (wouldn't dare put him in my 230 as he would kill most of everything there) in less than a year. LESS THAN ONE YEAR!!!!! And I was TRYING to keep him small.

By the way, he as soon as he was a bit bigger than the rest of my fish, he kept biting my other fish repeatedly. Lots of scratches across most of my fish.

This is a REAL monster. U guys with the 2000gallon + arapaima tanks should try one of these out!

 

[sharks]

I have seen some large alligator gar at Sea World Orlando, but they were not 9'. They were housed with Astronotus, Pangasius, Snook, Plecos, and manatees

 

[Kenta]

now it is almost 3 feet in my 5 feet tank.

??? Pics please

 

[llin6715]

You have any of your fish posted.. like to chk it out..