My plan- gars in outdoor pond??

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Ideally, you would keep the water at or above 50° F, if possible.

You're looking at a pretty substantial pond for an alligator gar, so I don't think that you'll be able to fit in under your deck.

might just put out in my backyard. does 8 feet by 4 feet sound ok for gator gars??

PS It seems that you became a mod. Congrates.
 
gater gars will become 8 feet in 5-6 years time so you talking about having a big enough pond for a car size fish to live in properly and happy. so around 25' by maybe 15'
 
might just put out in my backyard. does 8 feet by 4 feet sound ok for gator gars??

PS It seems that you became a mod. Congrates.

Thanks.

I'd recomend going bigger. My current gator gar pond is 10' x 4.5' and it seems pretty small sometimes.

Bigger is better with gars (besides babies, of course), so I would go as big as you can. Try to get a decent-sized footprint as well as a decent depth in order to keep the pond at a more stable temperature as well as provide a larger overall volume of water.

Kevin, would you agree that 12' x 6' x 4' (LxWxD) should work pretty well for a few average captive alligator gars? I would double-check on the depth, though, as you may need to go deeper in order to compensate for the colder winters.

Also, keep in mind that you're looking at sinking a decent chunk of money into this project, so be sure that you can swing it before starting; I doubt that your parents will be very pleased if you have to stop the project part of the way through and leave the yard torn up.
 
Thanks.



Bigger is better with gars (besides babies, of course), so I would go as big as you can. Try to get a decent-sized footprint as well as a decent depth in order to keep the pond at a more stable temperature as well as provide a larger overall volume of water.

Kevin, would you agree that 12' x 6' x 4' (LxWxD) should work pretty well for a few average captive alligator gars? I would double-check on the depth, though, as you may need to go deeper in order to compensate for the colder winters.

Also, keep in mind that you're looking at sinking a decent chunk of money into this project, so be sure that you can swing it before starting; I doubt that your parents will be very pleased if you have to stop the project part of the way through and leave the yard torn up.

Can I just get a custom made plastic black ponds (tubs) like the ones they keep kois???
 
I highly doubt that there is a commercially available one that's big enough, or, if there is one, that it's going to cost less than just making a liner pond.

whats a liner pond?? what is the easiest way to get a "out of the ground pool/tub" which is big enough for the gator?? NOT A SWIMMING POOL PLEASE!!
 
whats a liner pond?? what is the easiest way to get a "out of the ground pool/tub" which is big enough for the gator?? NOT A SWIMMING POOL PLEASE!!

An outdoor above-ground pond will not work for you unless you insulate & heat it very well; that's why I keep saying that you should go with an in-ground pond that's made from a pond liner, e.g. an EPDM liner, as it makes much more sense from a financial standpoint when it comes to insulation, heating, & such as well as simply being easier to deal with when the seasons change.

I honestly do not think that you know what you're getting into on this one; you should consider sticking to smaller species of gar as you will be able to get away with a far smaller pond.
 
An outdoor above-ground pond will not work for you unless you insulate & heat it very well; that's why I keep saying that you should go with an in-ground pond that's made from a pond liner, e.g. an EPDM liner, as it makes much more sense from a financial standpoint when it comes to insulation, heating, & such as well as simply being easier to deal with when the seasons change.

I honestly do not think that you know what you're getting into on this one; you should consider sticking to smaller species of gar as you will be able to get away with a far smaller pond.

agreed.

hard line: scrap this whole plan, get more experience with keeping smaller gar species, and revisit it (much) later. an outdoor pond for an alligator gar is a big undertaking with far more logistics than it seems you may be able to deal with (same goes for many of us, myself included). go with smaller species you can keep indoors, and you can always keep them outdoors during the summer. good luck--
--solomon
 
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