Trip to the Tropical Gar Farm - Prologue...

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E_americanus

E_americanus

Penguin Lover
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Aug 14, 2004
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Louisiana
primitivefishes.com
so i'll be heading to Mexico with one of my colleagues this weekend (staying for a week) to present/participate in the 4th International Meeting on Lepisosteid Research (Richard went with us to the 2010 meeting in Louisiana). it will be a great opportunity to touch base with colleagues, learn about new gar research, and of course tour the farm (and EAT some tropical gar!!!)

we'll be participating in some workshops out there, and you can be sure i will be taking plenty of pics! in anticipation of the trip, here is a video i posted on primitivefishes.com that they made of the tropical gar aquaculture operation...check it out in HD; you can see the whole process from spawning to development of the fry to farm production.

will keep everyone posted on the trip too!--
--solomon

LINK to video:
http://primitivefishes.com/2012/06/03/aquaculture-of-tropical-gars-in-mexico/

LINK to farm:
http://www.otot-ibam.com/index.htm
 
Wiggles92 said:
Great video, Solomon. What are those plants that the gars are spawning over?

Any plans on bringing back some living souvenirs for "The Tank?" :D
Click to expand...

some of the plants are artificial, if there are any live plants i will have to ask them. they mainly use the equivalent of "Easter grass", which is what they use in Louisiana as well. we used artificial plants when we spawned our gars, but really they will broadcast the eggs all over a given enclosure (in very large tanks or in the wild they are more selective about getting the eggs onto vegetation).

will definitely plan on bringing back some souvenirs, but probably no living ones...the TPGs currently at The Tank and also Richard's (and really all of anyone's in the US) are all "souvenirs" from the farm as that farm is the primary supply of TPGs to the US and many other places.

our focus in the aquaculture collaboration is on Cuban gars, whereas colleagues in Mexico are working on the same stuff with TPGs (they have easier access and more of them); so we may pursue some TPG stuff after the CBG work is complete (that's also why we have "so many" CBGs currently).

hoping to do plenty of updates while we are out there (to the site and also fbook page); we'll be there for a week so there should be plenty of time and things to document!--
--solomon
 
can you give me the link to the Louisiana farm?
 
E_americanus said:
some of the plants are artificial, if there are any live plants i will have to ask them. they mainly use the equivalent of "Easter grass", which is what they use in Louisiana as well. we used artificial plants when we spawned our gars, but really they will broadcast the eggs all over a given enclosure (in very large tanks or in the wild they are more selective about getting the eggs onto vegetation).

will definitely plan on bringing back some souvenirs, but probably no living ones...the TPGs currently at The Tank and also Richard's (and really all of anyone's in the US) are all "souvenirs" from the farm as that farm is the primary supply of TPGs to the US and many other places.

our focus in the aquaculture collaboration is on Cuban gars, whereas colleagues in Mexico are working on the same stuff with TPGs (they have easier access and more of them); so we may pursue some TPG stuff after the CBG work is complete (that's also why we have "so many" CBGs currently).

hoping to do plenty of updates while we are out there (to the site and also fbook page); we'll be there for a week so there should be plenty of time and things to document!--
--solomon
Click to expand...

Okay, I was curious about the spawning plant(s) as I want to add something similar to the pond in preparation for breeding in the coming years; right now I just have cattails in there, and I would prefer to have the gars spawn on something that allows for easier access & isn't located by the overflow if at all possible.

Isn't that farm the main farm when it comes to exporting tropical gars to countries outside of Latin America?

Cuban gar aquaculture certainly sounds like an interesting project! I'll definitely be watching for updates on that topic as well as updates on your trip! :popcorn:
 
free tropical baby for everyone?
 
amazing preview Solomon. be sure to get as many pics as possible if they allow, can't wait to see them!
 
I know Rapps just sold his last Tropical gar.... does solomon or anyone else involved in this thread know where I could get one? I'd really appreciate it.Thanks-Ryan
 
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