It Might be too late for my Florida Gar...
- Thread starter GinBlack
- Start date
Sorry to hear,, do you think his condition is imporiving, getting worse or staying the same? If he's still hanging in there, it is possible that he could recover from the trauma. If you think he is suffering though, clove oil is the best route for euthanasia...
Make the hospital tank have a very small amount of water, maybe 2-4" or so. This will force him to stay upright and not have to travel far to get air. Leave him like this for weeks, feed him small amounts, its unlikely that he'll live but there's a chance
I've always found the recommendation to keep gar in small tanks and slowly step them up to be odd advice. If you look at the many broken back threads people are keeping them in relatively small tanks. I've ownded many gar and have always placed them directly into my large tank and never had any issues.
No mine was for the main gar, if yours is swimming good and eating then its your water quality causing a curved back. Just google pictures of curved back on gar due to water quality. I know u say your parameters are perfect but you may have a faulty test kit as its very unlikely that your gar is just deformed
To the OP: they will survive as long as they are eating.
My first FL gar died of a broken back / stress in my 180 (I believe my Odoe tortured him) - he was about 12"
My second gar (an alligator gar) died because he starved himself after he broke his back (again, my Odoe was likely the cause) - he was about 14"
My current gar (who I ordered as a completely different fish, but definitely grew up to be some sort of gar) has a broken back thanks to my African tigerfish, but eats every night. He was moved to a 40br with a lone feeder goldfish who's too big for him to eat. He's about 5-6" long. I am currently struggling with whether or not to euthanize him, because he looks completely miserable when he tries to swim, but I can't bring myself to do it because I've had this fish since he was about 2" long. so for now, he can have the 40 gallon to himself.
As you can see, I have had zero luck with gars, and I will not be purchasing another one since my stock does not seem conducive to their well being.
My first FL gar died of a broken back / stress in my 180 (I believe my Odoe tortured him) - he was about 12"
My second gar (an alligator gar) died because he starved himself after he broke his back (again, my Odoe was likely the cause) - he was about 14"
My current gar (who I ordered as a completely different fish, but definitely grew up to be some sort of gar) has a broken back thanks to my African tigerfish, but eats every night. He was moved to a 40br with a lone feeder goldfish who's too big for him to eat. He's about 5-6" long. I am currently struggling with whether or not to euthanize him, because he looks completely miserable when he tries to swim, but I can't bring myself to do it because I've had this fish since he was about 2" long. so for now, he can have the 40 gallon to himself.
As you can see, I have had zero luck with gars, and I will not be purchasing another one since my stock does not seem conducive to their well being.
