Alligator Gars in coldwater ponds

[Chub_by]

Hi everyone, hope you are fine!

Alligator Gars have recently become more easily available where I am, so naturally, as someone without a huge tank but with a decently sized pond I'm very interested.

However, many people say that because they are bred in southeast Asia and the original breeding stock probably came from Texas, the captive bred ones are not particularly cold hardy.

Has anyone here got experience with them in colder climates? How do they handle winters in places where it gets below freezing (assuming of course that they can come up for air)

 

[SourAngelfish]

No personal experience with this yet but planning to make an attempt. I have been told that they will be successful if kept in a tank for their first two years and fattened up, along with being kept without a heater. Of course logically you wouldn't want to leave a baby out in the cold. Part of me wants to say just experiment with it and document it, how cold is it getting where you're at?

 

[Chub_by]

No personal experience with this yet but planning to make an attempt. I have been told that they will be successful if kept in a tank for their first two years and fattened up, along with being kept without a heater. Of course logically you wouldn't want to leave a baby out in the cold. Part of me wants to say just experiment with it and document it, how cold is it getting where you're at?

I've heard that before, unfortunately I don't really have the capacity indoors to care for a fish that will reach 2' within the first year. And yes I too think experimenting and documenting is a good idea but I do want to prevent unnecessary suffering to the animals. Perhaps I will try it and if I see a gar become too lethargic or die I will scoop out the rest and give them away next autumn.
Where I live the winter is usually quite mild at around 10 degrees C (50F) during the day and above freezing on most nights but we do get 1-2 weeks of severe cold in most years around February where it will drop down to around -10 or -12 (10-15F) in the coldest nights. In those nights I would of course keep an open area in the ice.

 

[kendragon]

Do it.

 

[SourAngelfish]

Id agree it’s worth a shot, I’m willing to get one too in order to provide more data on the topic. We’ve got a two acre retention pond on our property and I could definitely grow a gator out in my 180

 

[Chub_by]

Do it.

The only thing holding me back is that they would be arriving at a very small size (~4") and people online do tend to say they should be on the larger side.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

What else is in the pond? It’s worth a shot.

 

[SourAngelfish]

The only thing holding me back is that they would be arriving at a very small size (~4") and people online do tend to say they should be on the larger side.

Nows the time of the year to be adding them, if anything get you a 75 gal and grow them out to 15 inches or so haha

 

[Chub_by]

What else is in the pond? It’s worth a shot.

Mainly carp right now but they will probably be leaving before the gar get to any decent size

 

[kendragon]

The carp may be too aggressive for small gars.
If they are like bambusa (shy), they can't compete. I had bambusa with mahseers years ago and the bambusa didn't survive. This year I started the bambusa in the pond by themselves and they are doing great.