I know of one Atractosteus spatula that was raised in captivity from Young of the year size that reached close to 5 foot.... This fish is now over 20 years old.
arapaima, alligator gar
- Thread starter mushishi
- Start date
Polypterus;1411201; said:
what about hal from bell isle? i take it he wasnt YOY when he was put in captivity? he was around the 6 foot mark though...correct?
i guess i was a little over on my estimate. do you think if the fish was raised in a large pond (the one mentioned above) from YOY it could possibly reach more than 5'? with obviously the proper conditions, diet, etc...?
mushishi;1411669; said:
they seem to be more prone to darting across the tank and breaking/injuring their spine and/or snouts in larger tanks. a smaller tank restricts their speed a little and helps lessen their injuries. having them in a smaller tank is no guarantee though. i just had an 11" longnose kill itself in a 30 gallon. spinal injuries seem to be the top killer in these fish. you can not take enough precausions when raising them.
tunerX;1411836; said:
if that could be provided, it would work quite well...especially since one could "pad" the edges with vegetation as well.
but yes, broken backs seem to be one of the biggest killers of gars in captivity, the rest of the issues (water quality, jumping out of the tank, disease, food) are pretty easily preventable/treatable.--
--solomon
Hal was already adult size when captured and never really grew all that much during his entire stay. He got obese and gained a lot of weight but never really grew in length all that much.
besides the length of the pond, we should also consider the potential length of the arapaima in the pond... im no expert but i'd say a pima wouldn't be able to eat the gar if it was 3' or so.. am i right?:/
