Black Spots On Gator Gar -Help-

[ceeej31]

i dont know if thins has been mentioned yet but all gar are illegal in cali

 

[Gar keeper]

i dont know if thins has been mentioned yet but all gar are illegal in cali

Yes, and I am aware of this. However I have other things going on that make having illegal fish the absolute least of my concerns.
On a side note, how the hell would you even get caught? I mean unless you have him in a pond in your front yard and he snappin at the mailman or something.
But besides that I don't know how one would get caught and I don't really care. Plus it's probably just a fine anyways, highly doubt you'll be behind bars for a freggin fish.

 

[Austin]

Yes, and I am aware of this. However I have other things going on that make illegal fish the absolute least of my concerns.
On a side note, how the hell would you even get caught? I mean unless you have him in a pond in your front yard and he snappin at the mailman or something.
But besides that I don't know and don't care.

you'd get caught by doing exactly what you're doing right now. posting all you're info and running your mouth on a very public forum. do you think fish and game don't browse this?

 

[xander]

Thanks for the feedback, however I believe that Gator Gars will eat birds in the wild so I don't see why Chicken would be bad for it.

they do occasionally eat birds, but as richard mentioned earlier, they aren't designed to have them as a staple diet. they eat birds because they are oppourtunitists, and in the wild. as i had stated earlier, it is alright for gars to occasionally feed on birds, but it should not be a staple diet. just an add on, to fishes, is there a difference between cooked and raw food, aside from there being less nutrition?

Especially since he doesn't have to deal with bones and skull

bones are actually a source of calcium i believe. someone correct me if i'm wrong?

Also as far as the goldfish from the lfs having disease and parasites, I think that is a good thing. I want his immune system to stay strong. It's like how we as humans have all these Disinfectants liquids and anti this and that, it keeps our immune system weak and therefore we are not as strong. This guy I train Jiu-Jitsu with, he only drinks tap water. I think it's pretty rough to do, but he says it makes him stronger. Also if he ever goes somewhere and they don't have prissy bottled water then he will be just fine. Plus he saves a bunch of money. Basically my point is that I don't want a foo-foo fish that I have to pamper give special treatment.

no offence, but that sounds like a pretty wack mentality. if you're correct, and i don't see how you could be, i apologise for the statement. but if i'm not wrong(and i could very well be) the immune system does fight against bacteria and paracites. however, if they(b & p) are too strong, then the immune system starts dying, hence you(in this case, the gator gar) fall sick. and often with fishes, catching paracites from lfs feeders can lead to death. furthermore, not only do they often carry all sorts of bacteria and paracites, they aren't all that nutritional. and about the jiu jitsu guy, guys in china eat tiger testicles as they say it makes them more fertile too.

That's why I love the gator gar, in the wild they can live in pretty much piss-poor conditions and thrive like the beast they are. Now don't get me wrong, I don't have him sitting in a tank of waterwaste but I also don't get very detailed with his water quality. This keeps him strong and in case of an emergency he wouldn't be stressed if I had to throw him in a tub of pure tap water.

in contrast to popular belief...they do not thrive in piss-poor conditions...SUPRISE!!! and again, with poor water quality comes poor health, and when you do get that emergency, he might not be able to cope due to his already poor health. once again...SUPRISE!!!
edit: you did have a point in saying that he might deal with poor water quality if accustomed to it, rather than a sudden shock from good wq to poor wq. however, i'm pretty sure that having a back up plan for emergencies would have been a better alternative. plus, although it might be "useful" for that emercency, it(poor wq) is detrimental to the fishes health in the long run.

I feel the same way with food, I want him to have an open (and also safe) diet. I don't want to train him to eat freggin sticks of freeze dried crap or whatever, he is a carnivorous animal and should be treated as such. I don't feed him fried foods, or anything sweet or fatty. Just raw chicken, beef, fish and shrimp.

they aren't carnivorous(in the traditional sense), they are piscovores, meaning they eat fish, and not chicken, or cow. goldfish is fatty too. trust me mate, stick with the advise i gave you above reGARding the fishes diet.

Anyways, I don't want to get off topic here, I can start another thread about feeding these creatures. Right now I am mostly concerned with these 2 black spots on my boy.

you could, however as stated above, the fish should be fine. and i had a thing or two to say about the above. also, many a person has been busted for openly declaring they have illegal fish online.

 

[Gar keeper]

you could, however as stated above, the fish should be fine. and i had a thing or two to say about the above. also, many a person has been busted for openly declaring they have illegal fish online.

Thank you for the detailed feedback. Very good read...

 

[Gator]

Your Gator Gar =
His Diet =

True gator gar might eat an occasional water foul in the wild but its probably once in a blue moon and not even a couple times a year. Feeding him all those terrestrial foods is playing Russian roulette! You cant just put him on a diet once you see the signs of his bad eating habits because they don't reabsorb fat like mammals do it all just gets deposited around their liver and kills them (Fatty Liver Disease). If you want to keep feeding him feeders stay away from goldfish. Grab the phone book and find a near by bait shop and buy some shiners or something else other than goldfish and put them in a QT tank for a week or so and feed them as an occasional treat. If hes already eating market shrimp and other prepared foods (besides KFC and table scraps) then stick with them. Unfortunately some of us succumb to the bad habit of getting and doing things just to brag to our friends like getting a gator gar just to say "Hey I have an Alligator gar!" and "I feed my Alligator Gar rats, birds, mice and KFC!" Not saying you are doing either one but its not looking like you aren't doing them either.

As for the spots 2 of my Florida gar have them never thought it was anything to be worried about.

 

[Gar keeper]

Thanks for all the feedback so far. I feel better about the spots but now I feel I should make a thread about feeding certain foods to my boy.
I obviously want to make sure he is healthy and in good shape, but I also love how he is part of the family. I read things like this quote and i'm not sure what to think....
"You cant just put him on a diet once you see the signs of his bad eating habits because they don't reabsorb fat like mammals do it all just gets deposited around their liver and kills them (Fatty Liver Disease)."

After reading this I did some research online and couldn't find 1 thing that mentions fish dying from, or even developing "Fatty Liver Disease".
I'm not saying this is wrong ( i actually believe it) however I can't find anything that shows this is correct either.
I actually looked up how a gar digests food and found some interesting articles that I will put in a new thread I will make regarding the feeding a Gator Gar.
But I continue to see if anyone has other remarks reGARding the spots.

 

[uting]

can you answer the question. How big is your tank it looks like its in a 50 gallon tank when you should put it in a 1k gallon tank or at least a 250 growout.

 

[groovitudedude]

Yes, and I am aware of this. However I have other things going on that make having illegal fish the absolute least of my concerns.

It's still illegal, whether you care or not

2. The temp in that particular tank is not very warm because it's right by a window and the heater I had for it broke and I've been too lazy to replace because he's going to a bigger tank soon. I would have to say it's around 65-70.
I ran out of aquarium salt so I used some "sea salt" when I did a water change yesterday. I hope this is OK to use, I figured it would be because it's sea salt. I'm pretty sure it's the same thing. Let me know what you think.

The first thing I would say is that you might want to replace the heater. Even in California, the water can get too cold for tropical fish without proper heating. 65 degrees is too cold for a Gator Gar. Secondly, Sea Salt is not the same thing as aquarium salt; it is used to make brackish conditions. Aquarium salt is used to help in freshwater tanks. How are the spots now? Do they have any growth on them? The last thing is how is being next to a window affecting the tank? is there any algae in it? How are the tank conditions? Hope it's nothing too serious.

 

[6freddy8]

u go gar keeper i feel the same way of how u feed ur aligator gar im the same way with my gator gar o im in cali 2 if we get cought its because we get ratted out im a fish lover ive never returned a fish or set one free i hate when i see a trade in fish cuz t got to big