Black Spotted Pike?

[Bobeyente]

I was sold a gar under the pretext that it is a Black spotted pike by a lfs in South Africa, after trawling this thread it would appear it is a spotted Florida gar, I will upload some photos of it soon.

Profiles I have looked at on the web indicate that they do not live long in captivity, is this nonsense and what is the average age were looking at? It is currently in a 350l tank at 28cm and will be moving to an 800l in the next month or so.

Does anyone know if books have been published on how to take care of them properly? He is the star attraction in my wife's LFS and I would like to ensure that he gets the proper care and attention. They are on the blacklist over here so how he got into the country is anyone's guess, alas because of his listed status we know very little about them over here.

 

[CTU2fan]

Lots of info on the gars here, just look around. To get you started, the things I know (I've only kept 2 gars, both Florida/spotted):

They can get large, but average maximum size in the aquarium is 24 inches (60 cm). Larger in the wild, but larger than that in home aquaria seems pretty rare. The tank you have him in now is fine for a bit, and your 800l should be good for life depending on the dimensions. For life you'd want the minimum to be 180cm x 60cm and I'm guessing an 800l tank should be at least that. Not sure about lifespan, others here will have more experience with that...but they're not short-lived fish by any means. You won't find much about gars in the aquarium books I'm afraid; they're not really known as "aquarium fish" it seems. Is he eating now? What are you feeding him?

 

[Bobeyente]

I got it last November when it was around 7-10cm, the unusual shape & teeth caught my attention. 24 hr's later and about 12 neons less I knew there was a situation developing in that tank.

Research said it eats live prey exclusively, I breed a variety of fish for my wife in a fish room so his food varies between mollies, malawi's, and comets. He maims guppies and Malawi's are very crafty at avoiding him. Crickets make it nervous and by the time it is done stalking a block of bloodworm it has thawed and makes a mess in the tank.

So he is on in-house bred fish exclusively, he will eat up to four fish in a day then nothing for several days - very inconsistent appetite and it is not very active in general. My concern is should it get sick or injured do you treat it symptomatically as per normal tropical fish? I lost an eel many years ago when it developed fungus from an injury because they do not have scales and the medicine poisoned it. Eels can be replaced this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to keep something as exotic as this.

Also is rock salt also beneficial to them as with oscars for example? I'm glad to hear they do live long, unfortunately if it is going to reach 60cm 800l will not do. The future tank is 1.5m long but deep and too narrow for these figures, it would require a tank at least 800mm-1m wide in order for it to turn around.

 

[demjor19]

First...DO post a pic please.

Florida/Spotted gar are definitely not a shortlived fish! i have heard of plenty of cases of them living 25+ years in captivity.

They tend to max out between 20-24 inches...give or take a few inches (typically). if you have any other questions, please ask.

Edit: they will readily take prepared foods.

 

[demjor19]

I got it last November when it was around 7-10cm, the unusual shape & teeth caught my attention. 24 hr's later and about 12 neons less I knew there was a situation developing in that tank.

Research said it eats live prey exclusively, I breed a variety of fish for my wife in a fish room so his food varies between mollies, malawi's, and comets. He maims guppies and Malawi's are very crafty at avoiding him. Crickets make it nervous and by the time it is done stalking a block of bloodworm it has thawed and makes a mess in the tank.

So he is on in-house bred fish exclusively, he will eat up to four fish in a day then nothing for several days - very inconsistent appetite and it is not very active in general. My concern is should it get sick or injured do you treat it symptomatically as per normal tropical fish? I lost an eel many years ago when it developed fungus from an injury because they do not have scales and the medicine poisoned it. Eels can be replaced this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to keep something as exotic as this.

Also is rock salt also beneficial to them as with oscars for example? I'm glad to hear they do live long, unfortunately if it is going to reach 60cm 800l will not do. The future tank is 1.5m long but deep and too narrow for these figures, it would require a tank at least 800mm-1m wide in order for it to turn around.

gar do not do particularly well with most meds, so caution should be taken and research should be done before using them. youre standard treatment for a gar will be raised temperatures, add salt, and keep pristine water. as far as the "gar safe" meds go...there are a few on here with more experience than myself, so i will let them cover that topic (hopefully).

 

[Bobeyente]

This is what it looks like, these pic's are a few months old. That black line has now broken up into spots altogether. I will take some new ones on Sat & upload them.

 

[demjor19]

This is what it looks like, these pic's are a few months old. That black line has now broken up into spots altogether. I will take some new ones on Sat & upload them.

you indeed have a florida/spotted gar.

 

[xander]

and a nice one too. like the lack of pattern, but thts about to change. maybe

 

[CTU2fan]

Nice chunky one too

 

[channarox]

looks like a nice one.