Broken Back Prevention with Gars!!!

[Polypterus]

i have heard the night light is helpful for fish like arowanas, but gar arent all that jumpy of a fish (except for the shortnose gar). decent thought, but i just think it would be an uneffective approach to this problem.

I think I have to disagree about other species not being Jumpy... Gars in general are jumpy and skittish animals. Some less so than others but this tends to follow an individual basis rather than species model.

(However I'm convinced Shortnosed and Gators are insane... period)

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

Now that i think about it I do think that the night light will help the my gars indirectly. It may not help the gar BUT it might help the other tankmates (i.e. aro, widebar, loaches, etc. ) be more secure hence they are less likely to spook the gar.

Does this make sense? Deal or No Deal?

 

[Onion01]

Now that i think about it I do think that the night light will help the my gars indirectly. It may not help the gar BUT it might help the other tankmates (i.e. aro, widebar, loaches, etc. ) be more secure hence they are less likely to spook the gar.

Does this make sense? Deal or No Deal?

I think it partially makes sense. I have only kept gars short term, and have noticed that mine were very sensitive to light. Flicking on the lights was a surefire way to make them go crazy. Luckily, the worst injury was a slight cut on the end of it's snout. I think it has something to do with their natural environment. The gars i've seen in the wild live in murky waters; not much light available. It just doesn't seem to be natural for them. I do agree with the skittishness of the gar's tankmates. I think you hit that right on the money.

BTW, was it you who deleted my brokeback mountain gar pic?

 

[demjor19]

I think I have to disagree about other species not being Jumpy... Gars in general are jumpy and skittish animals. Some less so than others but this tends to follow an individual basis rather than species model.

(However I'm convinced Shortnosed and Gators are insane... period)

gar being jumpy....sometimes, but not nearly as jumpy as a silver aro or many other species of fish. for the most part i would say a gar is pretty laid back (excluding the shortnose and gator). my trop and florida/spotteds very seldom get spooked...even my longnose was pretty calm while i had it (ended up breaking its back from getting stuck behind the filter intake tube).

as you said though...this is very much on a fish to fish basis. maybe ive just been fortunate?

 

[demjor19]

Now that i think about it I do think that the night light will help the my gars indirectly. It may not help the gar BUT it might help the other tankmates (i.e. aro, widebar, loaches, etc. ) be more secure hence they are less likely to spook the gar.

Does this make sense? Deal or No Deal?

this would make more sense. aros tend to have their "nightime insanity". i could def see this spooking a gar and possibly causing it to injure itself. by calming the aro you indirectly help protect the gar. although i'm still not convinced that the nightlight even has a possitive effect on an aro.

 

[rednhot]

hey alex...you keep all your fish in same tank? gar, cat, chiclid, and bass...are they about same size?

 

[rednhot]

i've had many people tell me i am a bad gar keeper, but i never had one get injured or let alone break its back????? WTF???
the best way to keep gars is with fish of the same type(a little dedication to the species) ie more gars.
and these fish are fast when they attack thier food so they need extra large tanks prepferably low wide tanks(ie grow tanks). if you cant get these guys a 100g or bigger don't even bother getting one.
predatory fish tend to be big and expensive to keep. if you cant afford it please dont cut corners,you should think about owning guppies.

 

[demjor19]

i've had many people tell me i am a bad gar keeper, but i never had one get injured or let alone break its back????? WTF???
the best way to keep gars is with fish of the same type(a little dedication to the species) ie more gars.
and these fish are fast when they attack thier food so they need extra large tanks prepferably low wide tanks(ie grow tanks). if you cant get these guys a 100g or bigger don't even bother getting one.
predatory fish tend to be big and expensive to keep. if you cant afford it please dont cut corners,you should think about owning guppies.

i ususally recommend a 180 (6 x 2 x 2) as a minimum tank size for life. also gar can easily and do often break there backs in tanks that are too large for them. this occurs more often with certain species of gar though
(i.e. longnose and shortnose gar).

 

[rednhot]

gar can easily and do often break there backs in tanks that are too large for them. this occurs more often with certain species of gar though
(i.e. longnose and shortnose gar).

i've never had this problem...lucky i guess? ive had gars strike at a feeder and lift the lid and jump all the way out of the tank chasing after it though

 

[rednhot]

i've never seen a 6x2x2 tank, only the 8x2x2. is it a common size?