Cuban gar updates

[dvsgp6]

nice! what size tank you have these monsters in

 

[E_americanus]

reply in red i measure ammonia almost every morning and it's always 0

sounds good on making those changes. i would suggest cutting the feeders and going with just the shrimp. skip the pellets to for now...unless you are absolutely positive they are eating all the pellets...as if these are left in the tank they will break down and pollute quite a bit compared to shrimp, which are generally easier for the fishes to find and finish off (especially big fishes).

gars will always beg for food and go berserk, my big Cubans and the other big gars will constantly snap at the top and hit the tops when they are really hungry or think there is food being dropped...their natural instinct is to feed nearly all the time when food is available, in captivity we're sort of -attempting- to change that behavior...the berserk behavior is more or less a product of that conflict--
--solomon

 

[xander]

sounds good on making those changes. i would suggest cutting the feeders and going with just the shrimp. skip the pellets to for now...unless you are absolutely positive they are eating all the pellets...as if these are left in the tank they will break down and pollute quite a bit compared to shrimp, which are generally easier for the fishes to find and finish off (especially big fishes).

changes including using the aragonite substrate? shrimp is very fattening. which is why i don't really like feeding it as their only diet. yeah i've noticed that with pellets, and will likely not use them anymore.

gars will always beg for food and go berserk, my big Cubans and the other big gars will constantly snap at the top and hit the tops when they are really hungry or think there is food being dropped...their natural instinct is to feed nearly all the time when food is available, in captivity we're sort of -attempting- to change that behavior...the berserk behavior is more or less a product of that conflict--

haha yes they really attack anything and everything. including mere water movements. very amusing really.
--solomon

thanks

 

[benzjamin13]

Nice looking Gars

 

[channarox]

could it be possible the pike is stressing them?
just a thought.

 

[E_americanus]

thanks

the potential fat from shrimp is much less of a threat than the unhealthiness of the feeders, so i would skip the feeders and stick with shrimp...or just use some other frozen fish. i've fed a pretty steady diet of shrimp for some time and never had any problems, although nowadays i usually mix it up with tilapia, smelt (can be pretty fatty), flounder, and squid. either way, any of those options are better than feeders.

i have never tried the pike cichlid combo, but as channa said, you may want to observe them (even at night) to see if this or any other tankmate is causing a problem. when they are continuously dark like that (or with frequent fluctuations) it's not a good sign, so better to catch/solve the issue sooner than later--
--solomon

 

[ermgravy]

what now you have two.... thats just simply not fair! but yea pikes are sods definitely look into that, on the up side i found they make excellent gulper food!

 

[xander]

the potential fat from shrimp is much less of a threat than the unhealthiness of the feeders, so i would skip the feeders and stick with shrimp...or just use some other frozen fish. i've fed a pretty steady diet of shrimp for some time and never had any problems, although nowadays i usually mix it up with tilapia, smelt (can be pretty fatty), flounder, and squid. either way, any of those options are better than feeders.

i have never tried the pike cichlid combo, but as channa said, you may want to observe them (even at night) to see if this or any other tankmate is causing a problem. when they are continuously dark like that (or with frequent fluctuations) it's not a good sign, so better to catch/solve the issue sooner than later--
--solomon

alright i'll stick to shrimp then

the pike is only aggro to the knife. it leaves the gars alone completely. perhaps i am underfeeding? hopefully it's low pH and i'll just go and get the aragonite substrate this weekend.

 

[xander]

what now you have two.... thats just simply not fair! but yea pikes are sods definitely look into that, on the up side i found they make excellent gulper food!

these are new lol. didn't come cheap either! i had to sell everything and i mean everything for them. haha

 

[xander]

is there any way to increase and buffer the pH aside from using aragonite substrate?