Depressed Gar

[FishDog]

Can gars get depressed? I had a 7 inch and a 12 inch spotted gar living together in my 220 gallon. The 12 incher grabbed one of my dats and got the dat hung in his mouth. I pulled the gar out because he was too big for the present time and replaced him with a 6 inch silver Aro. Now the smaller gar acts totally different. He lays on the bottom more and spends a lot of time on the oposite end of the tank from where he use to stay. He is still eating but has lost some of his feeding aggression. The aro stays clear of him or from what I can tell. I don't know if he is acting different because I took the gar out or because I put the aro in.

 

[demjor19]

Can gars get depressed? I had a 7 inch and a 12 inch spotted gar living together in my 220 gallon. The 12 incher grabbed one of my dats and got the dat hung in his mouth. I pulled the gar out because he was too big for the present time and replaced him with a 6 inch silver Aro. Now the smaller gar acts totally different. He lays on the bottom more and spends a lot of time on the oposite end of the tank from where he use to stay. He is still eating but has lost some of his feeding aggression. The aro stays clear of him or from what I can tell. I don't know if he is acting different because I took the gar out or because I put the aro in.

he sounds pretty normal to me. i wouldnt worry, but i would keep an eye on that silver. if he grabbed a dat he wouldnt think twice about grabbing a baby silver aro...

 

[E_americanus]

i would also keep an eye on tankmates just in case (this should be the case with any predatory fish combo change-up). i would, however, not be surprised if some of the behavior change isn't somewhat due to the other gar being removed. gars are more gregarious than one may expect, and i have noticed (as have others, including richard/polypterus) that gars will often do well in a group as some will tend to shoal together, and may even help keep each other calmer and less skittish. on the flip side, keeping gars together with other gars inevitably ends up with some shredding of fins from time to time as well as a possibility that if one gets spooked, the others may follow.

nevertheless, if you can get both gars back into the same tank (whether its this tank or a different one) it would interesting to note if you see any change in the 'depressed' gars behavior--
--solomon

 

[KaraJo]

i would also keep an eye on tankmates just in case (this should be the case with any predatory fish combo change-up). i would, however, not be surprised if some of the behavior change isn't somewhat due to the other gar being removed. gars are more gregarious than one may expect, and i have noticed (as have others, including richard/polypterus) that gars will often do well in a group as some will tend to shoal together, and may even help keep each other calmer and less skittish. on the flip side, keeping gars together with other gars inevitably ends up with some shredding of fins from time to time as well as a possibility that if one gets spooked, the others may follow.

nevertheless, if you can get both gars back into the same tank (whether its this tank or a different one) it would interesting to note if you see any change in the 'depressed' gars behavior--
--solomon

it's funny you should mention them "shoaling" together. all of my florida/spotteds lay together on a very regular basis. oddly enough it always goes largest to smallest. i was going to ask you if they typically group together like this. i have some pics of them...

sorry...i posted this under my g/f's name.

-jordan

 

[josefandtin]

i bet shes still adjusting to the newcomer.

 

[FishDog]

Nice looking gars