Florida Gar Growth Rate?

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jlcoop277

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 20, 2011
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Forney, Texas
My LFS has a Florida that's been there for several months now. He's about 8-12" long and they want $40-60 for him I can't remember. I've made pretty good friends with the guy and can get a better price, but I only have a 100g at the moment and it'll be at least a year maybe 1.5 before i can get a bigger tank. How fast would he grow? i'm thinking i should wait, but i just wanna make sure before I pass him up.
Thanks
 
has the gar grown at all in the several months at the store? Also, can we have an estimate of its length of stay at the store? A healthy 2yr old florida can be between 14" and 18", usually ending up somewhere inbetween. So I wouldn't immediately say that you need to pass him up. How wide is the 100gal?

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From the best that I can tell it hasn't grown much. I don't know how long it had been there before I saw it two months ago. The tank it shares with several other catfish about the same size in my estimation is about 60-75G. My tank is 18" wide. 5' long and 22" tall.
At the moment I only have two Discus and 7 cory's in the tank. Discus between 3-4"
 
jlcoop277;5139866; said:
From the best that I can tell it hasn't grown much. I don't know how long it had been there before I saw it two months ago. The tank it shares with several other catfish about the same size in my estimation is about 60-75G. My tank is 18" wide. 5' long and 22" tall.
At the moment I only have two Discus and 7 cory's in the tank. Discus between 3-4"
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if you get the gar for your tank the gar will be fine...tankmates will be eaten (corys) and likely stressed/killed (discus). those tankmates are generally not compatible with gars.

as for growth rates, please do a search as there are numerous topics on gar growth rates on the forum.

also xander - remind me to email/PM you about modifications to the pinned topics, richard and i were discussing this and can eventually contribute to an overhaul, current state makes some obvious information hard to find. hate to suggest too many changes, but a hybridization between the old setup and the new one is likely necessary (not necessarily urgent, but necessary).--
--solomon
 
E_americanus;5139892; said:
if you get the gar for your tank the gar will be fine...tankmates will be eaten (corys) and likely stressed/killed (discus). those tankmates are generally not compatible with gars.

as for growth rates, please do a search as there are numerous topics on gar growth rates on the forum.

also xander - remind me to email/PM you about modifications to the pinned topics, richard and i were discussing this and can eventually contribute to an overhaul, current state makes some obvious information hard to find. hate to suggest too many changes, but a hybridization between the old setup and the new one is likely necessary (not necessarily urgent, but necessary).--
--solomon
Click to expand...


x2 though I think the issue with the discus would more be the water chemistry issues and temps.. as from my understanding/experiance Discus need much warmer temps then gar in general do. year 'round temps in the 80's - 90's that discus generally require are likely not too suitable long-term to a gars health?

My floridas may also be the exception but generally if something is to big for them to eat it is ignored as long as the other fish more or less ignore them. the only exception to this is silvery fish. ( my one gar dispises silver arrowanas with a passion)

It would def be a risk, and i don't doubt the corys becoming a snack at some point.
 
MonsterMinis;5140217; said:
x2 though I think the issue with the discus would more be the water chemistry issues and temps.. as from my understanding/experiance Discus need much warmer temps then gar in general do. year 'round temps in the 80's - 90's that discus generally require are likely not too suitable long-term to a gars health?

My floridas may also be the exception but generally if something is to big for them to eat it is ignored as long as the other fish more or less ignore them. the only exception to this is silvery fish. ( my one gar dispises silver arrowanas with a passion)

It would def be a risk, and i don't doubt the corys becoming a snack at some point.
Click to expand...

gars can do fine at those higher temps, but there are often other issues with aquarium balance, etc which come into play. food breaks down faster, bacteria/fungus grows faster, water quality degrades quicker and water holds less O2. the gar would be fine, but it's not ideal.

as to whether or not the FLG would leave a discuss alone or attack...i would guess would depend a lot on the individual. with as slow-moving and "fragile" as discus are, i just wouldn't recommend the combo - would be a shame to have nice-looking fish shredded up unnecessarily--
--solomon
 
Well looks as though I should wait till I can do a suitable tank. What size should I shoot for since I'll have time to look for a larger tank?
 
Update on the Gar,
Ok so I was at my LFS today getting a couple plants and went by to check to see if it was there. It was up at the front of the glass length wise so I got a good measurement. it is only 9"
So How long could FG that size stay in a 55 long before it would need to be moved up?
 
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