florida gars?

[spwd]

Hi everyone,obviously im new on here so forgive me if i ask any stupid questions.

Ive posted this in the introduction section but i thought more people would read it here.

Ive just bought 2 florida gars from wharf aquatics to go in with my aro(when i find one) and my geos.


I usually trust wharf on these things but have been told they will grow to 18" max so they will be fine in my 6 x2 x2 tank for life,but then ive looked on the web and found they can grow huge,these are my first gars so im not clued up on everything as yet but i dont want to keep them if they are going to grow too big for the tank so could you help to identify them and tell me how big they will grow,il try and put pics up but if not they are on my thread in the intro section.

the bottom pic is of the two tank set up we have the smaller discus tank is a 4.5 x2 x2 and the aro gar tank is 6 x 2 x 2

Any help greatly appreciated

 

[demjor19]

they are indeed florida/spotted gar. as far as size goes...they typically max out between 18-24 inches. it should be fine for a long time if not life in your 6 x 2 x 2 tank.

welcome to mfk by the way!

 

[Polypterus]

While 18 inches is an average they can get much larger. Lots of factors go into the growth of these fish.

You very well could keep those two in there for life if the average holds true and they do not decide to grow on the upper end of the scale.

As for ID: Yes those are Florida / Spotted gars.
Good luck with them!!

 

[demjor19]

While 18 inches is an average they can get much larger. Lots of factors go into the growth of these fish.

You very well could keep those two in there for life if the average holds true and they do not decide to grow on the upper end of the scale.

As for ID: Yes those are Florida / Spotted gars.
Good luck with them!!

these look to be YOY gar...so i really wouldnt expect them to reach more than 18-20 inches.

 

[Polypterus]

these look to be YOY gar...so i really wouldnt expect them to reach more than 18-20 inches.

I would not expect them to either but they have the potential to do so. I would not discount the larger potential outright. Just be aware of it...

 

[spwd]

Thanks for the quick replies

Ithink we will be keeping them then,it was just a bit of a shock seeing 44" on the web,we`ll keep you posted on there growth and there tankmates.

just two quickies, how fast do they grow,eg 12 months time,they are about 6.5" at the moment and whats the best food for them,ive got some cockles and some large krill which the lfs recommended but i dont really want to give them feeders any help appreciated.


cheers steve

 

[Polypterus]

Thanks for the quick replies

Ithink we will be keeping them then,it was just a bit of a shock seeing 44" on the web,we`ll keep you posted on there growth and there tankmates.

just two quickies, how fast do they grow,eg 12 months time,they are about 6.5" at the moment and whats the best food for them,ive got some cockles and some large krill which the lfs recommended but i dont really want to give them feeders any help appreciated.


cheers steve

No worries on 44" that is not going to happen. 26" would be absolute max size and this would be a rare and old female one..

12 months time they will be around 12 to 15 inches...plus or minus a few.

You could add Fresh fish fillet or small whole fish (whitebait or silversides), Pellets and market shrimp (fresh or cooked) to the diet.

 

[zennzzo]

Hi everyone,obviously im new on here so forgive me if i ask any stupid questions.

Ive posted this in the introduction section but i thought more people would read it here.

Ive just bought 2 florida gars from wharf aquatics to go in with my aro(when i find one) and my geos.


I usually trust wharf on these things but have been told they will grow to 18" max so they will be fine in my 6 x2 x2 tank for life,but then ive looked on the web and found they can grow huge,these are my first gars so im not clued up on everything as yet but i dont want to keep them if they are going to grow too big for the tank so could you help to identify them and tell me how big they will grow,il try and put pics up but if not they are on my thread in the intro section.

the bottom pic is of the two tank set up we have the smaller discus tank is a 4.5 x2 x2 and the aro gar tank is 6 x 2 x 2

Any help greatly appreciated

Nice tanks and welcome to MFK

 

[spwd]

Thanks again

maybe a silly question but what is a yoy?

cheers steve

 

[Polypterus]

Thanks again

maybe a silly question but what is a yoy?

cheers steve

YoY means Young of Year which means your fish is likely under 6 months old.

Technically this term is used for year class 0 fish and used for fish between the time of hatching to January 1st of a year but we tend to loosely interpret it and still use the term with these gars as they are Aquacultured so it is difficult to pin-point time of hatching to what should be a transition to year class 1 fish..

Was that confusing enough?