florida in a 55g

[zspidel]

ok, my friend has a florida in a 55g. he's had him in the tank for as long as ive known him (about 6yrs). i believe hes aroudn 1ft TL. i would like to purchase him and put him in my 120. I have a pretty strong feeling that this fish is stunted correct? just wondering if there would be a chance if he would grow or not. btw, he was in the 55 w 2 adult oscars, a fancy goldfish, needlenose gar and pleco. they all lived peacefully until a few wks ago when the oscars died.
thanks for the input

 

[E_americanus]

yeah, that FL is likely not going to grow any more...at least nothing significant. should do just fine in the 120g--
--solomon

 

[zspidel]

yeah, that FL is likely not going to grow any more...at least nothing significant. should do just fine in the 120g--
--solomon

thanks for the input. i think i saw perun post that on average floridas in captivity average around 16" mature. to my knowledge, the males and females mature at different ages. i believe one is at 6yrs and other is at 11yrs, not sure which is which. so a 120 could possibly house them for life, but if not life at least a few yrs. and more appropriate tank size would be that of a 2' wide tank, like a 180 or so correct?

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

yes a 2' wide tank should house most captive florida gar for life. not all but most. 180 is perfect, but a 120( 4' by 2' by 2') works ok as well. no were near as good as the 180 due to the tank being only 4' but....

 

[zspidel]

yes a 2' wide tank should house most captive florida gar for life. not all but most. 180 is perfect, but a 120( 4' by 2' by 2') works ok as well. no were near as good as the 180 due to the tank being only 4' but....

hey neighbor! hows life? is the boy here yet? i think im gonna try to buy that florida my buddy has that i told you about. possibly get 1 more from ricks. hey hows your project coming along

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

projects goin alright, had to take a short break(savin for a new tattoo but all saved up and back to the build and f'd up my leg doin a little native collecting), boy aint here quite yet. soon. anyday!
yeah u need to rescue that gar!! ricks has 3 at the moment. all floridas.

 

[E_americanus]

thanks for the input. i think i saw perun post that on average floridas in captivity average around 16" mature. to my knowledge, the males and females mature at different ages. i believe one is at 6yrs and other is at 11yrs, not sure which is which. so a 120 could possibly house them for life, but if not life at least a few yrs. and more appropriate tank size would be that of a 2' wide tank, like a 180 or so correct?

Florida gars mature closer in age range to spotted, shortnose, and longnose gars, with some adjustment. expect about 2-3 years for males, and about 4-5 years for females; this is also somewhat size dependent.

alligator gar females don't mature until around 11 years, and male gators probably closer to around 5-6, so that is likely the info you were referring to. tropicals have matured after 1 year on aquaculture farms, but usually it's closer to the other species i listed in the first paragraph. unfortunately we have very little info available about Cuban gar maturity, we expect that it's somewhat intermediate between tropicals and gators, likely a bit closer to tropicals. i do know that 4-5 year old males are mature (as i currently have two of them at 6.5 years or so).--
--solomon