im sure that americanus, xander, or poly has an answer for you. i dont know the answer, so im gonna keep it shut. just wait til the fireworks later.....
For those who think Aro's can't live with gars
- Thread starter Cichla dude
- Start date
because basically, both fish are not good tankmates to the other.
gars tend to enjoy attacking silvery fish, and hence when at a smaller size, they often kill silver aros.
when both fish have some size on them, the silver aro would tend to spook the gar out pretty often. either due to sudden movements or bullying. remember, a 16-20" silver aro is much larger mass wise then say, a 16-20inch spotted gar. when spooked, gars tend to dart quickly, usually bashing into tank walls or tank decor. if unlucky, this might break the gars back. thankfully, more often than not, the gar escapes with its life. however, in the long run, this leaves you with a skittish, stressed and most likely injured gar. plus, the gar might still break its back any day. imo, this is why, it is possible to keep silver aros with gar, but in the interest of both species of fish, you should not.
many people claim to have kept the 2 "successfully". and they even have the pics to prove it...the problem is that you will not be able to know how long the combo has worked, how well it has worked, and under what exact conditions it has worked. and a point i feel should be stressed again, you should never make a judgement based on the exceptions, but always on the rule. this goes for all questionable combos, and not just this particular case. there just aren't many fish that get along with gars, and the sooner we all learn that, the sooner we can progress in keeping these fish.
good luck and i hope this wasn't typed in vain. if i missed anything out or said anything wrong, feel free to correct me
gars tend to enjoy attacking silvery fish, and hence when at a smaller size, they often kill silver aros.
when both fish have some size on them, the silver aro would tend to spook the gar out pretty often. either due to sudden movements or bullying. remember, a 16-20" silver aro is much larger mass wise then say, a 16-20inch spotted gar. when spooked, gars tend to dart quickly, usually bashing into tank walls or tank decor. if unlucky, this might break the gars back. thankfully, more often than not, the gar escapes with its life. however, in the long run, this leaves you with a skittish, stressed and most likely injured gar. plus, the gar might still break its back any day. imo, this is why, it is possible to keep silver aros with gar, but in the interest of both species of fish, you should not.
many people claim to have kept the 2 "successfully". and they even have the pics to prove it...the problem is that you will not be able to know how long the combo has worked, how well it has worked, and under what exact conditions it has worked. and a point i feel should be stressed again, you should never make a judgement based on the exceptions, but always on the rule. this goes for all questionable combos, and not just this particular case. there just aren't many fish that get along with gars, and the sooner we all learn that, the sooner we can progress in keeping these fish.
good luck and i hope this wasn't typed in vain. if i missed anything out or said anything wrong, feel free to correct me
And arowanas aren't skittish? I think it would be worse for the arowana than the gar. Being bitten in half doesn't sound fun to me. Neither does running into a tank wall, but at least you would live.xander;2960155; said:because basically, both fish are not good tankmates to the other.
gars tend to enjoy attacking silvery fish, and hence when at a smaller size, they often kill silver aros.
when both fish have some size on them, the silver aro would tend to spook the gar out pretty often. either due to sudden movements or bullying. remember, a 16-20" silver aro is much larger mass wise then say, a 16-20inch spotted gar. when spooked, gars tend to dart quickly, usually bashing into tank walls or tank decor. if unlucky, this might break the gars back. thankfully, more often than not, the gar escapes with its life. however, in the long run, this leaves you with a skittish, stressed and most likely injured gar. plus, the gar might still break its back any day. imo, this is why, it is possible to keep silver aros with gar, but in the interest of both species of fish, you should not.
many people claim to have kept the 2 "successfully". and they even have the pics to prove it...the problem is that you will not be able to know how long the combo has worked, how well it has worked, and under what exact conditions it has worked. and a point i feel should be stressed again, you should never make a judgement based on the exceptions, but always on the rule. this goes for all questionable combos, and not just this particular case. there just aren't many fish that get along with gars, and the sooner we all learn that, the sooner we can progress in keeping these fish.
good luck and i hope this wasn't typed in vain. if i missed anything out or said anything wrong, feel free to correct me
I<3fish;2960847; said:
the aro's are skittish yes, and when they are active all day swimming gracefully there isnt a problem as long as there not small enough to get eaten. it is when they dart across the tank, or make a quick turn it jolts the gar into flying headlong into the side of the tank. this is the same reason you shouldnt keep any kind of cichlid with a gar. the only suitable tankmates for life to keep with a gar is a catfish that wont get so large it will eat the gar. this is simply my opinion and from my experience. i have sucessfully kept a 14" florida gar for a year that previously had a broken back. i was going to house it with cichlids and i gave it a try in my pond. it wound up getting picked on because i didnt listen to e_americanus and solomon when they told me it was a bad idea. i learned real fast and got wise. since i moved him to a catfish grow out tank he has thrived and is loving life getting fat. all in all, keep them in an inactive room with lazy tankmates. (aro's are deffinatly not lazy)
I see this as a comparison that even silver aro's can cause stress to stingrays, who spend the entire day on the bottom of the tank, yet dont like the idea of the aro swimming on top all day.perfect_prefect;2960946; said:
this is an interesting topic but I almost quit reading cause there where no points being made just statements how it is or isn't working. thankyou for clearing up the reason behind not housing them together.
Happy Birthday MFK
Happy Birthday MFK
finally an answer. and now i really know the reason for not keeping them together and will separate them soon. but i think this answer should have been given right at the start of the thread. thanx xander for giving us all the answerxander;2960155; said:because basically, both fish are not good tankmates to the other.
gars tend to enjoy attacking silvery fish, and hence when at a smaller size, they often kill silver aros.
when both fish have some size on them, the silver aro would tend to spook the gar out pretty often. either due to sudden movements or bullying. remember, a 16-20" silver aro is much larger mass wise then say, a 16-20inch spotted gar. when spooked, gars tend to dart quickly, usually bashing into tank walls or tank decor. if unlucky, this might break the gars back. thankfully, more often than not, the gar escapes with its life. however, in the long run, this leaves you with a skittish, stressed and most likely injured gar. plus, the gar might still break its back any day. imo, this is why, it is possible to keep silver aros with gar, but in the interest of both species of fish, you should not.
many people claim to have kept the 2 "successfully". and they even have the pics to prove it...the problem is that you will not be able to know how long the combo has worked, how well it has worked, and under what exact conditions it has worked. and a point i feel should be stressed again, you should never make a judgement based on the exceptions, but always on the rule. this goes for all questionable combos, and not just this particular case. there just aren't many fish that get along with gars, and the sooner we all learn that, the sooner we can progress in keeping these fish.
good luck and i hope this wasn't typed in vain. if i missed anything out or said anything wrong, feel free to correct me
smartlove_518;2962321; said:finally an answer. and now i really know the reason for not keeping them together and will separate them soon. but i think this answer should have been given right at the start of the thread. thanx xander for giving us all the answer
it is good that some version of the answer was posted, but the truth is that it has been posted multiple times already in this forum and others. the info could be found by doing some forum research (which is different than other research), but it's out there. that's why a lot of us just give short answers as not everyone has the time to re-type the entire answer repeatedly.
one could make a case for copying and pasting, but if we can find it, the original poster of the question should be able to find it as well. either way, glad things have been clarified--
--solomon
