gar and cold water

[Polypterus]

Gators were once very common fish in ohio until the 50's when they were over fished to smaller numbers. They can still be found in the ohio river, but are very hard to come by. Longnose are alot more commin in our state though and are very close in our neighbor west virginia. I've read a post on here about someone who collected a small longnose gar in "Big Darby Creek" which is located right around your door step it makes me sad i dont live in C-bus anymore to collect some for myself.

I'm not sure you can say Gators where ever common in Ohio. At most only three counties along the border had them. Numbers recorded are very low as this represented the most extreme Northwestern fringe of their distribution. Of those they where pretty much wiped out as viable before 1900 not through overfishing but through removal of habitat. Channelization, flood control and wetland draining all had a much more of a major effect on this small population. They have been extirpated from Ohio for a very long time.

 

[E_americanus]

I'm not sure you can say Gators where ever common in Ohio. At most only three counties along the border had them. Numbers recorded are very low as this represented the most extreme Northwestern fringe of their distribution. Of those they where pretty much wiped out as viable before 1900 not through overfishing but through removal of habitat. Channelization, flood control and wetland draining all had a much more of a major effect on this small population. They have been extirpated from Ohio for a very long time.

exactly. although "common" is a relative term, i disagree with the post you were quoting as they have never been common at the northern extent of their range. if there is data otherwise i would like to see it--
--solomon

 

[m245]

The main problem with a pond that freezes over, is that the gar need to get to the surface to breath. You'd need to keep at least several square feet of space open for them to be able to surface.

I rarely see my gator gars surface to breath in winter. Maybe their metabolism has slowed down considerably and there is no need for them to come up to the surface to breath.

 

[CrazyAq.]

Lepisosteus oculatus in a cold water ? Im live in slovakia and local fish store tell me about 15Celsiums will be okay and on local websites 15Celsiums is okay but im not sure

 

[Hendre]

Hi and welcome. I think that's far too cold, best to make a thread in the gar section, this is an old thread

 

[CrazyAq.]

Will be 19Celsiums ok ? Im live in slovak and i have 300gallon outside fish tank i finding some cold water predators i find Lepisosteus oculatus its summer and in the winter my gar will goes to tank inside my house

 

[pharmaecopia]

Will be 19Celsiums ok ? Im live in slovak and i have 300gallon outside fish tank i finding some cold water predators i find Lepisosteus oculatus its summer and in the winter my gar will goes to tank inside my house

I have kept a number of different species at this temperature for short periods. This happens at the beginning of the summer when they go outside or at the end of the summer before they come in.

Provided they are a healthy weight and have been acclimated to the lower temperatures they should be fine. Last year I had ice on my outdoor pond when it came time to bring the Florida and longnose gars inside.

One thing to note it is very u likely that you would have a spotted gar. They are generally not found in the hobby. The similar looking Florida gar is the most common gar to find, and is frequently mislabelled as a spotted gar.

 

[HungDang]

well, with that much information that some other member(especially information from the 2 that I know are scientists who's worked/ working with gars). I don't really have much to say.

But, with 1100 gallons that is 4' wide you should stay away from longnose and gator, with weather in Ohio mean you also can't keep Florida, Cuban or tropical.Try to find spotted gar and shortnose that are native around you. They should do fine even with the koi when they get big, big gar are pretty lazy and will never go after fish that they can't swallow. As for the pond freezing over, a water pump that pump from the bottom to the surface to keep an open air hole during winter should be good.

I've get as cold as 9F hear in North Texas and my pond was having a 4'' ice sheet on top but my 2200 gph pump kept a 2.5 ft open for air exchange. if you have filter system, you should turn it off or just unplug that pump and use it as circulation pump which is what I did. Because once the water on top the the filter is frozen and plug off the return pipe, water will flush out of your pond through the filter.