Gar diets?
- Thread starter Conner
- Start date
Cichlid gold
azoo sticks (rarely feed them this)
hikari sticks
sinking gold
market shrimp
frozen tilapia
azoo sticks (rarely feed them this)
hikari sticks
sinking gold
market shrimp
frozen tilapia
Hey Conner,
my feeding isn't terribly varied these days because of all the work/time/resources going to the spotted gar work (recently have started to remedy that), but here is what i have been feeding mine for the past several months (these are also the staples over the years) :
- frozen shrimp (cooked or raw)
- frozen smelt
- frozen tilapia
- hikari massivore (just getting them back on these)
- hikari algae wafers (gators and croc II like these, some of the trops too)
- occasionally some calamari
- occasionally frozen centrarchids (bluegill/green sunfish), fathead minnows, silversides
i usually don't feed floating pellets as both my main gar tanks have overflows and it would just suck them down.
also a note on the 'fattening' up of different species you guys have noted; the bulkier gars in Lepisosteus are the more lacustrine (lake) dwelling species, or ones that hang out in near-shore habitat with slower moving waters (Florida/spotted), whereas the longnose and shortnose are more riverine and (relatively speaking) faster moving waters...their body shapes allude to this as they fit their environments.
Lep Plat (almost seems french..."Le Plat") - i have some spotteds left, so let me know if you're interested.
--
--solomon
my feeding isn't terribly varied these days because of all the work/time/resources going to the spotted gar work (recently have started to remedy that), but here is what i have been feeding mine for the past several months (these are also the staples over the years) :
- frozen shrimp (cooked or raw)
- frozen smelt
- frozen tilapia
- hikari massivore (just getting them back on these)
- hikari algae wafers (gators and croc II like these, some of the trops too)
- occasionally some calamari
- occasionally frozen centrarchids (bluegill/green sunfish), fathead minnows, silversides
i usually don't feed floating pellets as both my main gar tanks have overflows and it would just suck them down.
also a note on the 'fattening' up of different species you guys have noted; the bulkier gars in Lepisosteus are the more lacustrine (lake) dwelling species, or ones that hang out in near-shore habitat with slower moving waters (Florida/spotted), whereas the longnose and shortnose are more riverine and (relatively speaking) faster moving waters...their body shapes allude to this as they fit their environments.
Lep Plat (almost seems french..."Le Plat") - i have some spotteds left, so let me know if you're interested.
--
--solomon
Hmm, I feed 3 types of floating pellets. Between 9 gar, 2 climbing perch, a friedrichsthalli, bluegill and albino channel catfish, none of the pellets end up even getting close to the overflows. I usually have to add pellets several times to make sure everybody gets some. The krill floats, but it goes even faster than the pellets.
Sometimes, if I don't move fast enough, I get splashed pretty good from all the commotion when I drop in freeze dried krill. I've had to change shirts more than once, both from the gars splashing me, and from the catfish soaking me.
I actually wondered about the size difference, but I wasn't sure on what kinds of water they all came from. That definitely explains some of the differences. Thanks!
Sometimes, if I don't move fast enough, I get splashed pretty good from all the commotion when I drop in freeze dried krill. I've had to change shirts more than once, both from the gars splashing me, and from the catfish soaking me.
I actually wondered about the size difference, but I wasn't sure on what kinds of water they all came from. That definitely explains some of the differences. Thanks!
I feed mostly frozen fish to my Gar.
I can buy those pretty cheap and allthough my Gar will eat pellets and algae wafers, he seems to prefer the fish.
He's still growing pretty fast and has just passed the 1' mark.
The easy does it attitude make it easy to keep track of my Gars lenght.
His favorite restingspot in in the front corner of my tank, easiest fish to measure!
Would there be any disadvantages to merely feeding frozen fish?
I can buy those pretty cheap and allthough my Gar will eat pellets and algae wafers, he seems to prefer the fish.
He's still growing pretty fast and has just passed the 1' mark.
The easy does it attitude make it easy to keep track of my Gars lenght.
His favorite restingspot in in the front corner of my tank, easiest fish to measure!
Would there be any disadvantages to merely feeding frozen fish?
E_americanus;3762958; said:
interesting on that note.
kinda does sound french. lol. I would love one but I dont have an extra $100 bucks right now. Especially with setting up my sons (3 months left untill he's due
) nursery. Also trying to finish my caiman enclosure. I would love one (truly jealous of ur research and access to such fish) but that price tag i just cant do right now. 
i do wish it was cheaper.
Conner;3763085; said:
yeah, any time i have tried pellets in the big tank, the Croc will get some of them, maybe a couple trops, but a lot end up back at the overflows (they are running at a pretty high rate, so they get sucked down fast...and then end up smelling since hikari pellets in particular have a pretty strong odor. ounce for ounce...more like pound for pound these days, the frozen tilapia and shrimp are cheaper to feed to the big gars since they would go through pellets quite fast. i'm using the pellets and wafers just as supplements for what isn't included in the shrimp, etc.
Noddy;3763137; said:
no major disadvantages to feeding just frozen fish...assuming the fish are a more nutritious species and have been raised on a good feed (or from the wild). there are supposed issues with thiaminase with some types of fish (goldfish are bad for a variety of reasons, but i don't necessarily buy the fathead minnow issue, and even then i haven't seen serious problems in gars which may be linked to them), but if you are feeding a variety of frozen fish or just a few safe ones you should be fine. you can always supplement with pellets from time to time to fill in any potential nutritional gaps.
Lepisosteus platyrhincus;3763144; said:interesting on that note.
kinda does sound french. lol. I would love one but I dont have an extra $100 bucks right now. Especially with setting up my sons (3 months left untill he's due
i do wish it was cheaper.
no problem and understandable. we will probably have some when the weather starts to get a bit warmer anyway. just a matter of how much shipping increases due to the size of the fish increasing. the base price will likely remain the same, so it won't go up any higher in case people are interested in them a bit later.--
--solomon
mostly pellets (usually NLS Thera then Hikari Sinking Gold) then market shrimp. The trop grabbed a shrimp from my fingers yesterday, but couldn't get the whole thing down (first time either of my gar ate from the surface.
hey guys I have an Alligator gar and he won't touch anything that isn't self propelled. I have tried shrimp and tilapia as well as pellets and no luck. feeders he goes nuts over but won't touch anything else. it hasn't seemed to harm him as he is now about 3ft long and growing like crazy but what have you done to have success getting them to eat dead or pellet food?
