hey guys im new here but i was hoping maybe you could give me some advice or some insight. i recently purchased a 14" alligator gar. i got him this past monday. they said he just ate the day i got him. so i bought a dozen feeder fish and kept them in a seperate aquarium and dropped a few in the gars tank on prolly wednesday. since then he has killed a few but has not eaten any of them. does anyone know what could be wrong. because i know gar have an awesome appatite. the tank is a 75gal and he's the only fish in there. any info would be great! thanks
Gar not eating
- Thread starter demjor19
- Start date
Ouch, i can see some people getting passionate about this thread here. But i am sure everyone will keep cool, there are some real nice and helpful people in this gar forum.
And i am not one of the knowledgeable people, but let me throw some input in before the experts find this.
Firstly, 75 gallons is way way way too small for that gator gar. Are you aware they require hundreds of gallons, and eventually thousands of gallons? Do you have a pond set up and ready for it?
In addition, no gars can live solely on feeder fish. In fact feeder fish should not make up the major part of any fish's diet. Feeder fish should just be a treat.
My suggestion is to try live crickets to begin with, that should get him eating...
And if you do not have a pond of thousands of gallons ready or in the pipe line of construction, find a new home for this gar asap…
And i am not one of the knowledgeable people, but let me throw some input in before the experts find this.
Firstly, 75 gallons is way way way too small for that gator gar. Are you aware they require hundreds of gallons, and eventually thousands of gallons? Do you have a pond set up and ready for it?
In addition, no gars can live solely on feeder fish. In fact feeder fish should not make up the major part of any fish's diet. Feeder fish should just be a treat.
My suggestion is to try live crickets to begin with, that should get him eating...
And if you do not have a pond of thousands of gallons ready or in the pipe line of construction, find a new home for this gar asap…
Welcome to MFK!!
If the gar was aquacultured, it may be used to prepared foods. Along with the crickets (insects make up a large part of young gar diets), you can try floating aro sticks or hikari floating carnivore sticks. My gars only get minnows once a week. The rest of the time, they hit the sticks.
You don't mention water chem or temp. Check your pH. Gars prefer neutral to alkaline conditions. If you're water is too acid, that can throw off the gar's normal behavior. And the temp requirements are higher for gator gars than for some of the other species. Temp should be mid 70s to mid 80s for young gator gars.
If the gar was aquacultured, it may be used to prepared foods. Along with the crickets (insects make up a large part of young gar diets), you can try floating aro sticks or hikari floating carnivore sticks. My gars only get minnows once a week. The rest of the time, they hit the sticks.
You don't mention water chem or temp. Check your pH. Gars prefer neutral to alkaline conditions. If you're water is too acid, that can throw off the gar's normal behavior. And the temp requirements are higher for gator gars than for some of the other species. Temp should be mid 70s to mid 80s for young gator gars.
As stated, a 75 really doesn't fill any basic needs for a gator gar. A good rule of thumb for minimum tank size is twice the tank length to gar body length and 1.5 times tank depth (front to back) to gar body length. Gar bodies aren't nearly as flexible as other fish and they're prone to breaking their backs in small tanks. You can cut down on their nervousness a bit by providing some floating plants to provide the gar some cover.
as stated above, i would suggest checking your temperature and water parameters. i keep all of my gars at about 80-82F...this is on the warmer side for several gar species, and the preferable side for a couple others...either way they do well at this level and warmer temps can help to stave off disease and maintain activity.
as long as the gar looks healthy, i wouldn't be too worried about him not eating at this point. sometimes gars take a little while to come around and eat, so even a week's delay on eating is not a big deal at all for a gar. just keep an eye on him, and offer up a variety of foods. when acclimating a new gar to a new home and new foods, i like to use 'smelly' non-live foods such as chopped raw shrimp, tilapia, or smelt. the smell attracts them to it and they quickly recognize it as food.
the hikari carnivore sticks that oddball suggested can also work well, especially if the gar has been conditioned to pelletized foods. i've gotten several of my gars to take this item in the past, but currently only have one that will take it (plus the others are too big for the quantity of pellets it would take to satiate them).
so you should have several ideas and options here so far. keep an eye on that gar's growth, a 75g (assuming its a standard and 18" wide) will not hold him for long...so just be ready to upgrade in the near future (and this can be done in a step-wise tank fashion...you don't need a 2000 gallon pond tomorrow or anything
). good luck!--
--solomon
as long as the gar looks healthy, i wouldn't be too worried about him not eating at this point. sometimes gars take a little while to come around and eat, so even a week's delay on eating is not a big deal at all for a gar. just keep an eye on him, and offer up a variety of foods. when acclimating a new gar to a new home and new foods, i like to use 'smelly' non-live foods such as chopped raw shrimp, tilapia, or smelt. the smell attracts them to it and they quickly recognize it as food.
the hikari carnivore sticks that oddball suggested can also work well, especially if the gar has been conditioned to pelletized foods. i've gotten several of my gars to take this item in the past, but currently only have one that will take it (plus the others are too big for the quantity of pellets it would take to satiate them).
so you should have several ideas and options here so far. keep an eye on that gar's growth, a 75g (assuming its a standard and 18" wide) will not hold him for long...so just be ready to upgrade in the near future (and this can be done in a step-wise tank fashion...you don't need a 2000 gallon pond tomorrow or anything
). good luck!----solomon
if i was to find a new home for him how do i go about it? hes a really cool fish and id love to keep him but like everyone said they do get way to big. i was always under the impression that a fish wont outgrow their inclosure. but from what everyone says they def. will. so when i do get rid of him what kind of gar would be suitable for a 75 gal tank?
Sorry but, there are no true gars that will do well in a 75gal. The smallest of the gars (spotted gar) still grows 2 feet. And, as gars age, they become less flexible. Hence, the need for a large footprint in tank dimensions.
I keep tropical gars (Atractosteus tropicus) because I like their wide rostrums and multiple teeth rows like the gator gars. But, these gars only grow to 4 feet and are more easily accomodated in my battery of 450s and 650gal tanks.
I keep tropical gars (Atractosteus tropicus) because I like their wide rostrums and multiple teeth rows like the gator gars. But, these gars only grow to 4 feet and are more easily accomodated in my battery of 450s and 650gal tanks.
And, probably the best thing you can do for ALL of your fish is forget the old myth that fish can be stunted in smaller tanks. If that were remotely true, we'd have breeding pairs of oscars in desk-set fish bowls, arowanas could be kept for life in 29gal tanks, RTCs would be a great mid-sized catfish for a 60gal community, etc.
What "appears" to stunt fish in smaller tanks is nothing less than death by slow poisoning. As fish are forced to survive in less than ideal conditions, they develop methamoglobin (brown-blood disease), also known as nitrite-poisoning. This condition causes red blood cells to lose the ability to absorb oxygen. In turn, this affects the fish's immune system leaving it weak, lethargic, stunted in development, and destined to a shortened life span.
What "appears" to stunt fish in smaller tanks is nothing less than death by slow poisoning. As fish are forced to survive in less than ideal conditions, they develop methamoglobin (brown-blood disease), also known as nitrite-poisoning. This condition causes red blood cells to lose the ability to absorb oxygen. In turn, this affects the fish's immune system leaving it weak, lethargic, stunted in development, and destined to a shortened life span.
No fish will just grow to a size suitable for the tank they are in. They internally keep growing, and eventually live very shortened lives. Otherwise everyone would have a mini-silver arowana in a 20 gallon.
But at least you found out all this vital information on MFK before the fish got damaged/hurt.
How long have you kept fish my friend?