Gar Penis?

[Sarcosuchus]

Got your attention? Lol not sure what title to put there, I saw my Florida Gar last night with a white pointy thing from its anal. And this morning it is longer as if it came out more and has remained so until now. It is a little reddish at its base as if it's a part of the Florida Gar. What is it?

 

[santoury]

Judging from the girth of your fish - very fat, that is, it could be an ovipositor tube, much like a female cichlid about to lay? That, of course, depends on how large / how old this girl is...

 

[Sarcosuchus]

The girth is due to its feeding frenzy, when there is food my Florida Gar eats like crazy making sure its tummy is full or else it is very slender. And it is still very young, right now it is just about 12 inches long.

 

[santoury]

Maybe he has a mild infection in his intestinal system and he's trying to expel something. Try feeding less - maybe his digestive system is in overload. Usually a fish can eat a lot, but sometimes it might get a fish spine or something impacted, or have a hard time passing a vertebra or something. Let us know what it looks like tomorrow. Maybe do a light medication.

 

[Sarcosuchus]

Ok true it eats like crazy and is with a full tummy all the time when there's food. But then I have kept Giant Snakeheads that fed worse and lay at the surface with big tummies just like pythons would and they were fine. But a Florida Gar isn't a Giant Snakehead huh? My Florida Gar is very healthy and it is shown with how actively it feeds. I hope it's not because of the food...I will keep an eye on it though and keep you updated.

 

[santoury]

If he STILL is acting "normally" then I wouldn't be too concerned. Probably just having a hard time "passing" something

 

[shep]

i thought something similair to that was with mine...but it was just taking a poop ...

 

[E_americanus]

will comment on this more a bit later, but i would tone down the feeding on the fish, and add some salt to the water. sounds like it could be a relative 'cloacal' problem/mild infection of that area. i would not medicate at this point as gars do not respond well to meds.

bump the water temp up to about 82F, add about 1 tbsp of salt per 20g water (to start off) and increase water changes to at least 50% once a week, if not twice. that should be a good start towards curing the infection. if it continues to get worse, you should isolate the gar and we can go from there. good luck, and i'm sure the gar will come around.

if it's as young as you say (and at 12" it's probably not mature even if it was stunted) it's not laying eggs anytime soon (takes females around 4-5 years to mature in this species) --
--solomon

 

[Polypterus]

will comment on this more a bit later, but i would tone down the feeding on the fish, and add some salt to the water. sounds like it could be a relative 'cloacal' problem/mild infection of that area. i would not medicate at this point as gars do not respond well to meds.

bump the water temp up to about 82F, add about 1 tbsp of salt per 20g water (to start off) and increase water changes to at least 50% once a week, if not twice. that should be a good start towards curing the infection. if it continues to get worse, you should isolate the gar and we can go from there. good luck, and i'm sure the gar will come around.

if it's as young as you say (and at 12" it's probably not mature even if it was stunted) it's not laying eggs anytime soon (takes females around 4-5 years to mature in this species) --
--solomon

I concur with the above by Solomon that this is an infection issue or the fish is way too overfed. I very much suggest the above for treatment.

If you can get a pic with not so much glare and flash I'd be interested in seeing it.

 

[Torsp]

Not to hijack your thread Sarcosuchus but I have experienced the same thing with one of my spotteds who is 16" and 18 months old. It 1st appeared 3 months ago and stayed out for about 48 hrs. The next time it appeared was about 1 month later, and then tucked back up within another 48 hrs.