Gar Question

[Bennlfer]

My gar has been lazily floating near the top of my tank a lot lately and i was wondering if you knew what it could be. He doesn't appear sick or anything, not skiddish, but just lazy. He appears to be resting, but he has been doing it way more lately. He still eats, although it is less.

My parameters are normal, the only thing i think it could be is because there may be a lack of air. I currently only have 2 air stones in my tank instead of the four that should be on there (Im waiting till the LFS re-stocks on the same one i have so they all match).

P.S.-Do any of your gars ever rest on the bottom of the tank? Once in a while i come in and he is on the bottom. I go near him and he kinda stirs up and starts swimming around. Is this normal?

 

[justonemoretank]

It is most likely not lack of oxygen, as true gars breathe the same air we do.

It is normal for them to rest on the bottom for extended periods.

It is also normal for them to rest near the water's surface for some length of time.

What size tank is this? What type of gar, and how large is he? What are you feeding? Could please specify what you're testing in the way of parameters, and what those numbers are?

This may be normal, but let's just check to make sure everything's okay environmentally so that you can rule that out.

 

[studd muffin]

my spotted gar always hangs out on the top of the water. it's normal. like wat he said above... they breathe air like we do. mine rarely stays at the bottom

 

[Bennlfer]

135 gallon, spotted gar, 5 inches, shrimp, Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 15

 

[justonemoretank]

I'd feed something other than shrimp. I mean, feed shrimp too, but vary it a little. Shrimp is high in thiaminase, which isn't good for fish:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_6/volume_6_1/thiaminase.htm

If your gar is eating prepared/dead foods, a great staple pellet is Hikari Cichlid Gold. Mine love it. You can also feed fish filet, such as tilapia.

I would say that what you're seeing is normal behavior -- Gar are fish that really hang out in all levels of the water throughout the day.

It is a little strange that you've noticed this more than usual lately, but I'm not sure what could be causing it. Does he have any tankmates that could be bullying him?

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

didnt u just recieve this gar? has it changed at all?
it is completly normal. nothing to be alarmed about

 

[Bennlfer]

No this is my first gar im talking about.

As far as the bullying goes, i dont think anyone is bullying him, but ill watch closely.

 

[PoppaBear]

This is completely normal behavior for a Gar fish, they are an ambush predator so they are very lazy and normally wait for its food to come to them, there are times when my gar will lay at the bottom of the tank for half a day without moving or also floating. I have a holding tank set up beside my gar tank to put feeders in and he likes to float and stare into that tank for most of the day. So I wouldn't be worried

 

[xander]

as everyon else has already said, it's completly normal, would just like to highlight that should you have just done a simple search, you'd have found tonnes of similiar threads.

 

[Bennlfer]

Forgive me for not always having the time to look. A lot of times i post threads i am going somewhere right after and do so because i would like to have responses when i return.