Gar
- Thread starter mazz3242
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Yeah, like everyone else has said, bad idea, unless you have an enormous tank, or a pond. The other gar species are much smaller and more manageable.
definitely agree against the gator gar (although posting the pics of those giant wild fish is just as ludicrous as trying to keep one in a 90g...it's pretty asinine as no captive raised gator is going to get that big; it's just exaggerating the issue with sensationalism).
go with a Florida gar, that will be your best bet (probably found at your LFS as a spotted gar, or maybe even a gator gar...LFS suck at gar ID, so be sure to check the ID keys and familiarize yourself with the fishes before purchasing).
also, congrats on the most generic title for a thread in this forum
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--solomon
go with a Florida gar, that will be your best bet (probably found at your LFS as a spotted gar, or maybe even a gator gar...LFS suck at gar ID, so be sure to check the ID keys and familiarize yourself with the fishes before purchasing).
also, congrats on the most generic title for a thread in this forum
----solomon
Younglin;4736226; said:
it's possible, but doubtful in most cases with gators raised from YOY status in the home aquaria...even with ponds. the "you're doing something wrong" part could feasibly be interpreted as just keeping them in captivity, but this could be a case made for other gars and other fishes too.
gars, in most cases, simply don't reach their wild max potential in captivity. they often don't even reach the max potential of their individual genetics in captivity, and usually don't even reach an above average wild size in captivity. this has been said in this forum time and again.
specifically looking at gators, check out the majority of the members' threads with "big" gators...i can't think of ANY of them who have 5' gators, and many are taking good care of them and keeping them in large ponds. a lot of a gar's growth potential can be affected by conditions in very early life, conditions that the fish keeper has nothing to do with as they are experienced by the fish at a fish farm or at a supplier or even an LFS long before they get to the fishkeeper. it may also be likely that these farmed gators (which the majority of those in the trade are) simply don't reach the big sizes of their wild counterparts.
furthermore, there are populations of gator gars in the wild that simply aren't that big any more (in size and number) compared to what they used to be...5' is within an average range for some groups of gator gars.
all that being said for the purpose of rendering the quoted statement as generally false.
no, gators are not a beginner gar-keepers species, and in most cases they aren't good for home aquaria. at the same time, just because it doesn't reach 5' long in captivity doesn't mean you're doing something wrong either.--
--solomon
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