gar ?????????????

[jdragovits]

is there a difference between a florida gar and a spotted gar, i got mine when he was about 6 inches now he's 10 or 12 , i'm wandering how big he will get, the store told me he's a florida gar.

 

[madmac82]

bout 3 foot i think

 

[jdragovits]

i hope to be able to post a pic of him tonight

 

[TLkmDN]

yeh bout 3 foot. maybe 4 if u keep it in a big pond.... florida gars have more like black lines on its body. spotted gars have actual spots which are circular in shape

 

[jdragovits]

so how big do spotted get

 

[E_americanus]

there is currently no sure-fire way to tell Florida gars from spotted gars other than locality (and even that can be suspect these days). some of us who have worked with these fishes for years can make some educated guesses, but again, nothing based on pattern, snout proportions, etc works to tell them apart 100% of the time.

given the history of Florida gars in the pet trade and the relative rarity of spotted gars in the trade, it is highly likely that your gar is a Florida gar (just like most gars that are currently in the trade which are not clearly one of the other species).

that being said, they are great fish for the home aquaria if you have a big tank or can provide one. a Florida gar in captivity will take quite a while to reach even 24" (2-3 years and it may still not reach this), and is unlikely to reach 3' in captivity. nevertheless, a 2' wide tank would be best for up to an 18" long fish, although 3' wide is ideal and could hold the gar for life--
--solomon

 

[TLkmDN]

spotted gars are not known to be the largest of gars. id say 3 foot max in captivity

 

[Mystus Redtail]

Florida and spotted gars get relatively the same size, it all comes down to living conditions. They're both really sweet fish.