GarLab I [The Tank] - Cuban Gar study

[E_americanus]

Richard came over and we did the final measurements of the CBGs for the first part of the study today. growth was significant over the course of the study to say the least. will post more later, but here are a couple interesting numbers:

% increase in weight was ~400% over the course of the study (~52 days), mean length right now is about 9.5", so they are definitely packing on more weight than length at this stage, as would be expected with CBG morphology. several gars put on as much as 20 grams from 10 days ago--
--solomon

 

[Wiggles92]

Richard came over and we did the final measurements of the CBGs for the first part of the study today. growth was significant over the course of the study to say the least. will post more later, but here are a couple interesting numbers:

% increase in weight was ~400% over the course of the study (~52 days), mean length right now is about 9.5", so they are definitely packing on more weight than length at this stage, as would be expected with CBG morphology. several gars put on as much as 20 grams from 10 days ago--
--solomon

Wow, that is a pretty significant weight gain. Sounds like those little gars are eating a ton of feeders!

 

[Polypterus]

Richard came over and we did the final measurements of the CBGs for the first part of the study today. growth was significant over the course of the study to say the least. will post more later, but here are a couple interesting numbers:

% increase in weight was ~400% over the course of the study (~52 days), mean length right now is about 9.5", so they are definitely packing on more weight than length at this stage, as would be expected with CBG morphology. several gars put on as much as 20 grams from 10 days ago--
--solomon

He actually forced me by gunpoint to have to measure those smelly arse fish...So So cruel and evil....

 

[Wiggles92]

He actually forced me by gunpoint to have to measure those smelly arse fish...So So cruel and evil....

I thought that you're the one with the gun collection?

 

[E_americanus]

He actually forced me by gunpoint to have to measure those smelly arse fish...So So cruel and evil....

hahaha you know you liked it!!!

I thought that you're the one with the gun collection?

exactly.

here are a couple quick shots taken during the measurements just for reference/comparison to the earlier pics. only used two individuals as we were short on time and didn't want to handle the fish any more than necessary. NOT included is when i spilled a beaker of tank water and richard conveniently snapping a pic.

 

[Wiggles92]

here are a couple quick shots taken during the measurements just for reference/comparison to the earlier pics. only used two individuals as we were short on time and didn't want to handle the fish any more than necessary.

They're coming along nicely although it looks like their juvenile pattern is starting to fade.

NOT included is when i spilled a beaker of tank water and richard conveniently snapping a pic.

Hmm... Blackmail?

 

[E_americanus]

They're coming along nicely although it looks like their juvenile pattern is starting to fade.

Hmm... Blackmail?

yeah juvenile pattern is there to an extent, but definitely fading away...nothing compared to the second batch of little guys (some of which are probably more black than anything else...others really light).

as for the beaker spill...nothing too crazy, i'm sure a shot of me getting bitten by one of them would be much more amusing!

LATEST report as of tonight:

now that this portion of the study dealing with this batch is done, i started experimenting with some other foods. they didn't take any pellets yesterday (first attempt), but today they ALL took frozen whole anchovies, so that's a good sign for the transition. they definitely pigged out, and some of the frozen fish were 4"+ in length, so they were taking down pretty large food items.

...now if i can just get the second batch fish onto pellets...--
--solomon

 

[Hao]

Very nice! They grew fast!

 

[Wiggles92]

yeah juvenile pattern is there to an extent, but definitely fading away...nothing compared to the second batch of little guys (some of which are probably more black than anything else...others really light).

Sounds like the second batch have much more unusual coloration than the first batch did.

as for the beaker spill...nothing too crazy, i'm sure a shot of me getting bitten by one of them would be much more amusing!

Very true.

LATEST report as of tonight:

now that this portion of the study dealing with this batch is done, i started experimenting with some other foods. they didn't take any pellets yesterday (first attempt), but today they ALL took frozen whole anchovies, so that's a good sign for the transition. they definitely pigged out, and some of the frozen fish were 4"+ in length, so they were taking down pretty large food items.

...now if i can just get the second batch fish onto pellets...--
--solomon

I'm glad to here that they're moving on to foods other than live feeder fish! That will definitely make it much cheaper to maintain the ones that you're keeping from the first batch.

 

[E_americanus]

Sounds like the second batch have much more unusual coloration than the first batch did.

pattern variation is roughly the same actually, just varies a lot more when they are smaller and turns more uniform as they grow. video comparisons of the first group to the second group should show this as well.

I'm glad to here that they're moving on to foods other than live feeder fish! That will definitely make it much cheaper to maintain the ones that you're keeping from the first batch.

yeah, CBGs are pigs...at small sizes the Atractosteus gars really beat out Lepisosteus gars in terms of ease of conversion to non-live. i won't really be messing with pellet conversion with the study-1 fish at this time, but have already ordered some transitional foods that i will be using for the study-2 fish. the latter are much more timid in their tank, primarily due to size and also the larger powerfilter on the tank (still, didn't want to risk any spikes as it's a lot of fish in 1 tank).

but yeah, feeding the CBGs non-live will be a HUGE savings on feed expenses--
--solomon