Gars

[seahawk2323]

I was Jw why someone can explain why gars go up for air. Also How often do they need to do this. How many feeder is normal for a florida gar to eat. I am trying to train them to eat frozen and dried food. Thanks

 

[Polypterus]

I was Jw why someone can explain why gars go up for air. Also How often do they need to do this. How many feeder is normal for a florida gar to eat. I am trying to train them to eat frozen and dried food. Thanks

I'm convinced, at least my fish, are addicted to nicotine so they come up periodically to get a fix from the smoke filled lab space. They seem to do so often so I'm guessing it is a reason to not stop smoking. They seem to grow and do really good so why change anything.

I have never seen a gar eat a feeder and would think that the metal and plastic would cause issues if they where to eat one. You can put the Dried food in the feeder though and time the feeder to sporadically dose out the feed. This would be slightly better than trying to feed the gar the feeder itself.

 

[kzimmerman]

^ ignore this, he is jesting, I hope. Gar are obligatory air breathers. Most often this trait is developed in fish from swampy, stagnant water, like the anabantoids (betta, gourami, paradise fish, ect). They take the air in to supplement the oxygen that they are obtaining from their gills, because in nature, the water is low in dissolved oxygen.
My florida eats one feeder goldfish at a time. Sometimes it will eat two, but most often just one. I would recommend spending alot of time training yours off of live food. Mine is being challenging.

 

[seahawk2323]

^ ignore this, he is jesting, I hope. Gar are obligatory air breathers. Most often this trait is developed in fish from swampy, stagnant water, like the anabantoids (betta, gourami, paradise fish, ect). They take the air in to supplement the oxygen that they are obtaining from their gills, because in nature, the water is low in dissolved oxygen.
My florida eats one feeder goldfish at a time. Sometimes it will eat two, but most often just one. I would recommend spending alot of time training yours off of live food. Mine is being challenging.

Thankfor the help

 

[pharmaecopia]

I'm convinced, at least my fish, are addicted to nicotine so they come up periodically to get a fix from the smoke filled lab space. They seem to do so often so I'm guessing it is a reason to not stop smoking. They seem to grow and do really good so why change anything.

I have never seen a gar eat a feeder and would think that the metal and plastic would cause issues if they where to eat one. You can put the Dried food in the feeder though and time the feeder to sporadically dose out the feed. This would be slightly better than trying to feed the gar the feeder itself.

Best reply ever. In all seriousness gars are obligate air breathers, and so are required to breath air. A usefull trait in oxygen poor waters.

As far as feeders that would relate more to the size of the gar. Smaller gars should be given constant access to feeders. As they grow it is best to wean them onto some other form of food like pellets or shrimp, etc.

 

[Wiggles92]

I'm convinced, at least my fish, are addicted to nicotine so they come up periodically to get a fix from the smoke filled lab space. They seem to do so often so I'm guessing it is a reason to not stop smoking. They seem to grow and do really good so why change anything.

I have never seen a gar eat a feeder and would think that the metal and plastic would cause issues if they where to eat one. You can put the Dried food in the feeder though and time the feeder to sporadically dose out the feed. This would be slightly better than trying to feed the gar the feeder itself.

^ ignore this, he is jesting, I hope. Gar are obligatory air breathers. Most often this trait is developed in fish from swampy, stagnant water, like the anabantoids (betta, gourami, paradise fish, ect). They take the air in to supplement the oxygen that they are obtaining from their gills, because in nature, the water is low in dissolved oxygen.
My florida eats one feeder goldfish at a time. Sometimes it will eat two, but most often just one. I would recommend spending alot of time training yours off of live food. Mine is being challenging.

Best reply ever. In all seriousness gars are obligate air breathers, and so are required to breath air. A usefull trait in oxygen poor waters.

As far as feeders that would relate more to the size of the gar. Smaller gars should be given constant access to feeders. As they grow it is best to wean them onto some other form of food like pellets or shrimp, etc.

Actually, gars are facultative air breathers because they don't need to surface for air but can do so if the water is low in oxygen e.g. in a swamp. An example of an obligate air breather would be a lungfish which must breath air in order to survive.

Source: Primitive Fishes.com

I was Jw why someone can explain why gars go up for air. Also How often do they need to do this. How many feeder is normal for a florida gar to eat. I am trying to train them to eat frozen and dried food. Thanks

How big is the Florida gar in question? It should have feeders available at all times if it is a YOY gar; it only needs fed every other day if it's an older gar.

As far as training it to take frozen and dried food, try wiggling a small and thin piece of fish fillet or shrimp near the surface of the water to entice the gar to strike and eat the food. I got two of my previous gars to take those foods by using that method. I never bothered to get them on pellets, so try doing a search for the many previous threads on converting gars to pellets.

 

[Polypterus]

^ ignore this, he is jesting, I hope. Gar are obligatory air breathers. Most often this trait is developed in fish from swampy, stagnant water, like the anabantoids (betta, gourami, paradise fish, ect). They take the air in to supplement the oxygen that they are obtaining from their gills, because in nature, the water is low in dissolved oxygen.
My florida eats one feeder goldfish at a time. Sometimes it will eat two, but most often just one. I would recommend spending alot of time training yours off of live food. Mine is being challenging.

Of coarse I'm not serious...(Well except for my fish may be nicotine addicts).. I've just answered this question some 300 times and figured I'd boost it for some newer blood to comment on. I'm just an old fart around here these days.

Ryan (Wiggles) has the best and most correct answer so far...

 

[pharmaecopia]

Actually, gars are facultative air breathers because they don't need to surface for air but can do so if the water is low in oxygen e.g. in a swamp. An example of an obligate air breather would be a lungfish which must breath air in order to survive.

Source: Primitive Fishes.com

Thanks for the correction on that, just found another source saying the same thing as well.

 

[E_americanus]

Of coarse I'm not serious...(Well except for my fish may be nicotine addicts).. I've just answered this question some 300 times and figured I'd boost it for some newer blood to comment on. I'm just an old fart around here these days.

Ryan (Wiggles) has the best and most correct answer so far...

agree on all counts!

Thanks for the correction on that, just found another source saying the same thing as well.

yeah, it's a tricky detail with gars - Ryan is correct in that gars are technically facultative air-breathers, particularly if we follow that definition to a T.
in a practical sense, however, gars are obligate air-breathers...they are considered technically facultative because there are circumstances where the gar does not need to surface for oxygen, and can get by just fine on DO.
during times of low DO/very warm temperatures/high activity (often which are all/somewhat correlated) gars must go up for air. as hobbyists (and most cases when we see gars during the growing season), we are keeping them at warm temps, activity is relatively high (if they are with other tankmates and/or during feeding time), and those warm temps also mean lower DO...so the gars MUST have access to the surface.

during very cool temperatures, high DO, or low activity, a gar can get by on breathing with just its gills.

i know that is kind of a messy detail to explain, but hopefully the point comes across. as for the other stuff, there are many many many threads on what to feed your gar, how much to feed it, and how to switch to prepared foods...for those please search through the sub-forum threads. good luck--
--solomon

 

[seahawk2323]

Thanks everyone for your help.