Growth rate of alligator gar?

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Mine looks exactly the same as that picture except he does not have the patterning all over his body. It is only on the tail. I don't know if that is because he is so small or what, but I will try to post a picture soon.
 
Here's a picture. Sorry about the quality. I could only use my phone and thats the best I could get. He looks like an alligator gar though in comparison to the other picture.alligator gar.jpg

alligator gar.jpg
 
F1 VET said:
Lol never heard of someone critizizing for having TOO big of a tank lmao.... thats a new one.

I know plenty of ppl tht have smaller gars in huge tank w/ no prob! Id rather see it in a bigger tank then a small one anyday!

#1 S. Vettel
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Slippery K said:
Most the times iv heard of them breaking there back is cause the tank is too small nottoo large. But I agree if it is agator he will probably outgrow that 120 in about a years time.
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IMO, you guys have obviously never raised a gar before, read any of the stickies, and/or come across the multiple "my gar's snout/back is broken/bent" threads.

The issue with having too large of an aquarium comes into play when they get scared and try to dart away from the "threat." They have more room to build up speed in a larger aquarium and thereby tend to have a higher incidence rate for broken backs and snouts. they're not too good with the whole stopping part when they're focused on getting away which is why a smaller aquarium is favorable for a juvenile because they have less space to build up speed an hurt themselves. That risk tends to disappear with sub-adult & adults of the heavier-built species, but some of the thinner/flightier species (longnose gar & shortnose gar) can still have issues if placed in the wrong aquarium.

In this case, something like a 40 breeder or 75 gallon would work better for a gar that size, and it could be moved up to the 125 gallon in a few weeks once it puts on a few inches and some weight.

Jdj211 said:
In 6 weeks my gator gar grew from 5" to 12". A gator gar will have a more broad snout than a Florida as well as a prominent second row of teeth in its upper jaw.
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All gars have two rows of teeth, but the second row is more prominent in the Atractosteus gars.

Archer33389 said:
Mine looks exactly the same as that picture except he does not have the patterning all over his body. It is only on the tail. I don't know if that is because he is so small or what, but I will try to post a picture soon.
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Its pattern might be washed out from the stress that it endured at the LFS.

Archer33389 said:
Here's a picture. Sorry about the quality. I could only use my phone and thats the best I could get. He looks like an alligator gar though in comparison to the other picture.
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Yep, that's definitely an alligator gar.
 
F1 VET said:
Lol never heard of someone critizizing for having TOO big of a tank lmao.... thats a new one.

I know plenty of ppl tht have smaller gars in huge tank w/ no prob! Id rather see it in a bigger tank then a small one anyday!

#1 S. Vettel
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you should stop posting comment like this if you don't know anything!
 
it is true small gar in large tanks break their backs easily due to building up speed. so if your could id reccomend putting it in a smaller tank n upgrade his tank as he grows.
 
If it makes you feel better it will be 1.5ft in 2 months so no need to put it in a smaller tank. Once mine got to 8" it went into a 1500gal tank with no problem. From that point he hit 2ft faster than I ever expected. Just a few months. I have a thread somewhere in the gar section documenting his growth.
 
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