How do i get my gar to eat ??

[spwd]

Hello everyone.

Ive got two florida gars,both approx 6" long,ive tried feeding them with small mealworms,bloodworm,krill and cockles and although they do seem to eat something,they dont really go for it!

For instance when i put any food in we can tell that they can tell there is something in the tank because they seem to sniff and go looking for it but even if it hits them on the end of the nose they dont seem to be able to find it even if they are chilling out on the bottom with the food millimetres away.

Is this normal?

How often do they eat and how much?

cheers steve

 

[Beastly Bichir]

Gars usually only accept feeder fish. I give mine as much as it can eat and it gets restless when it's hungry. You will learn to judge the amount of fish they need. Mine has never over eaten so don't worry about that.

 

[spwd]

Thanks for the reply but i was trying to avoid feeders and i was advised by the shop that they had been feeding them as above and they are a reputable shop and they do seem to be eating,just not when i put it in.

cheers steve

 

[Polypterus]

Thanks for the reply but i was trying to avoid feeders and i was advised by the shop that they had been feeding them as above and they are a reputable shop and they do seem to be eating,just not when i put it in.

cheers steve

How long have you had them? How big is the tank? whats the water flow like? and is there anything else in the tank?

 

[xander]

just keep it up and make sure your gars don't starve, at that size, i'd suggest having a reasonable amount of feeders lying around, in case they get too skinny. fill their bellies, and then try again. you might wanna wait till they're a little larger before trying this actually...

 

[headbanger_jib]

this happened to me
when i got 4 5" gars
three of them readily accepted floating pellets(aro sticks) after a few weeks of dried shrimp but one of them did not eat anything but feeders
at the begining i thought he would begin to eat after looking at the others eating but he did not for nearly a month
then i moved him into a smaller tank kept him alone and fed him feeders so that he would gain some weight (he had grown skinny) and then started with dried shrimp and then eventually pellets and now he is back in the original tank and eats like a champ

 

[NikkiC]

Hi Steve

I have got a couple from the same shop (reading your earlier post) and same batch (I got mine on the Monday). Mine are eating Cichlid Gold pellets, Krill and bloodworm. I know what you mean about feeders and I did see them eating bloodworm in the shop before I brought them. Just keep trying.

Good luck with them.

 

[madmac82]

try holding the food near the top of the tank in the water and wiggling it this may make ur gar think its live food so may eat it. just a thought.

mac

 

[g_morin]

thats what i do when i feed my gar he eats silversides like that and loves them....

 

[cane]

gar are easy to get on dead food
handfeed whitebait
if they wont take them whole chop em in half and give them the tail end