How often are you feeding your adult gars?

[CTU2fan]

Do you feed them daily or even more often as with small fish, or back off some with the adults? I've been feeding my Florida daily + since I got him in April (he was a little thin) but since he's thickened up he really doesn't have as much of an appetite. So I've backed off to every other day and he has a bit more appetite now. Is that normal, or should I be expecting him to really attack his food every day?

 

[demjor19]

My gar would eat around the clock if i let them. Lately they have been eating a little more often than i'd like...since ive been working with the Shortnose they often times steel a few pieces that were not intended for them. Anyway...I dont really have a 'regular' feeding schedule, but they sometimes eat everyday, then may go a day or even a few days without being fed. I would consider my fish heavily fed though. With adult gar i don't think a regular feeding schedule is too critical.

 

[E_americanus]

i generally feed my 'adult' gars (some of which are definitely adults, others of which are still juveniles, but large juveniles) every other day, or sometimes with a two-day fast in between feedings. when they are fed the fish are pretty fat; i've kept up this general feeding regime for a long time and haven't had any problems. water changes (since this should be closely tied with feeding) are usually every other week, ~50% volume of tank--
--solomon

 

[CTU2fan]

OK thanks, just wanted to make sure I wasn't seeing anything too out of the ordinary. I do about 40% w/c weekly and I'm kind of settling in to every other day (pellets etc daily for the poly & others).

 

[coltergeist]

every day or 2, so they dont eye up anyone else

 

[xander]

solomon, are cubans usually this fat? i remember seeing older pics of yr cuban which was pretty slim

 

[demjor19]

solomon, are cubans usually this fat? i remember seeing older pics of yr cuban which was pretty slim

I'm sure that depends on how the fish is raised. The question you may want to ask is...are healthy Cubans usually this fat?

 

[xander]

i have enough faith in solomon to safely assume that his fish are healthy. so while it is possible that healthy cubans are fat, my question is "is it healthy for cubans to be fat". meaning that they got to this girth due to the fact that they were healthy and ate well, but is it good for them to remain this way?

 

[E_americanus]

i have enough faith in solomon to safely assume that his fish are healthy. so while it is possible that healthy cubans are fat, my question is "is it healthy for cubans to be fat". meaning that they got to this girth due to the fact that they were healthy and ate well, but is it good for them to remain this way?

not sure which pics you are referring to...do you have a link to recent shots of yours? Cubans do tend to be quite stocky compared to the other gar species, but at the same time they shouldn't be TOO fat...if you refer me to some pics i can give you a more detailed opinion.

my larger Cubans are still pretty thick, whereas the (now) yearling Cubans are comparatively slimmer, but thicker than most yearling gars would be at that age. so as jordan alluded to, the health of the gar (or at least what we consider to be healthy) can be somewhat relative. with Cubans, are you are now pretty aware of, i would be more concerned with their color than general body shape--
--solomon

 

[xander]

my cubans are fed sparingly, so they have a girth of about 3-4" most of the time.

i was refering to this pic, or was it just the way the pic was taken?

--primitivefishes.com

also, did you ever find out what was with this gar?

--primitivefishes.com