IMPORTANT Gar question!

ApexPangasius

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 9, 2019
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I dropped 40 rosy reds in tank with my two plat spotted gars and the 4 baby arapaima (I will be moving them all into a 7.5k pond and later on an even bigger pond), I watched the arapaima clearly eat but the gars I couldnt see them hunt so I turned off the lights and came back 3 hours later and saw dead rosies with what seemed to be cracked/bleeding skulls could the arapaima have done that or the gars? Are they hunting for sport? Im so confused.
 

TheReefer

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Apr 13, 2019
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Pennsylvania
I don't think that was an arapaima, I think an arapaima would have inhaled them like a vacuum, I think the gars likely did that. I wouldn't feed rosy reds though, you don't want them to only eat live food because when they get bigger that will cost you BIG TIME, plus the diseases and parasites feeders often have. Go for some frozen shrimp, silversides, live worms and insects, and some pellet foods.
 

James Atlas

Exodon
MFK Member
Nov 11, 2018
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If it's any help, I've just got my gar feeding by threading a cooked shrimp onto some cotton and wiggling it around like a live fish. It worked like a treat as he's shy compared to others in the tank so now I can monitor what he's eating. Gars freak out pretty easy when feeding and like peace and quiet while they reposition food in their mouth. If the arapaima are agressive feeders, it may be that the gar has caught food and then the arapaima have tried to steal it and caused the gar to drop.
 
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