Insertion of a Alligator Gar
- Thread starter ViperCLKGTR
- Start date
I live in Australia so gars are not native but I have experience with aggressive fishes like Dovii, Saratoga and Mangrove Jacks and Gators can be nasty even when small.
My Gator is growing by the day if not by the week.
I got him in very late August, early September at 5inches and he out grew the 55g grow out he was in with Emperor Cichlids and Mono Cichla by early October and they are no slouches in growing speed.
By the time he moved into the 180g in October he was 10inches and when he went into the 260g in late November he was 13-14inches.
I only feed him Hikari Gold twice a day and eats rain, hail or shine nothing fazes him.
I had to move him from the 55G because he was bitting the smaller CKF and was eyeing up the others only they were to fast and watchful.
This is the fish http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=S-06y-kqa1c&feature=channel and I am sure if the Leichardti was smaller which he soon will be, I'll have to move him again.
Great fish but be very careful and plan for the worst, as for growth it is phenomenal.
I have been in France on holiday for three weeks and I am looking forward to seeing him and he's progress.
I have Temenses also and them don't come close to matching him for growth.
My Gator is growing by the day if not by the week.
I got him in very late August, early September at 5inches and he out grew the 55g grow out he was in with Emperor Cichlids and Mono Cichla by early October and they are no slouches in growing speed.
By the time he moved into the 180g in October he was 10inches and when he went into the 260g in late November he was 13-14inches.
I only feed him Hikari Gold twice a day and eats rain, hail or shine nothing fazes him.
I had to move him from the 55G because he was bitting the smaller CKF and was eyeing up the others only they were to fast and watchful.
This is the fish http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=S-06y-kqa1c&feature=channel and I am sure if the Leichardti was smaller which he soon will be, I'll have to move him again.
Great fish but be very careful and plan for the worst, as for growth it is phenomenal.
I have been in France on holiday for three weeks and I am looking forward to seeing him and he's progress.
I have Temenses also and them don't come close to matching him for growth.
after reading the thread for a while, i wonder if the explosive growth of the gar is due to appropriate tank for a SMALL gar ... imo a small fish in a smallish aquarium with no competition for food will have an easier time finding food.
IME when my gar was puny it was in a 6' aquarium with a separator so he had no trouble finding food ... as he grew, i varied food (eels, fish, frogs) and he ate and ate and ate - and grew and grew and grew - until i moved him into 3x2m aquarium ... the growth has slowed down considerably after 2' BTW he is ~3' now after two years (from 4" baby).
Eating habits also changed drastically when moved to a bigger set-up: no chasing of food (e.g. fast moving fishes, eels), accept floating pellets (gourge on that), still eat frogs and prawns. Not growing as noticeably though. Also, the competition for food in the large set-up is also much fiercer: another two smaller gars, 2 RTCs, and now 3 juvi paimas. I had to change feeding pattern to ensure there was food that paimas do not accept (e.g. large frogs)!!!
finally, my biggest gar was never a killer - the only casualty is a silver aro which he killed in his earlier life (went through a divider to murder the poor fella) ... i supose a platinum koi does not count .... he tend to not like silvery fishes ... e.g. dark oscar is fine
IME when my gar was puny it was in a 6' aquarium with a separator so he had no trouble finding food ... as he grew, i varied food (eels, fish, frogs) and he ate and ate and ate - and grew and grew and grew - until i moved him into 3x2m aquarium ... the growth has slowed down considerably after 2' BTW he is ~3' now after two years (from 4" baby).
Eating habits also changed drastically when moved to a bigger set-up: no chasing of food (e.g. fast moving fishes, eels), accept floating pellets (gourge on that), still eat frogs and prawns. Not growing as noticeably though. Also, the competition for food in the large set-up is also much fiercer: another two smaller gars, 2 RTCs, and now 3 juvi paimas. I had to change feeding pattern to ensure there was food that paimas do not accept (e.g. large frogs)!!!
finally, my biggest gar was never a killer - the only casualty is a silver aro which he killed in his earlier life (went through a divider to murder the poor fella) ... i supose a platinum koi does not count .... he tend to not like silvery fishes ... e.g. dark oscar is fine
ctoychik;2589956; said:
I have read and heard that after two feet growth slows abit and at three feet it slows even futher as the come closer to sexual maturity 3-4yrs when they shift alot of their energy into reproduction rather than grow.
They rapid growth is to limit the chances of becoming the meal of another animal or bigger gar.
I had a Alligator gar that I introduced at about 5-6 in at about 9-10in( a few months later) I caught him attrmpting to take down his largets tank mate a 12in arrowana. They live up to the hype and will try a bite of anything regardless of size. Prior to that he killed my florida gar and bit the tails off off several other tank mates. But watching him try and take down my big aro was eye opening.
