KEEP A YOUNG GAR TANK STOCKED WITH FEEDERS?

[JONNYEE]

Title pretty much says it all, I have some gar that took freeze dried bloodworms when I first got them, but read it's good to let them eat as they please (Hunt)

Any feedback or info would be greatly appreciated. All my gar are 4-5 inches

 

[chefwill]

I wouldn't, if they are still young and already taking other than live foods.I had a super tough time getting mine off of feeders, even now he will only take silversides and I have to wave them around at the surface to make it look like they're alive.save yourself a lot of headaches and potential health issues that come with feeders. Just imo and experience.

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[piranhaman00]

Ya a common practice is to keep the gar with a constant supply of food and the best and easiest option would be feeders.

 

[JONNYEE]

Thanks for the response! I was thinking that too, my fish tend to get picky after having a school of feeders. I'm just gonna try to beef em up with bloodworms and Hikari floating pellets

 

[chefwill]

He's already pellet trained?I would still vary his diet though, tilapia, shrimp,silversides, meaty foods and pellets, occasional feeders. I am by no means an expert on gars I just know how long it took to get him off feeders, I'm a firm believer in a varied diet .

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[JONNYEE]

Yea day one they took freeze dried bloodworms and say two I added a floating pellet broken in half. They seemed to enjoy it. I'm still gonna keep their diet varied, just less feeder based than planned haha.

 

[cnel124]

I would recommend feeding them feeders until they are around 10 inches. Maybe you could periodically attempt feeding them the pellets and bloodworms just to see if they're accepting them.

The larger my Tropical gars got, the more accepting to different foods they were (including dead feeder fish and shrimp and also floating/non-floating pellets.

 

[JONNYEE]

Thanks for your response, I'm leaning towards the live option as of now, then pellet train when they're a little under a foot. I'm not home to feed em periodically throughout the day, and as of lately feeding was morning and night, that's also when they seemed most active.

 

[cnel124]

If you aren't there throughout the day, having feeders readily available is a must for them to grow to their maximum potential. As long as I've given my gars feeders all day everyday they have grown an inch a week.

 

[JONNYEE]

If you aren't there throughout the day, having feeders readily available is a must for them to grow to their maximum potential. As long as I've given my gars feeders all day everyday they have grown an inch a week.

thanks for the info! I've decided to keep the tank stocked until around 10-12 inches, they're still accepting freeze dried bloodworms, just tried this morning, so I'm pretty sure constant feeders won't be too much of a problem with these little ones