Keeping Gars With a Barramundi?

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just make sure the barra is 3/4 the size, my gator gar thought mine was a big live feeder and didn't end well
 
I've been thinking of trying this combo myself with either a barra or a nile perch. From everything I've read they behave like datnoids, so the main thing I would be concerned with is spooking at feeding time.

As cogs said watch the size as well.
 
i would not recommend it. barr/nile perch (assuming the two act similarly, i have only kept barr longer-term) definitely do not act just like datnoids. mine and others who i know who have had them definitely were aggressive fish. barrs eat a lot, move quickly, and grow really fast...you will have difficulty maintaining the growth equilibrium with your gars between the two types of fishes, and at the same time the gars will beat on the the barr because of the silvery fish issue.

it really puts your gars at risk of spooking nearly 24/7. i eventually had to clear my tank of gars just to keep the barr, and then eventually sold it off because i wanted to return that tank to keeping gars. they are eating machines...definitely impressive fish, but not meant in combination with gars IMO and i would advise strongly against it. unless you're fine with high probabilities of broken backs and shredded fish--
--solomon
 
E_americanus said:
i would not recommend it. barr/nile perch (assuming the two act similarly, i have only kept barr longer-term) definitely do not act just like datnoids. mine and others who i know who have had them definitely were aggressive fish. barrs eat a lot, move quickly, and grow really fast...you will have difficulty maintaining the growth equilibrium with your gars between the two types of fishes, and at the same time the gars will beat on the the barr because of the silvery fish issue.

it really puts your gars at risk of spooking nearly 24/7. i eventually had to clear my tank of gars just to keep the barr, and then eventually sold it off because i wanted to return that tank to keeping gars. they are eating machines...definitely impressive fish, but not meant in combination with gars IMO and i would advise strongly against it. unless you're fine with high probabilities of broken backs and shredded fish--
--solomon
Click to expand...

Well then, scratch that idea. Do you think it would be the same thing with a Korean perch? I know that combination is working for Xander as far as I know.
 
i have never kept Korean perch before, so i can't speak to that. if they are of similar demeanor to the barr/nile perch, then i would expect the same results. obviously members of the same genus or family can behave differently. but with those sorts of fishes it's an ongoing balance as they grow...take into account how long xander has had that combo and with what variety of gars/sizes of gars before determining if something is just currently working or is set to work for longer term...i.e. years.--
--solomon
 
Honestly I think it depends on the personal temperament of the barras- i have kept very active & aggressive barras and also very passive & calm barras. Either way, I havent personally kept gars and barras together yet so I cant speak from experience.
 
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