Long Nose Gar min tank size?

[phoenixx]

Beautiful Long Nose gar at the lfs...and you know the rest of the story...

Appears to be housed in a 75g. This guy is about 13"--and WOW! big enough to do some serious damage to small pets and little children-- and is only $30.00. No damage to its nose or body upon visual inspection. It took alot of power to walk out without getting it--and I don't even like Gars to begin with! Just wondering a suitable tank size for this type of gar, and also looking for some opinions on these guys.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[demjor19]

Beautiful Long Nose gar at the lfs...and you know the rest of the story...

Appears to be housed in a 75g. This guy is about 13"--and WOW! big enough to do some serious damage to small pets and little children-- and is only $30.00. No damage to its nose or body upon visual inspection. It took alot of power to walk out without getting it--and I don't even like Gars to begin with! Just wondering a suitable tank size for this type of gar, and also looking for some opinions on these guys.

Thanks a bunch!

probably to house it for life...imo around 800 to 1000 gallons. they can reach lengths of around 5 feet.

 

[Bsixxx]

for life!
something along the lines of 10-14' long by 6-8' wide
considering they can reach 5 feet long or 6?

but for a couple years you could get away with a 450- 800 gallon

and a 240-300 till it reaches 25+ inches

 

[demjor19]

for life!
something along the lines of 10-14' long by 6-8' wide
considering they can reach 5 feet long or 6?

but for a couple years you could get away with a 450- 800 gallon

and a 240-300 till it reaches 25+ inches

my point was they need a huge tank for life.

 

[amehel0]

get a 30 foot aquarium 10 foot wide 6 foot high. LOL hard time fitting that in ya average house

 

[E_americanus]

if the fish is 13" in a 75g tank at an LFS, it's very likely a trade-in. unfortunately most longnose gars in captivity end up with some level of stunting. on top of that, male longnose gars actually don't get nearly as large as their female counterparts (in most cases), and of course the 72" length is a record wild max size.

you could house a 13" longnose gar comfortably in a 180g tank for at least a year or two, and then see how it grows. most longnoses in the home aquaria will stabilize around 18-20" and then grow quite slowly from there, so a 3' wide tank could feasibly house one for a long time.--
--solomon
ps-- this does not mean, however, that you shouldn't be prepared to move them to a pond or larger tank if necessary.

 

[demjor19]

if the fish is 13" in a 75g tank at an LFS, it's very likely a trade-in. unfortunately most longnose gars in captivity end up with some level of stunting. on top of that, male longnose gars actually don't get nearly as large as their female counterparts (in most cases), and of course the 72" length is a record wild max size.

you could house a 13" longnose gar comfortably in a 180g tank for at least a year or two, and then see how it grows. most longnoses in the home aquaria will stabilize around 18-20" and then grow quite slowly from there, so a 3' wide tank could feasibly house one for a long time.--
--solomon
ps-- this does not mean, however, that you shouldn't be prepared to move them to a pond or larger tank if necessary.

really? thats good to hear. i thought i was going to be buying a new tank much sooner for mine.
how can you tell male/female longnose? and what age?

 

[E_americanus]

really? thats good to hear. i thought i was going to be buying a new tank much sooner for mine.
how can you tell male/female longnose? and what age?

hey jordan,

keep in mind these are just generalities, but what i mentioned does often happen with longnoses in captivity, especially ones of that size that are at the LFS.

there really is not surefire way to tell male from female longnoses without internal examination, but after a few years, males will stop growing (for the most part, or just really slow down) whereas females will continue to grow. the female longnoses get larger than the males, as is generally the case with other gar species.
we are also basing our comments on localized (michigan/midwest) data as longnoses in river systems where richard (brooklamprey) and myself have made such observations contains longnoses smaller than the max reported 6'. for us, a 3' longnose is definitely a big fish.
richard also has extensive experience in observing older longnoses from when the belle isle aquarium was in operation.

those are some sources for our info, so again, these are not the only possibilities, but common observations from both wild, public aquarium, and home aquarium experiences--
--solomon

 

[demjor19]

hey jordan,

keep in mind these are just generalities, but what i mentioned does often happen with longnoses in captivity, especially ones of that size that are at the LFS.

there really is not surefire way to tell male from female longnoses without internal examination, but after a few years, males will stop growing (for the most part, or just really slow down) whereas females will continue to grow. the female longnoses get larger than the males, as is generally the case with other gar species.
we are also basing our comments on localized (michigan/midwest) data as longnoses in river systems where richard (brooklamprey) and myself have made such observations contains longnoses smaller than the max reported 6'. for us, a 3' longnose is definitely a big fish.
richard also has extensive experience in observing older longnoses from when the belle isle aquarium was in operation.

those are some sources for our info, so again, these are not the only possibilities, but common observations from both wild, public aquarium, and home aquarium experiences--
--solomon

great info. i think that can benefit all of us longnose owners out here.
thanks solomon!