My foot long Cuban Gar

[rumblesushi]

Wes yup it was very slender when I got it. It's definitely fattened up within the last few weeks, it's got to that 1 foot stage where they start to put on girth.

It's a good eater, but only selectively eats from the bottom, and is not very quick of the mark. I have to target feed him.

I've finally got him eating hikari pellets today, I soaked them to soften them up and he ate them. He should fatten up nicely on his protein shake diet.

aapl said he got hardcore growth from his cuban by feeding frogs, they seem to be the best for powerfeeding. Shame I can get no feeders, no frogs, no nothing here I have to get hikari pellets sent from America lol

Wes - give MING a slap.

Tongue - thanks hombre

 

[Tongue33]

They don't even have them african dwarf frogs there.... RO bull frogs we have a pond down the street where they palnted them and now they let the public come and take them cause theres so damn many

 

[rumblesushi]

Here is a reply for MING. It's a reply from solomon on my thread at AP. I'm disappointed in MING.

"Cuban is looking great! those are some great pics...really shows how much of a pattern those fish have while they are younger/smaller. that horizontal bar is all but extremely faint and only sometimes visible on the adults and larger juveniles. keep us posted on how the fish does in his new home!--
--solomon"

 

[rumblesushi]

Very nice!
How big was he when you got him?
what’s he eating?
and how quick is he growing?

Thanks Stotty, ok when I got him he was just over 8 inches. I've been feeding him everyday, but not huge amounts. He's grown about 4 inches, as he's just over 12 now. I've had him 7 weeks, so he's grown over 2 inches a month, not bad. Compared to the cobra, RIP, that was delivered in the same box, grew 2 inches in 7 weeks compared to the gar's 4.

His favourite food is lance fish, but the supermarket that sells them is an hour's drive, so I've run out at the moment.

He mainly eats high quality big frozen prawns and bloodworms. Just yesterday I got him eating hikari pellets by soaking them in water for 30 mins, to make them softer. I'm gonna try feeding him almost entirely pellets for a while and see if he grows even quicker. They are mega high in protein.

He's often an incredibly nervous fish. Twice he has freaked out, knocked himself clean out and been floating around the tank upside down, looking dead as a dodo, before he comes to and recovers with a few spasms. He's semi aggressive. He recently fought my 16 inch aggressive aro, and he beat up a green terror. Despite that he is very shy, and still freaks out occasionally.

 

[Euge]

thats a beautiful gar joe. lol thats so funny your fish actually knocked him self out. never seen that before. although i did see my fish fart today.

 

[rumblesushi]

Here is a quick vid of him eating hikari cichlid pellets. The vid is VERY small, I took it on my phone

http://www.rumblesushi.com/moto/cubanpellets.avi

Also I climbed into the tank and snapped this pic

 

[bichir addict]

I love the cuban. Never seen one in person.

 

[M|L]

no offense dude, but your pictures are pretty bad.

it could be a cuban gar, but your pictures make it resemble more of an alligator gar.

I suppose the "stress coloration" is contributing to this similarity. but I have to admitt, alligator gars have markings which looks more like spots rather than the stripes that are apparent in your gar.

 

[Steve_89]

Very nice fish.

Deffinaltey one I would love to add to my collection.

 

[rumblesushi]

no offense dude, but your pictures are pretty bad.

it could be a cuban gar, but your pictures make it resemble more of an alligator gar.

I suppose the "stress coloration" is contributing to this similarity. but I have to admitt, alligator gars have markings which looks more like spots rather than the stripes that are apparent in your gar.

Hey MING, they are taken with my phone, see for phone pics they are not too bad. I have a good 35 MM SLR, but I can't get fast enough film here to take good shots so these are gonna have to do.

It's a Cuban gar 100%, definitely not a gator. Cuban gars have a lateral stripe when young, and mine is just starting to lose it at around 12 inches. Normally it's not apparent, but when he is stressed, it is.

Check these 3 pics I took, blurry because he was moving, but a rare moment of him resting at the bottom and not hovering at the top. You can still see his back, and the total lack of spots/patterning. It does not have 1 spot anywhere, just a messy lateral line.