Need help (newbie here)

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J

Junnell

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 6, 2017
5
1
3
38
Philippines
Hello evryone

I'm new in the hobby and need some advice and tips regarding the care of alligator gar.

I just got my 4 to 5 inch gar 3 days ago and i have some questions

How to know if my gar is not comfortable in my tank

How often will i feed live fish for ,jmy gar?

Is it okay to leave extra live fish in the tank just in case my gar is hungry he can have food to eat

Thanks for the answers
 
Welcome to MFK!

First post some pictures of your gar if you can so we can give it a proper ID.

What size tank is your gar in?

If he is new, you can throw some feeders in there and some extras for him to grab whenever he gets hungry but ideally you want to never feed live.
 
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Nice looking gar you have.
As you may know, these guys get HUGE. You say your tank is 20x10x8- is that in inches? If so, the tank is only about 7 gallons. He already needs a bigger tank right now- something like a 40 breeder or 75 gallon would last a few months, but these guys grow quickly. He will pollute the water of that tank he is in every day to the point of it being unhealthy. the 40 or 75 will buy you a few months- but this fish will eventually need a GIANT tank (think 1000 gallons+), and that is within a couple years.
If you are not prepared to spend thousands of dollars on a monster setup, or build an indoor pond, I would highly recommend that you sell this fish. Honestly, this is a bad fish for somebody new to the hobby. Taking care of a tank big enough for this fish is not an easy task.
If you are dedicated to keeping the fish, just know what you are getting yourself into. This is not a goldfish, this fish will require you to do large water changes weekly to daily depending on the tank size. Keep in mind that this is a living animal, and to not provide it with adequate housing and care would be cruelty. You came here asking for help, which says to me that you care about the animal's well being. Good on you for that. But please, if you are not able to provide it what it will need, be open to putting the animal's welfare ahead of your desire to own it or reluctance to find it another home.
 
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I agree. That tank is way too small. I know we see videos of large gars in small tanks all the time but many of those fish weren’t grown out in a small tank. Even though I Say “small” these are still 300+ gallon tanks that the gars are housed in. The gars are so big they make the tank look small. For the most part gator gar The hardest part about caring for a gator gar is the tank. It needs a much larger tank then most people can provide. Partially because it can break its back if it doesn’t have enough space to turn.

If you want to know if your gar is comfortable it should be swimming slowly around the tank exploring and memorizing the sides. If it’s jumping or not moving much or big eating then that’s a sign of an unhappy Fish.

Food wise you can give it live food and he will eat. If he doesn’t you have a problem. Getting him to eat other stuff other then live will take time but not too hard to train.

Gars are generally very strong Fish and Can take a lot of abuse but needs large tanks. The max size escapes me at the moment but I do remember one member saying that their Platinum gator gars grew to 36 inches in 3-4 months...so yes a 40-60 gallon can buy you a few months but know that it’s potential is 36 inches in 3 months and that we’re holding back its potential in a smaller tanks.
 
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Junnell said:
Hello evryone

I'm new in the hobby and need some advice and tips regarding the care of alligator gar.

I just got my 4 to 5 inch gar 3 days ago and i have some questions

How to know if my gar is not comfortable in my tank

How often will i feed live fish for ,jmy gar?

Is it okay to leave extra live fish in the tank just in case my gar is hungry he can have food to eat

Thanks for the answers
Click to expand...
 
Hi. I have 2 Florida gars and like you, 4 years ago I was new with gars. After about 2 months I noticed my Gar was not as active. He was all alone so I decided he needed some company. I put 3 channel cats with him and he was so ☺. All he wanted to do was lay with them on the bottom and nudge them with his snout. Well after 7 months the 3 catfish gpt really big and was taking over. Once the catfish were gone, my Wife and I got a Frontosa cichlid for him. That didn't work because after the third day the cichlid became very territorial and was nipping at gars back fin. So we decided another gar would be best and 3 years later, both are very happy and growing. Please don't let your new gar ever be alone. They like being with their own and in the wlld they like to be in groups.
 
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