Needle Nose Gar

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That all depends on how well the gars are taken care of. 36" could take a very long time for a LN in captivity so you cant really say this IS how big your gar will get. As with all fish, growth depends on a few things like Diet, water quality, tank size etc.


Not trying to flame you but do you have this tank already? I take a lot of issue with people who buy a fish with the potential to get very big with the plans of buying a larger tank in the future. Its always better to have the tank first then the fish you never know whats going to happen in the future.



Smaller tank in the beginning so they can catch their food. Don't starve a YOY gar to try and get them off live foods they need a constant supply of food available to them. If you offer prepared food to them while they are on live foods and they accept then great, but I'd still keep live foods in the tank with them so they can eat when they are hungry. I kept my LN when he was 4" or so in a 10G for a few weeks with feeder guppies doing Partial water changes every other day the temp was about 78F. Then when he was at about 8" I put him in a 30G again with a constant supply of feeders. At about 10" he was in my 55 for a short time till my 600 was open. At 10" he had no problems catching feeders. He still doesn't eat anything but feeders and a piece of freeze dried krill once and a while but hes also only about 8 months old (only a guess) hes 13.5" long now so his growth should be slowing down soon. Thats just how I started with my Longnose and it was my first gar. Since he's over 13" I'm going to assume I'm doing ok with him others will probably post additional info on their care. One thing I have read over and over tho is the best treatment for sick or injured gar is raising the water temp a few degrees lots of water changes and salt. Gars don't take well to a lot of medications.

Ya I do have a the 210 I just need to get the filtration and top for it. And I completely understand about talking about getting one and never do I work at a petstore and I get an unbelievable amount of costumers that do this and return the fish in a few months. Also thanks for all of the information it is nice to know that I should step them up I would have put him in the 210 once I had it setup so this is really good to know.

 

[city_of_evil6661]

Ya I do have a the 210 I just need to get the filtration and top for it. And I completely understand about talking about getting one and never do I work at a petstore and I get an unbelievable amount of costumers that do this and return the fish in a few months. Also thanks for all of the information it is nice to know that I should step them up I would have put him in the 210 once I had it setup so this is really good to know.

yea depending on the size of the fish you really dont want to do that. cuz there is a few things that can spook your fish and cause them to break their back. when you turn on the lights, walk up to the tank to quickly, accidently bump the tank, aggressive tankmates. these are the kind of things that can and will spook your fish. you want to give your gar about plenty of room but not to much room. BTW what is the size of your fish.

 

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I havent got one yet I was looking at getting one at the lfs if I get the long nose it is about 4 inches and if i get the spotted prob. 6 inches. What size of tank would you say to put them in now?

 

[city_of_evil6661]

I havent got one yet I was looking at getting one at the lfs if I get the long nose it is about 4 inches and if i get the spotted prob. 6 inches. What size of tank would you say to put them in now?

if you get the longnose you will want to put it in a 10g for starters. and since spotted arent as skittish as longnose they are less likely to break their backs (shortnose gars are more likely to break to break their backs than any other species). a good tanksize for a 6" spotted gar i would say a 75g. cuz i have a 9" florida/spotted in a 75g. but to be certain what all size tanks do you have and what are the dimensions of your 210?