Terrible choices? Have you ever kept a gar? I've kept a few with many of these fish I listed with no issues! You can definitely keep large fish with gars (as I did specify appropriate size fish). Thanks for the miss information buddy!
Newbie tank for young Gar
- Thread starter TheAlmostPanda
- Start date
silver fishes are not good companions for gars because of the spook factor and also gars are naturally attracted to eating (or attempting to eat) silver fish. ...so balas are not a good choice, nor are more cichlids. can they survive together? it has been done. is it a good choice of tankmates for either group? no.--
--solomon
PS- meant as response to the post above.
--solomon
PS- meant as response to the post above.
To further elaborate on what I meant, barbs (specifically tinfoil barbs), bala sharks, and silver dollars all make very poor choices for gar tankmates because of their silvery coloration and overly active behavior. Cichlids are not good tankmates because of their aggressive behavior; even the less aggressive cichlids tend to be a bit too boisterous for gars. Red tail sharks, upside down catfish, and clown loaches are all fairly slow growers and will be outgrown by the gar in no time at all; the gar will still try to eat them (or at least bite them) even if they can't fit in its mouth. The issue with the dragon goby is more the fact that it's preferable to keep them in brackish water rather than freshwater; they also can develop iridescent coloration if kept in good condition and will look like a large worm to the gar which could lead to the goby being bitten.
Yes, I have kept many gars and have done plenty of reading on appropriate tankmates for them in order to prevent any issues. The topic of not keeping gars with silvery fishes, cichlids, overly aggressive fishes, and fish that could be considered prey by the gar is one that comes up far too often and has been discussed in great detail at this point in time.
Agreed. Consider yourself lucky if you're able to get a Florida gar or spotted gar to grow to even 24" under typical captive conditions.
Ok ok, so for a 12" to 24" fish I will need about 120-150 gallons which is just about.... Crunching the numbers....How big, tank???? in feet please all tanks here are measured in feet not volume (stupid huh) My guess is a 4 long 2 wide and 2 tall tank, maybe larger. How big are your guy's tanks? also, what are your gars favorite food?
A standard 180 gallon aquarium (6' x 2' x 2') is widely considered to be the minimum for an adult Florida gar.
Ahhhhhhh ok, what about for a juvenile grow out tank? it will be moved to a much much much larger tank once I head back to the states, I know a lady who would love another huge Gar!
How big is it now? A 20 gallon long (30" x 12.5" x 13") or a 40 breeder (36" x 18" x 13") would work pretty well for a grow-out with the 30 breeder giving you a little more wiggle room as far as getting a bigger aquarium built in time.
The tank I have now is about 2 foot by 1 foot footprint and the Gar is just under 6 inches, he is a little un 
