Non-fish gar tankmates

[loconorc]

This is one of those 'dream tank' threads... Something that would make a cool zoo or aquarium exhibit rather than a home aquarium, but whatever.

Would snapping turtles, alligator or common, sliders, or medium size gators be able to live with a large florida gar, or even a medium gator gar? I'm talkin' like zoo enclosure sized tanks here. Can they bite through turtle shells or through gator hide? Or would the gator just chomp it in half or would a conspicuously fat turtle be swimming around with a tailless gar?

Another question, how much of a threat to gars pose to a swimming human, in a tank or otherwise? Just curious, cause they have some mean teeth!

Anyway, just day dreaming up some kickass zoo enclosures and got curious...

And some fun pics

 

[loconorc]

 

[bmxdannyo]

like what exactly are u asking, but i guess to put it in a nut shell nothing smaller than a gars mouth, so good= stingrays aros large chiclids etc....

 

[demjor19]

i'm not even sure what i just read?

 

[ermgravy]

lol... Jordan i think the man/woman is asking, if it would be theoretically possible to tank gars, turtles and gators together in a large public aquarium size tank?

my first reaction is... gator would much gars, turtles would take chunks of gars and the gator.... and gator would no doubt take offense to the turtles presence too? i duno i have no real basis other than what i have observed at public displays and read. and only ltd gar experience but these are my first thoughts..?

 

[demjor19]

lol... Jordan i think the man/woman is asking, if it would be theoretically possible to tank gars, turtles and gators together in a large public aquarium size tank?

my first reaction is... gator would much gars, turtles would take chunks of gars and the gator.... and gator would no doubt take offense to the turtles presence too? i duno i have no real basis other than what i have observed at public displays and read. and only ltd gar experience but these are my first thoughts..?

all these species occure in the same native waters at some point, but would undoubtdedly fail in an aquarium. it would possibly work for a while, but in the end the gar and turtles will probably fall prey to the gator.

 

[jer-ind]

I've had them all except for the gar... I had a ton of luck in my tank (75gal) which had a baby american alligator, four turtles (including a small snapper) and about 40 small african cichlids. In two years, the turtles never touched the fish, and they would actually SIT on the gator outside of the water. The gator never bothered the turtles. The gator did eat a few of the cichlids one day, but this was because I had a problem w/ a lack of oxygen in my tank, which caused the cichlids to hover at the surface. After I fixed my air pump, no more problems. The cichlids were too fast for the alligator and the turtles. It was a really cool setup; finally the gator started to get big, so I donated him to a local vet for transport to a zoo. But here is an example of a confirmed BAD mix...

I had a painted turtle and a few others in a different tank, and one day I saw two 6" red belly piranhas at a Chicago LFS. Given that I was new to P's, I asked the owner if they would bother my turtles. His reply was "No, if anything, the turtles may bother the P's." So I bought them. Needless to say, the next morning I noticed my turtle on its rock, bleeding, with THREE legs! I almost rammed the P's up that guy's ***! So the turtle recovered and is fine, and I got rid of the P's. Won't try that again!

 

[demjor19]

I've had them all except for the gar... I had a ton of luck in my tank (75gal) which had a baby american alligator, four turtles (including a small snapper) and about 40 small african cichlids. In two years, the turtles never touched the fish, and they would actually SIT on the gator outside of the water. The gator never bothered the turtles. The gator did eat a few of the cichlids one day, but this was because I had a problem w/ a lack of oxygen in my tank, which caused the cichlids to hover at the surface. After I fixed my air pump, no more problems. The cichlids were too fast for the alligator and the turtles. It was a really cool setup; finally the gator started to get big, so I donated him to a local vet for transport to a zoo. But here is an example of a confirmed BAD mix...

I had a painted turtle and a few others in a different tank, and one day I saw two 6" red belly piranhas at a Chicago LFS. Given that I was new to P's, I asked the owner if they would bother my turtles. His reply was "No, if anything, the turtles may bother the P's." So I bought them. Needless to say, the next morning I noticed my turtle on its rock, bleeding, with THREE legs! I almost rammed the P's up that guy's ***! So the turtle recovered and is fine, and I got rid of the P's. Won't try that again!

i think luck pretty much sums it up...that and they probably couldnt move in there enough to catch each other. not trying to bust your balls, but i dont think your situation is a good example of how they should be kept.

 

[KaraJo]

i think luck pretty much sums it up...that and they probably couldnt move in there enough to catch each other. not trying to bust your balls, but i dont think your situation is a good example of how they should be kept.

I agree. a 75 gallon tank isnt even big enough for an alligator alone or 40 cichlids. I'm surprised that worked out for you, especially with a gator and turtle. Have pics?

 

[pcfriedrich]

if the tank were big enough, the gar and the alligator could live together, or the gar and the turtle. the gar would likely be quick enough to evade either, but the gator would definately kill the turtle. gators are ambush predators, and can lie in wait for a long time, so they could could probably also get their mouths around an unsuspecting gar. probablly wouldn't be much of a risk if you kept the gator very well fed, and kept some smaller, stupider fish in there to keep the gator distracted.

I've snorkeled down relatively narrow spring rivers, with 3 foot Florida gar beneath me, and 3-4 foot gators to the left of me. For some reason, I was never worried the gar were going to attack. wasn't even really worried about being attacked by a 4 foot gator. I'm six feet tall, gator's not gonna risk it. either is the gar.