Observation on Juvi. FL. Gar and water column depth.

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screaminleeman

screaminleeman

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Nov 27, 2009
1,445
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Westminster, MD
Hi Gar Gang!

I have done a reasonably thourough search through the stickies and have no challenge finding a decent quantity of material covering the tank size for gar at different stages of the life cycle.

I have made one observation of double digit juvi. Fl. gar that seems to "counter" the data available.

Almost all of the data available on this forum seriously (how to word this) makes water depth seem to be totally irrelevant when homing gars. I completely agree with the LNG & SNG that I have kept as they seem parallel with the bottom surface of the tank regardless of what water column that they are inhabiting.

The Juvi. FL. gars that I have kept ALL seem to prefer to take around a 45 degree angle to the bottom surface with their tail further toward the surface and their snout angled toward the bottom. This seems to be their primary "hunting/ stalking" body position in my observations.

I have also noticed an OUTRAGEOUS preferance for these FL. Gar (EXACTLY OPPOSITE OF THE Striped Bass) to strike at feeders below them than to strike above. Even to the extent of slowly making their way to the higher water column to attempt a feeder that was previously swimming in a higher water column.

All of this is ultimatley not a huge deal in my case. All of my Gar are destined for my Farm pond 15' deep. I just find it "wierd" that a 2+' FL. gar would be at all comfortable in a tank < 2' tall regardless of the tank footprint.

I have found in my limited experience that Gar are reasonably adaptable fish, and I wonder if these FL. Gar are more "sussessfully" adjusting to the "shallow" or if it is truely "irrelivant" as the data seems to make it appear.
 
like Kevin said, they grow out of it. the pinned topics are aimed at behavior of sub-adult and adult gars, not YOY fish in most cases (although the pinned topics need a serious overhaul IMO...maybe we can pull together and do that in a few months).

this behavior has been noted in ALL gar species, and they all grow out of it eventually. depth is still not a serious issue with the gars in terms of how much of it to have in your tank, but the gars themselves, particularly YOY, like to stay at the surface and aim down. when they are larger they will be all over the place.--
--solomon
 
Very interesting. I love this forum. Such a wealth of useful valuable information with experienced keepers freely sharing their knowlege with newbies trying to learn. Boy if the General aquaria or Cold water forums had half the "quality" posters as in the ancient fish section. . . . .

Oh well Gars rule anways! Thanks Sol!
 
screamin, my yoy shortnose gars did the same thing (there are pics of them in the media lounge). They almost always held a downward facing angle when they were younger, but now they most swim on the level, as do both my florida gars, as well as my spotted gar.
 
I have made note of this behavior as well in my large tropical gars (though very very rarely). Sometimes when I am feeding they will put their head lower and their tail near the surface.

The only reason it stood out to me is because "tail-up" is a sign of swim bladder issues so I wanted to make note of it. I realized it was just a 'position' quickly, as they do it rarely and never for more than a few seconds, so I ignore it now.

My tank is 25" tall and most of the gar like to sit on the bottom, and swim in the middle. The top area is probably the least used when I'm not hanging around near feeding time.
 
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