oldest gar on the forum

[Ambervikings91]

View attachment 736282

Lepisosteus osseus obtained at 11" from Jerry Draper Tropical Fish Room Brantford Feb 3 2000.

Now 37" owned 11 years 11 months

you have some wonderful gars

 

[MonsterMinis]

Those are some beasts.. and some awesome ages. looking forward to my lil' group ageing well.

 

[witchking]

View attachment 736279
Atractosteus spatula bought at 4" $8.99 The Fish Place North Tonawanda feb 23 2001

now 38" owned for 10 years & 10 months

Isnt that supposed to grow much bigger at that age? Just curious


Here is one of mine. Got them when they were already 2 years old. About to turn 3 years old early this year.

One is ready for a transport ready for a new owner. Got to make room for a another monster. I already miss them :'(

 

[arapaimag]

They probably do grow a lot faster with some hobbyists. You can probably see all the the bigger ones somewhere on this forum.

Yours look great in their ponds.

 

[E_americanus]

Isnt that supposed to grow much bigger at that age? Just curious


Here is one of mine. Got them when they were already 2 years old. About to turn 3 years old early this year.

other than first year growth (sometimes a year or two more) in the smaller species, captive growth in gars is hardly comparable to wild growth/growth expectancy vs age. unless they are in enormous aquaculture installations or huge aquaria, captive gator gar growth is not going to match that of wild fish. this discrepancy is less so in smaller species (SPG, SNG, FLG), but still there.--
--solomon

 

[witchking]

They probably do grow a lot faster with some hobbyists. You can probably see all the the bigger ones somewhere on this forum.

Yours look great in their ponds.

Just got me thinking the gar I posted is a 2 year old. It grew 2-4inches within the last 8 months. I was expecting it should grow bigger/longer than that. I took it from a guy who was housing them in a 150 gallon tank. You think it could be the cause of the poor tank size that made them grow slow?

Im already thinking about getting a new young Gator gar and a Florida gar and putting them straight to a big pond.

other than first year growth (sometimes a year or two more) in the smaller species, captive growth in gars is hardly comparable to wild growth/growth expectancy vs age. unless they are in enormous aquaculture installations or huge aquaria, captive gator gar growth is not going to match that of wild fish. this discrepancy is less so in smaller species (SPG, SNG, FLG), but still there.--
--solomon

I see. Do Arapaimas share the same fate in captivity?

 

[witchking]

View attachment 736279
Atractosteus spatula bought at 4" $8.99 The Fish Place North Tonawanda feb 23 2001

now 38" owned for 10 years & 10 months

Late reaction but damn thats very prehistoric looking. Never seen a Gar that has much wrinkles. Freaking amazing how long you kept it. Can you do a full body shot?

 

[Red Devil]

Mine aren't old at all. I've only had my tropical gars for 9 years.


View attachment 733215View attachment 733216

wow ..looks great

 

[arapaimag]

Late reaction but damn thats very prehistoric looking. Never seen a Gar that has much wrinkles. Freaking amazing how long you kept it. Can you do a full body shot?

It's got a lot of wrinkles probably from fear of being eaten by the Wallago leerii female. Who on two occasions had the gar in it's mouth the first few months in the tank. Now the Wallago generally leaves it alone. But the gar is still terrified of her.

 

[witchking]

Good lord that is one helluva catfish. You know I've always avoided the monster catfish threads for one reason: Im terrified by them. And that is probably one of the scariest ive seen.