Hello, I am interested in collecting and rearing fry of Bowfin as well as spotted and longnose gar. I have not yet done much research into the gar species but have read and watched everything I can find regarding bowfin, although that is not much as it seems they are rare in the trade and info is sparse. I would like to collect numbers of fry of these species at sizes 1-3" and rear them until they reach 4-5" at which point I will keep some and sell or trade the others. From what I have seen bowfin are not terribly difficult to care for at this size but can be very territorial and aggressive and require heavy cover, ample food and dividers to insure a high survival rate. I am interested in any and all info that can be provided on this topic as well as some general info as to the prices and demand for these species when sold. From what I have seen bowfin are generally very hard to locate and tend to be priced between $60 and $200 depending on size but would like to get a better idea of what is average and how in demand these fish are when availible for sale both locally and online (ebay etc). From what I have seen gar are much more readily availible and tend to be in the $20-$40 range with relatively high demand for tank sized fish. This is the best information I have found on rearing bowfin thus far, it has been helpful. http://www.nanfa.org/articles/actankbowfins.shtml
Rearing Bowfin and Gar fry?
- Thread starter MIFishNut
- Start date
A good idea but some important things:
1) Where will you get the fry, and what permits may be required?
2) How will you sell? Local demand will probably not be enough to justify the effort, will you ship?
3) Do you have the time and infrastructure available for the large and frequent water changes available?
4) Do you have the tank space to give each bowfin ample space to grow and hide?
Just some things to consider before jumping on the money wagon..
1) Where will you get the fry, and what permits may be required?
2) How will you sell? Local demand will probably not be enough to justify the effort, will you ship?
3) Do you have the time and infrastructure available for the large and frequent water changes available?
4) Do you have the tank space to give each bowfin ample space to grow and hide?
Just some things to consider before jumping on the money wagon..
I am still determining what permits are required but I believe it is just a basic commercial fishing lic for rough fish like bowfin. I will catch the fry in spring when still being tended by males, they are extremely plentiful in my area and it should be no problem to get a couple hundred of them. I will sell locally to individuals and dealers as well as on ebay, facebook etc and ship fish which I have looked into and should not be too difficult. I do have easy water change system in place and time to do them. I have numerous 30 gal tanks I could use for this but would probably be more inclined to use large water totes like the one below with 5 gal bucket or 55 gal drum diy filters. Totes are generally 150-200 gals and $50 and under, 55 gal drums 5 bucks etc so there should not be a huge initial investment. With totes like these, mesh dividers, heavy planting and other structure I believe I can create adequate distance and cover in these totes to insure a relatively high rate of survival, my end goal is to sell the fish as quickly as possible and eliminate growing pains such as fish loss due to aggression. Sound like these are are all reasonable solutions?
Sorry to rain on your parade but Facebook doesn’t allow the sales of live animals anymore unless you have a brick and mortar store selling animals.
Yes I am aware, the loophole in this is selling tanks with "free fish" or simply posting that you are rehoming and charge a rehoming fee which is allowed. Could honestly sell a plastic fish bag with a free fish inside or something silly as well, there are plenty of work arounds. Fb will just be a means of generating interest, I will handle all sales outside of that platform and will be relying more strongly on ebay sales more than likely
Hello, make sure everything is legal and don't overfish the fry, these species are rare in some places these days.
Besides of that, try to catch some at night with a lamp and a finemeshed net in the shoreline region in summer.
I would raise them in a small pond or big outdoor tank with a lot of plants like waterhyacinth, good thing with these species: they often eat readily pieces of dead fish, but very small fry will need livefood, I guess. The chopped worms in the article seems a good idea for bowfin.
THe (so called "spotted") gar available today -in the 20-40 USD range-,are mainly florida gar from breeders in Asia. Here you could fill a niche with real pure spotted gar from more northern locations.
Soemone I know had a big group of small bowfin (around 3 inch) years ago, he didnt noticed aggressive behaviour.
Shipping is difficult but here in Europe interest is there for bowfin and gars! (I myself would buy a bunch !)
You could contact wholesalers in your area or I could give you Names and dates of bigger or smaller importers here in Europe/Germany.
Excellent, thank you for this valuable input! In my area bowfin are actually very overpopulated in many bodies of water and even with aggressive management via bow and spear fishermen are present in such large numbers they have a negative impact on the game fish populations as a whole. It is not unusual to be able to go bowfishing or spearing and easily collect 20-30 bowfin and just as many gar daily without ever coming close to denting the population. I am very interested to know this information about gar as well as these are also very overpopulated here with longnose being the predominant variety but a good number of spotted as well so if I obtained any they would all be of these true northern varieties. I have shipped many items internationally in the past but not fish or live animals, I expect it will be more difficult and complications will arise but I am very willing to try and would like to be selling on an international level. I would love to have some wholesaler information and would be very interested in reaching out to them to gauge interest. Fortunately and unfortunately It is off season for effectively collecting these fish here at the moment and opportunities will not be prime again for another 6 months or so, however I may make some effort to located some young of the year before it gets too cold. Next spring however I will have very easy access to hundreds and thousands of fry, juvenile and adult fish. I can still very readily get juvenile and adults at this time via hook and line but am guessing the market for these larger fish is going to be much more limited than for fry. I plan to continue to investigate details and refine my strategy, build a network of interested dealers, work out a system of shipping and set up adequate enclosures over the next several months in preparation for making a real effort at it in the spring.
You're welcome.
Yes small fish between 2 and 5 inch are best. (Maybe up to 10 for the slender gar)
In which area are you located?
For shipping in the EU, you need -besides a deal with an airfreight company and a customer here- a veterinary health certificate ( 1251/2008 Ornamental aquatic animals intended for closed ornamental facilities ), the airway bill and the valid invoice for your importer on this side of the ocean.
Trustworthy (i.m.o) big importers here in Germany (some operate in the whole EU) are:
Aquarium-Pluederhausen Schopp
Here you will find everything for sweet and salt water aquaristic and terraristic whether artificial corals or LED lighting - UV water filters or pumps and
Interaquaristik.de - Aquaristik Shop seit 2003 - Der Aquaristikversand
Aquaristik Shop mit Aquariumfischen, Aquarienpflanzen, Garnelen & Zubehör - alles für Ihr Aquarium!
Home - Aqua-Global Zierfischgroßhandel GmbH
Der Zierfischgroßhandel aqua-global wurde 1996 zunächst in Wegendorf als Dr. Jander & Co. OHG gegründet. Im Jahr 2000 erfolgte der Umzug in einen Neubau
www.aqua-global.eu
Herzlich willkommen auf der Website von Aquarium Glaser - Aquarium Glaser GmbH
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Meerwasseraquaristik Würzburg Orginal Japankoi Aquarienbau
www.teichmann-aquaristik.de
some are wholesalers only, like "Aquarium Glaser", but most others, as far as I know, sell directly to the hobbyist too.
(hope these kind of links are ok in the forum, it's only informational not commercial for me)
But if I have enough space and money next year for this kind of deal, I would maybe make a smaller import with you by myself.
