reGARding Gar max sizes
- Thread starter Vizzerdrix26
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all sizes are on average for captive specimens
spotted/florida gar-24"
tropical gar-30"
cuban gar-30"
longnose gar-not too sure, seems like 30"
shortnose gar-previously i had thought 20", but richard seems to have something up his sleeve...
alligator gar-5'
spotted/florida gar-24"
tropical gar-30"
cuban gar-30"
longnose gar-not too sure, seems like 30"
shortnose gar-previously i had thought 20", but richard seems to have something up his sleeve...
alligator gar-5'
xander13;1683897; said:
what's your source for these numbers? do you have a thread you're pulling these from? also, i would use some sort of qualifying statements...those t-gar and Cuban sizes MIGHT be over a lifetime, but i doubt the average captive Cuban gar reaches that size. mine are about 5 years old and about 19" each, and have been pretty slow-growing for the past 2 years.
before making statements like these i would qualify them better and/or list a source/explanation--
--solomon
E_americanus;1684585; said:
hmm, for spotted gars, tropical gars and shortnoses i generally pulled from numerous threads here and from AP.(there was a thread on AP where this guy's trops were 30" i remember) as for cubans, most of them here(except mine, as she's been in a 422 all her life) are 24" at 2.5yrs old. plus i thought yrs were 20" at 4yrs old. so i guessed they wouldn't be getting much bigger than 30", keeping in mind that they can probably grow for quite a few more years...
opinions are going to vary greatly on this topic.
as far as florida/spotteds go...i have never seen a specimen larger than 20" (with my own eyes or a ruler next to it) that was raised from YOY. my larger specimen is around 4 years old and has been hovering between 17-18 inches for the last 1.5years.
30" does seem very large for a tropical too. i have seen/heard of them, but they were not raised from YOY in aquaria...i believe they were from a hatchery (mikes from H2O). as far as personal experience goes (with tropical gar) mine is around 1 year old and a hair over 15" long, but seems to have slowed in growth greatly. i obviously cant speak for max size based off of my own experience.
Exactly...
I've come to the conclusion there is no set standard on the size these fish can obtain. Growth is regulated by many different factors and each individual fish is going to vary in one direction or another.
but for guidelines...which i'm sure is what Vizzerdrix26 was looking for, an estimate would have been fine...
xander13;1686484; said:
Xander I'm pretty sure about first year growth so state it very much as being close to empirical. It is and can be replicated across various datasets and experience. Max size or estimated max size I'm getting weary about even touching at this time. there is far to much difference from various sources to say in one way or another what is a good estimate. I do really think people need to understand that these fish do obtain a large size but it is also needed for the individual keeper to monitor and alter the fishes conditions as needed. Some fish will obtain different potential than others. Too many factors are involved in this to accurately state what size a fish may get. Estimates are a sort of good guideline but these are being proved to be not at all accurate in all circumstance. The fact these estimates are regularly discredited does not make them useful..
More effort needs to be focused on localized experience in this and effort needs to be placed on the individual gar keeper to acknowledge there is not a set rule and that they need to take responsibility for the individual fish they have. It is the individual keeper that needs to get that these fish are not a one size fits all effort and that being flexible is a requirement in keeping them.
In general any single gar keeper should have available to them multiple housing options and be very flexible in the use of those resources. If you are incapable or unwilling to offer multiple housing options these fish are not for you....
It is this above point that needs to be stressed over and over again when it comes to these fish.
just throwing out info to double check my knowledge. among other things
in captivity
Lepisosteus Species
Florida Gar-~12" in the first year, growth rate slows down greatly at ~16", average max size somewhere around 20"+
Spotted Gar-can someone more in the know fill in if there is new info on spotted gars? there seems to be a lot going on with attempting to tell between the two species'
Longnose Gar-~24" in the first year, growth slows after that. maxes around 30"-36"
Shortnose Gar-again, someone with experience please fill in on this?
Atractosteus Species
Cuban Gar-~12" in the first year, growth slows at ~16". max size in aquariums are usually between 18" to 24". although i've heard of 36inchers grown in ponds. Very much stouter when compared to Lepisosteus Species
Tropical Gar-~12" in the first year, growth slows at ~16". max size in aquariums are usually between 18" to 24". Very much stouter when compared to Lepisosteus Species
Alligator Gar-~24" in the first year, growth rates usually slow down at 36". in most home aquariums, this fish is usually stunted, only hitting a 3'-4' range. although 5'-6' is very possible given sufficient facilities. Very much stouter when compared to Lepisosteus Species. this is not an average home aquarium fish.
in captivity
Lepisosteus Species
Florida Gar-~12" in the first year, growth rate slows down greatly at ~16", average max size somewhere around 20"+
Spotted Gar-can someone more in the know fill in if there is new info on spotted gars? there seems to be a lot going on with attempting to tell between the two species'
Longnose Gar-~24" in the first year, growth slows after that. maxes around 30"-36"
Shortnose Gar-again, someone with experience please fill in on this?
Atractosteus Species
Cuban Gar-~12" in the first year, growth slows at ~16". max size in aquariums are usually between 18" to 24". although i've heard of 36inchers grown in ponds. Very much stouter when compared to Lepisosteus Species
Tropical Gar-~12" in the first year, growth slows at ~16". max size in aquariums are usually between 18" to 24". Very much stouter when compared to Lepisosteus Species
Alligator Gar-~24" in the first year, growth rates usually slow down at 36". in most home aquariums, this fish is usually stunted, only hitting a 3'-4' range. although 5'-6' is very possible given sufficient facilities. Very much stouter when compared to Lepisosteus Species. this is not an average home aquarium fish.
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