Well, just thought I'd update you guys on the shortnose gars in my pond. As expected, they've put a serious dent in the comet population. When I put the spotted gar in the pond first, there were about 100 or so (maybe more) comets in the pond.
At this point, the spotted and all three shortnose have been in the pond for several weeks. The comet population is probably down to 20-25 at most
. the few that are left are the largest comets, which are probably at the extreme range of size that the larger gar could eat.
Yesterday, I added about 75-80 more feeder comets to the pond. About 5 minutes after I added them, the gar were rocketing around the pond, chasing feeders. One of them even leaped partially from the water chasing a feeder!
They are so much more active in the pond than they were in an aquarium. However, they have definitely reverted back to being very wary of people and skittish of anything moving near the pond. I'm going to have a hell of a time catching them back out of the pond.
I would have updated pics, except I've had a few issues with the pond over the last week, and its going through an algae bloom at the moment, meaning there isn't much to look at but green water and shadows.
At this point, the spotted and all three shortnose have been in the pond for several weeks. The comet population is probably down to 20-25 at most
. the few that are left are the largest comets, which are probably at the extreme range of size that the larger gar could eat.Yesterday, I added about 75-80 more feeder comets to the pond. About 5 minutes after I added them, the gar were rocketing around the pond, chasing feeders. One of them even leaped partially from the water chasing a feeder!
They are so much more active in the pond than they were in an aquarium. However, they have definitely reverted back to being very wary of people and skittish of anything moving near the pond. I'm going to have a hell of a time catching them back out of the pond.
I would have updated pics, except I've had a few issues with the pond over the last week, and its going through an algae bloom at the moment, meaning there isn't much to look at but green water and shadows.
