Should I put a shortnose in my pond???

[E_americanus]

hey Conner,

just caught up with this thread...that's awesome that there are now some gars in the pond and they should fatten up and grow quite nicely over the rest of the growing season. it's great that you have some shots at the start of the pond transfer, and you can compare when you pull them out later.

we caught at nice 31" spotted gar yesterday during field work (along with many others); perhaps yours will start his way toward a "mega-spot" size now best of luck and keep us updated!--
--solomon

 

[Madding]

Awesome! It's great to see some big gar getting the space they deserve. I love how ominous they look from above.

Thanks for the pics/vid.

 

[Conner]

ive seen pics of your pond b4, then saw u were going to throw your gars in...

i would love to do something like this!! i will deff have a monster pond like this someday!!

i bet your gars are going to be too big to fit back in your tank by the end of summer lol

Thanks! And you should definitely do it! It's taken a long time, but my pond is finally at a point where I'm really enjoying it. It gets a little clearer every day, and at this point I can make out almost every detail of all of the fish, even when they're sitting on the bottom. And I can see the crayfish crawling around on the bottom. One of these days I'll turn the pump off and take some really good pictures with my friends dslr...

what temps can these gar tolerate?

These guys are native to the area (or to similar areas) and can take most temperate temperatures I would assume. They could overwinter in this pond if they needed to, since it is so deep (up to 4'), and I keep it at least partially free of ice in the winter. However these guys will get pulled out once the temps start to drop in the fall.

hey Conner,

just caught up with this thread...that's awesome that there are now some gars in the pond and they should fatten up and grow quite nicely over the rest of the growing season. it's great that you have some shots at the start of the pond transfer, and you can compare when you pull them out later.

we caught at nice 31" spotted gar yesterday during field work (along with many others); perhaps yours will start his way toward a "mega-spot" size now best of luck and keep us updated!--
--solomon

I'm really hoping they fatten up nice. These two were kind of the runts of the tank, very slow growers. I don't think they are as aggressive as the other guys are. This should give them a chance to hit a growth spurt and really put on some size and weight.

I wish that I'd taken the time to put a tape measure next to them, but once I've got them in the net, I'm usually too worried to do more than take a quick pic and get them back in the water . I do know their general sizes when I put them in, and I'll measure when I pull them back out just to compare.

Awesome! It's great to see some big gar getting the space they deserve. I love how ominous they look from above.

Thanks for the pics/vid.

I like how they look from above to. I did go out at about 11pm last night with a flashlight to look for the gar. I saw the spotted eating a feeder, and the shortnose relaxing on the bottom.

I haven't seen either of them today, except for a slight shadow at the very bottom of the deep end. I think they've mostly been hanging out down there, or right under one of the clumps of hyacinth. I keep seeing a splash in the hyacinth, it must be them gulping air.

You know, I though tossing the gar in the pond, they'd be out and about, and they'd look huge and be really neat. But they are just dwarfed by the size of the pond, and it usually takes me 15 minutes to find them. Hopefully as they get adjusted to the pond, and the sun, and the openness, they'll be more willing to spend time swimming out in the open...

 

[E_americanus]

Thanks! And you should definitely do it! It's taken a long time, but my pond is finally at a point where I'm really enjoying it. It gets a little clearer every day, and at this point I can make out almost every detail of all of the fish, even when they're sitting on the bottom. And I can see the crayfish crawling around on the bottom. One of these days I'll turn the pump off and take some really good pictures with my friends dslr...



These guys are native to the area (or to similar areas) and can take most temperate temperatures I would assume. They could overwinter in this pond if they needed to, since it is so deep (up to 4'), and I keep it at least partially free of ice in the winter. However these guys will get pulled out once the temps start to drop in the fall.



I'm really hoping they fatten up nice. These two were kind of the runts of the tank, very slow growers. I don't think they are as aggressive as the other guys are. This should give them a chance to hit a growth spurt and really put on some size and weight.

I wish that I'd taken the time to put a tape measure next to them, but once I've got them in the net, I'm usually too worried to do more than take a quick pic and get them back in the water . I do know their general sizes when I put them in, and I'll measure when I pull them back out just to compare.




I like how they look from above to. I did go out at about 11pm last night with a flashlight to look for the gar. I saw the spotted eating a feeder, and the shortnose relaxing on the bottom.

I haven't seen either of them today, except for a slight shadow at the very bottom of the deep end. I think they've mostly been hanging out down there, or right under one of the clumps of hyacinth. I keep seeing a splash in the hyacinth, it must be them gulping air.

You know, I though tossing the gar in the pond, they'd be out and about, and they'd look huge and be really neat. But they are just dwarfed by the size of the pond, and it usually takes me 15 minutes to find them. Hopefully as they get adjusted to the pond, and the sun, and the openness, they'll be more willing to spend time swimming out in the open...

keep in mind that the pond is a very different environment for them...even if they were raised as captives, instinct likely plays a strong role...spotted gars from the population from which yours came are tied to vegetation almost 100% during the day, and may only venture past that cover at night. shortnose gars are more used to turbid water, so clear water may be something for them to get used to.

of course, gars haven't survived for over 150 million years because of any lack of ability to adapt...so i'm sure you'll eventually see them out and about. just noting that the pond, much like the aquarium (although pond is more natural), is still an artificial enclosure compared to their natural environment.

looking forward to future updates!--
--solomon

 

[Madding]

Connor, I tried PMing you, but it said you've got them disabled, so I thought I'd just post here.

Are any of your shorties still for sale?

 

[Conner]

Connor, I tried PMing you, but it said you've got them disabled, so I thought I'd just post here.

Are any of your shorties still for sale?

Disabled? Hm, I'll have to look into that...


No more for sale, unfortunately. I'm down to just three of them, so unless I'm forced to get out of the hobby, I plan on keeping them til death do us part .

I am hoping to get out and do some fishing soon, and I'm going to keep my eye out for some more gar. If the location these came from was closer, I'd head over there and see if I can find some more. But its a few hours away, not something I can do at the moment.

 

[Madding]

Disabled? Hm, I'll have to look into that...


No more for sale, unfortunately. I'm down to just three of them, so unless I'm forced to get out of the hobby, I plan on keeping them til death do us part .

I am hoping to get out and do some fishing soon, and I'm going to keep my eye out for some more gar. If the location these came from was closer, I'd head over there and see if I can find some more. But its a few hours away, not something I can do at the moment.

Alright, thanks.

I think I was typing "Connor" by the way, so don't worry about the PM issue.

 

[Conner]

Alright, thanks.

I think I was typing "Connor" by the way, so don't worry about the PM issue.

Yah I just checked and I should be receiving them fine.

And everybody spells it connOr instead of connEr. Oh well. I'm used to it by now...

 

[Conner]

If I do end up having to sell 1 or more of them, you'll be at the top of the list.

 

[Conner]

Some interesting behavior I just saw in the pond today. The gar were both out and about, I guess because its been storming like crazy and very overcast and dark, so they felt more comfortable.

Anyways, at one point, the two gar started swimming in a circle, head to tail, in a slow fashion. It didn't look like any kind of dominance aggression from either one, as there was no overt posturing, snapping, or attempt to "top" the other one. They just calmly swam in a circle, together, about 5-6 times in a row, and then calmly went their separate ways.

I've never seen this before (maybe because an aquarium is too tight of quarters for this kind of display?), does anybody (Solomon?) know what it might have been?

I wish I'd had my camera handy to videotape it for you guys. I'll keep an eye out for it in the future as well.