Signs of a stunted gar?
- Thread starter creepyoldguy
- Start date
Bonsai = stunted? never heard of such a gar.. and it sounds.. "man-made" and has enough fru fru wording to be pretty confident it ='s stunted. I'm guessing the tail is also thicker? I'll see if I can snap a pic.. my YoY and my "lfs pic-up" have a few differences. the lfs also has "large eyes" his pectoral fins also give him a "long-fin" look? I've also heard spinal abnormalities, but this could be physical issues ( tank ramming, jumps, other physical causes, ect.) Def interested in what Pej, and Sol have to say on this.
Good thread 
. Like all stunted fish I think the head will be bigger and more mature looking for size. I guess its Important if we buy bigger gar. Can they catch up growth after being stunted ?
. Like all stunted fish I think the head will be bigger and more mature looking for size. I guess its Important if we buy bigger gar. Can they catch up growth after being stunted ?
alligator gars grow slow after the first 20-24 inches. ive read that they grow 20-24 inches in the first yr then about half an inch a year after that. i think a 2 foot wide tank is good enough for him right now and therefore not stunted. gars are flexible like snakes, so he can turn around fine in a 2 foot wide tank for the moment.
hey guys, sorry for the delay on getting to this question (and i'm sure many others) i know richard has also been extremely busy as of late, and it doesn't look like things are going to let up much in the future...when it rains it pours.
anyway, there is no great way for telling if a gar is truly stunted (by our captive definitions) or not if you don't have a relatively accurate age on the fish. in captivity, it is inevitable that gars are going to stunt to some extent. we are not talking about aquaculture facilities with large ponds or anything like that, we are talking about the relatively typical home aquaria.
a gar is most vulnerable to stunting in its first year of life, if it isn't given the proper diet, water quality, and space, it can stunt and this can cause problems down the line (or just kill the gar early on). beyond that point, if the gar has made it, it will likely survive...which seems to be the case with the gator gar in question. if it has been that size for 2-3 years now, it is unlikely that it will grow by any leaps and bounds (if at all)...maybe fractions of inches per year.
one should always give gars the appropriate amount of space in responsibly fish-keeping, so at least a 2' wide tank would be a step up for the gar in its current home, but wider is definitely better.
hopefully that touched on some of your questions and provided some response, please feel free to post with further questions or comments or further clarification. also, RE: one of the above posts...gator gars definitely do NOT grow only 0.5" per year after their first year (in the wild/if they reached 24" in the first year). if they are, they are definitely being stunted, but holding a yearling gator to just that amount of growth (IF it grew to 24" in the first year) would be tough in and of itself.--
--solomon
anyway, there is no great way for telling if a gar is truly stunted (by our captive definitions) or not if you don't have a relatively accurate age on the fish. in captivity, it is inevitable that gars are going to stunt to some extent. we are not talking about aquaculture facilities with large ponds or anything like that, we are talking about the relatively typical home aquaria.
a gar is most vulnerable to stunting in its first year of life, if it isn't given the proper diet, water quality, and space, it can stunt and this can cause problems down the line (or just kill the gar early on). beyond that point, if the gar has made it, it will likely survive...which seems to be the case with the gator gar in question. if it has been that size for 2-3 years now, it is unlikely that it will grow by any leaps and bounds (if at all)...maybe fractions of inches per year.
one should always give gars the appropriate amount of space in responsibly fish-keeping, so at least a 2' wide tank would be a step up for the gar in its current home, but wider is definitely better.
hopefully that touched on some of your questions and provided some response, please feel free to post with further questions or comments or further clarification. also, RE: one of the above posts...gator gars definitely do NOT grow only 0.5" per year after their first year (in the wild/if they reached 24" in the first year). if they are, they are definitely being stunted, but holding a yearling gator to just that amount of growth (IF it grew to 24" in the first year) would be tough in and of itself.--
--solomon
Thanks sol! I really don't have much more info on the gar other than just that it was in a 90g aquarium, someone dropped it off 3-4 months ago and it really hasn't grown much. I'm going to the lfs on Sat and I will try to post some pics. I am interested in getting the gar, but if it is indeed healthy or not stunted, then my home of a 2ft tank is obsolete and the fish would be more or less a burden to rehome.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=354893&page=2Here is a pic of it. Another member already posted a thread on the gar, but never was stunting mentioned.
Anyone else have any input? I'm going down to the lfs tomorrow to get some fish for my 180. I'll prob just buy him and put it in my 55g since its 4ft long and he's only 2ft long.
