silver aro and gar
- Thread starter JC09
- Start date
I have found that Aro/gar combo works great! i had my 18in silver with 2 18 in spotted gars for a few months but then i got some other monsters so moved the tanks around and the gar and aro are no longer together.
But my 18in gars have been with a 8in silver and they have gotten along well for the past week so far
But my 18in gars have been with a 8in silver and they have gotten along well for the past week so far
flame all you want... they are getting along fine right now together. i tested it out to see what the gar did and sure enough he came up to the aro, checked him out, call me crazy but the aro chased him away. its happened more than once. gar comes up, aro swims in a circle and gar swims to the other side of the tank. he seems a very docile gar as he is in with fish SMALLER than the aro. also the gar and aro aere always on opposite sides of the tank.
MHcblues119;5112754; said:
wow, this contributes virtually nothing to the ongoing debate in terms of useful information. your comment is based on very short-term experience and an 18" gar with an 8" arow (assuming your measurements are correct) is bad news for the arow.
it's always great when this subject comes up (or actually just really annoying and frustrating) as all the "exception" people tend to crop up with their comments, whereas the "general rule" people are completely ignored. if it weren't for the mistreatment of the fishes involved, i would say keep encouraging and setting up new ridiculous combos so people start losing money and fishes, maybe they will eventually learn...maybe.--
--solomon
my exp with this combo has been 100% success. i have had aros with my gars both long term and short term. i have had them with 24"+ aros and 10- 22" gars. multiple aros and gars. the only gar that i have not mixed with aros is my latest pick up and thats just cause the aros are to small. once my all 6 of my aros get big enough not to be eatten they will go in the tank with my gars. they are currently border line at the 8-10" mark or so, to go in with my 22", 18", 14" gars. maybe i am just one to have lots of exceptions to the rule as i have never had a problem with this mix. just keep in mind that all combos can work, you just need to be ready if they don't.
E_americanus;5112904; said:
Frankly not everyone goes by the "general rule" and as you can see many people have had success at this. There is no reason to get frustrated at this issue. It works for some, and for others it doesn't. By your attitude it probably didnt work for you which would be why you are mad. Can't you be happy for other people who it has worked for instead of pushing your opinions on to them?
Just my .02
Gruntking;5112935; said:
thats how it should be.. keeping fish together is a trial. if it works it works, it it doesnt then be ready for an alternative. worst comes to worst, ill bring him to my school where we have 2 500gal pounds, 1 800gal pound and hundreds of tanks, let him grow out a bit and bring him back.
Gruntking;5112935; said:
Frankly, it's the general rule because it has been well-established based on the previous experience of many others. and no, i'm not mad because it didn't work...in fact, i've had it work with both silver and black arows with certain species of gars for semi-extended periods of time (almost a year in both cases, not the matter of months or weeks that many tend to post about).
that being said, this forum is about gars, not arows...through quite a bit of research we have found that gars are best kept on their own, sometimes not even with other species of gars. if they are kept with tankmates, there are some that work well (in most cases) such as bichirs, SA/AU lungfishes, African bonytongues, etc...arowanas are hit-or-miss, and it's often times a miss. the "silvery fish issue" can spook the gars, draw their attention to act aggressively, or damage both fishes. it's generally inadvisable. also, because of the differing growth rates (especially with the case of the OP here), they seldom match up until both fish are "done" growing or at least of 1.5'+
even though it has worked for me, i don't advise others to do it, it's not in the best interest of the gars in most cases. plenty of you all come on to the forum and talk about your one exception and preach it as a rule...or the post below that says it all has to be trial and error. some of fish keeping is trial and error, but there is a reason for previously established practices and forum information.
if you want to try the combo, just go ahead and do it...don't ask for advice if you already have the mindset that you're going to do it no matter what. again, here on the gar forum we give the information which is most beneficial to the gars. the attitude is a byproduct of having to deal with the same type of posters every time this (or similar topics) come up. perhaps i should go in the other direction and just consider it as the laughable excerpts of advice/accounts that they are--
--solomon
JC09;5112946; said:
- it doesn't always have to be a trial, so that's not the best approach.
- it is good, however, (and as you state) to have an alternative. but in some cases it doesn't take much for one encounter to be fatal...such as gars breaking their backs. this is why we try to give the best advice for keeping the gar healthy...so others don't have to do all the trial and error that has been previously done--
--solomon
